Chapter 5 - Buses: better services, easier access CM 6234

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Buses are the main form of public transport. We need bus networks that provide flexible and convenient services tailored to local needs, offering a reliable way to travel to and from jobs, schools, shops and other services. This is crucial for people without access to a car and providing genuine choice for those who do.

The challenge

5.1 Nearly two thirds of all public transport journeys in England are by bus. In many areas, and for many journeys, they are the only public transport alternative to using a car. Buses are a powerful tool in tackling the problems caused by congestion, allowing more people to make the same journey while generating less traffic. Buses are flexible too - they can be deployed quickly in response to changing demand. And unlike rail or metro systems, buses do not require substantial infrastructure so can rapidly boost the supply of public transport.

5.2 Over the last century increasing access to cars, particularly for traditional bus users such as older people and women, has contributed to a decline in bus patronage. The historic decline was reinforced by planning policies which dispersed travel patterns, making bus services more expensive to provide. Many out of town business parks and shopping centres are far easier to get to by car.

5.3 In rural communities, the bus is an essential service, particularly for those without access to a car. However, rural areas have often been poorly served as providing a regular bus service can be prohibitively expensive in areas where the population is widely spread out.

5.4 We recognise the valuable role buses can play in improving public transport and we will work with local government and the bus industry to make this happen. Increased investment in bus services and changes to the way our towns and cities are planned are beginning to reverse the decline in bus patronage.

Local bus patronage in England

5.5 In 2002-03 the number of local bus passenger journeys in England increased by 3 per cent to 3.9 billion trips. But there was significant variation between areas. In London, with its unique type of network, growth was particularly strong at around 8 per cent. Significant growth was also achieved in some shire counties (Norfolk, Lincolnshire), centres of heritage (Cambridge, Oxford, York) and other towns and cities (Brighton, Nottingham, Telford, Corby). The challenge is to repeat this success in more areas.

Delivering better bus services

A number of areas outside London have made significant improvements to their bus services. Some of the success stories include the following.

In Leicestershire a new Quality Bus Corridor improvement between Leicester, Loughborough and Shepshed attracted 26 per cent more passengers in its first year. The Star Trak partnership between Leicester City Council, Leicestershire County Council, Arriva Midlands, First, Kinchbus and Trent Barton provides real-time bus information for over 30 routes at bus stops, on the internet or by text message to a mobile phone.
In Cambridge the county council, in partnership with the city council and bus operators, has implemented measures to produce significant increases in patronage. Successful corridor improvements, incorporating stretches of bus priority linked to park and ride sites, and traffic restraint measures in the city centre, for example rising bollards, helped to produce an overall 7 per cent increase in patronage last year.
In Brighton and Hove partnership between the local authority and Brighton & Hove Buses has seen a wide range of measures to improve services. These include the introduction of CCTV, a simplified flat fare system and a colour-coded network of core routes with frequent services. These have been supported by infrastructure improvements including bus priority and new shelters. A joint council/operator vehicle location scheme provides bus priority at traffic signals and information for real-time passenger information displays. These and other measures have provided a momentum that has seen bus use in the city grow by 50 per cent over the last 10 years.
In Lincolnshire the county council has made impressive use of Rural Bus Challenge and Rural Bus Subsidy Grant, to establish the InterConnect network of inter-urban services. These are linked to flexible feeder services giving the more remote rural communities across the county access to Lincoln and the market towns. Patronage increases across the different InterConnect corridors range from 40 to 140 per cent over a two to four year period.
In Telford and Wrekin the local authority, in partnership with the local bus operator, effectively re-designed the local bus network to meet the needs of the travelling public. The Wrekin Connect services link dispersed rural communities with the urban network. Taken together, these measures have helped to boost bus usage across the borough by 14 per cent since 1999.
In Oxfordshire a taxi-bus servicing the railway station in Bicester was introduced in 2002. The need for this service stemmed from the problems of restricted parking at Bicester North station and conventional bus services' lack of integration with the rail network timetable. It features eight routes, with one vehicle on each, serving four urban housing estates and four surrounding villages. Covering both rural and urban areas, the urban service carries nearly 1,100 passengers a week and the rural one just over 210. In the first 18 months there was a 250 per cent increase in passengers.

Where we want to be

5.6 We need to make better use of buses to help reduce congestion and tackle social exclusion. Buses need to be attractive enough for motorists to choose them over the car for some trips. And they also need to provide mobility for people who do not have access to other forms of transport. Our bus services must be:

punctual - which means giving buses priority in congested locations and using more pre-paid ticketing to speed boarding;
good value - for the traveller and the taxpayer;
frequent and reliable - with up-to-date travel information that is easy to obtain;
seamless - with good integration of bus services and other travel networks;
safe - both when travelling on the bus and when walking to and from the bus stop; and
clean, comfortable and attractive - with well-designed and maintained buses.

5.7 Improved bus services must be at the heart of Local Transport Plans designed to improve access to jobs and services, particularly for those most in need. They will be key to reducing congestion and pollution and are safer than travelling by car. In some urban areas we want to see radical improvements in bus services coupled with measures to reduce congestion, such as congestion charging. And buses should be seen as an alternative to rail services in some areas.

What we have achieved

5.8 Outside London bus services are largely provided by the private sector with operators able to provide competing services to meet demand in an area. We have provided significant increases in funding over recent years for improvements in services and for local authorities to provide infrastructure such as bus lanes and other bus priority schemes. Local authorities delivered over 300 bus schemes in 2002-03.

5.9 In London, the public sector has control over the level of bus services provided. Transport for London (TfL), reporting to the Mayor, purchases services from commercial operators, having specified the fares and service levels it wishes to provide. TfL takes the revenue risk, plans the routes, and specifies and monitors service quality. It is also responsible for ticketing and information. Every year 20 per cent of the whole bus network is re-tendered, with around a half of the network subject to some level of review each year.

5.10 The Mayor has chosen to subsidise bus fares and to provide higher frequencies and 24 hour services, delivering a 30 per cent increase in patronage since 2000. However, enhanced services and real-term fare reductions have come at a cost. The net operating costs of London's buses have risen from £88 million in 2000-01 to £562 million in 2003-04, and the public subsidy per bus journey in London is higher than elsewhere.

5.11 Across the whole of the country:

the Bus Partnership Forum is bringing bus operators and transport authorities together to share best practice and build productive working relationships. Initiatives include limiting timetable changes to increase stability, helping operators produce joint ticketing and taking forward new ways of improving punctuality;
bus operators have invested in new vehicles, in particular new low-floor buses, supported by Government funding through the Bus Service Operators Grant. Some 29 per cent of full-size buses are now accessible to wheelchair users, and all new regulated buses have to meet minimum accessibility requirements;
we are promoting the development and uptake of clean, fuel-efficient buses;
40 per cent of the English national fleet now has real-time information equipment, helping operators to run reliable services. The technology is also increasingly being used to tell passengers when the next bus will arrive; and
we are supporting the development of national standards for smartcards. These can simplify ticketing, allowing passengers to use one smartcard on different buses, trams and trains.

Inter-Urban Coaches

Just as buses are central to an integrated transport strategy locally, coaches make a vital contribution to travel between towns and cities. The coach is an increasingly feasible option for commuters as well as an affordable longer distance choice for many people who would not otherwise be able to take days out, visit friends or take holidays.

Since deregulation in 1980, decisions on matters such as the extent of services, routes covered and fare levels have been a matter for the companies themselves. This allows them to respond to passenger demand. The resulting flexibility means that coaches can compete effectively with rail, giving passengers a cheaper though often more time-consuming option for inter-urban travel.

This is especially the case when coaches are able to provide a convenient link between city centres or airports where rail provision is limited. We have asked the South East region to look at pilot proposals for the introduction of inter-urban coach services. We have also proposed that they continue to encourage ways of giving greater priority to coaches on the national road network following the successful introduction of a dedicated lane on the M4 Spur to Heathrow. Through the Local Transport Plan process we are encouraging transport providers to improve interchanges, including coach stations and terminals.

We have also provided grant funding for operators to offer half-fare concessions to older and disabled passengers on coach services. Over two million journeys were made under the scheme in its first year.

What we are going to do next

5.12 We must realise the full potential of buses to improve local transport provision in towns, cities and rural areas across the country. The Government's role is to provide the right framework for local transport authorities and operators to deliver better services. Working within this framework, authorities must adopt the right approach for local circumstances.

5.13 Most areas will be best served by continuing with the current partnership arrangements but we want some local authorities to consider more radical options. We want to encourage greater scope for local transport authorities to determine routes, fares, quality standards and frequency of services in specified circumstances as part of an integrated transport plan. Our plans to develop the potential of Quality Contracts involve:

supporting authorities that want to improve bus services alongside congestion reducing measures such as congestion charging schemes. We will use the Transport Innovation Fund to support cities that wish to implement a combined package of bus enhancement measures, probably through a Quality Contract, and measures to reduce congestion;
providing an easier route to Quality Contracts for those Passenger Transport Authorities prepared to consider using buses instead of under-used rail services where this is value for money; and
using a power in the Transport Act 2000 to reduce the minimum period between making and implementing a scheme from the current 21 months to six months for all local authorities considering a Quality Contract.

Better partnership

5.14 Constructive partnership working between local authorities and bus companies has made a real difference, leading to innovation, higher investment and better services in a number of areas. We are confident that partnership can deliver attractive bus services in many more places if those involved rise to the challenge. We plan to develop guidance on Statutory Quality Partnerships based on the experience of the first schemes.

5.15 We also intend to make the existing legislative framework better by:

enabling Passenger Transport Executives to purchase buses for lease to operators, as other local transport authorities already can; and
ensuring the enforcement of punctuality and fair competition do not unintentionally work against the interests of passengers. This will involve working with the Traffic Commissioners and the Office of Fair Trading.

5.16 We will ensure the dissemination of best practice across local authorities currently engaged in socially necessary tendering and for future Quality Contracts by developing and rolling out a procurement best practice framework. This will help local authorities to procure the most efficient and effective bus services and achieve maximum value for money.

Quality Contracts and The Bus Subsidy Review

Quality Contracts, introduced in the Transport Act 2000, allow local transport authorities to determine the routes, fares, quality standards and frequency of bus services in specified areas, where it is the only practicable way for them to implement their bus strategies. They could be suitable as part of a strategy that includes rail replacement and measures to reduce congestion. We will issue guidance to help local authorities and bus operators assess whether Quality Contracts are appropriate in their area. We have already issued a draft of this guidance for consultation.

In addition, following a previous consultation, we intend to streamline the statutory procedure by reducing the minimum period between making and implementing a scheme from the current 21 months to six months. Our guidance will make clear that use of the minimum period will only be appropriate for schemes with a limited impact on bus operators.

The Bus Service Operators' Grant (BSOG) is currently paid to all operators of local bus services available to the general public. It reimburses most of the fuel duty paid by operators (100 per cent for new cleaner fuels). We have considered a number of options for replacing or modifying BSOG, such as relating subsidies to the number of passengers carried or to the distance travelled. We concluded that the benefits to be gained from any change are not certain enough to justify the costs and disruption at a time when we want operators to focus all their energy on improving services for passengers.

For those routes that are procured under a Quality Contract, we shall no longer pay BSOG, but instead transfer a parallel sum to the local authority for procurement of bus services. We shall also consult Transport for London on implementing this change for the existing franchised service in London.

We will review the case for a further round of funding for Kickstart projects, aimed at pump-priming patronage growth, in light of progress with the 18 pilots already being funded. We will retain Rural Bus Subsidy Grant beyond April 2006 to give continuing support to local authorities in promoting rural accessibility. We do not propose any changes to concessionary fares entitlement but will look at streamlining the administration of reimbursement to bus operators, so as to reduce bureaucracy.

Bus and rail

5.17 We intend to give Passenger Transport Authorities the ability to choose whether to channel subsidy towards rail or other forms of public transport. In some cases, buses might provide both a better service and better value for money.

5.18 We recognise that Passenger Transport Authorities may not be willing to consider this unless they can be certain that bus routes, timings and fares will meet passenger needs and work well with the national timetable. We will amend the Transport Act 2000 to make it easier for Passenger Transport Authorities to introduce Quality Contracts as part of a strategy that includes modification of rail services.

5.19 Passenger Transport Authorities will be able to decide whether to take greater control of their bus routes and associated budgets by deciding which rail routes are best value and which would be more efficiently replaced by bus services.

Cities moving ahead

5.20 Enhanced bus services can make towns and cities better places to live and better places to travel. Local authorities already have powers under the Transport Act 2000 to introduce congestion charging and other forms of car restraint such as workplace parking levies. The Act also provides for Statutory Quality Partnerships and Quality Contracts to improve bus services. We want local authorities to use these powers to improve bus services in their area as part of a coherent overall transport strategy.

5.21 To support local authorities in making these choices we will consider providing additional funds through the Transport Innovation Fund for those who wish to design and implement bold projects that combine:

radically enhanced bus services; and
plans to tackle congestion through measures such as congestion charging schemes.

5.22 Where a scheme includes a Quality Contract, the local authority needs to demonstrate that this is the only practical way of delivering its bus strategy. An authority wishing to implement measures to reduce congestion without reducing accessibility may need a Quality Contract in order to guarantee a network of affordable, frequent, bus services. We shall amend our guidance on Quality Contracts to reflect this.

5.23 Passenger Transport Authorities are responsible for providing public transport, including buses, in some of the most congested urban areas outside London. Yet they do not have highway authority powers. Under the current Traffic Management Bill local authorities will need to consider how best to involve Passenger Transport Authorities to ensure the most efficient use of the network, both for the bus services and for other road users. We will emphasise in guidance the importance of metropolitan district councils working with Passenger Transport Authorities to give effect to their bus strategies. We shall keep the impact of this guidance under review. If necessary, we shall be prepared to consider other ways of giving Passenger Transport Authorities a greater say over facilities for buses on specified core routes within the metropolitan areas.

Demand-responsive transport and services in rural areas

5.24 Local bus services can be expensive to run, particularly during evenings and weekends, and it is often not possible to operate rural and off-peak services on a profit-making basis. Local authorities can choose to subsidise services that are required for social inclusion or accessibility reasons if they cannot be provided on a commercial basis, by providing them under contract.

5.25 More flexible, demand-responsive services can provide the same, or better, levels of service while using fewer vehicles and drivers. They can provide more personalised travel, which can be 'door to door', and they do not need to run when there is no demand. The term 'demand-responsive' covers a wide range of different services, from scheduled bus services that can detour from their regular route to pick up people who have phoned in advance, to 'many to many' services which have no scheduled stopping points at all. It can involve services for specific groups, such as dial-a-ride services for older or disabled people.

5.26 To support the establishment of these services we have:

issued guidance(1) which sets out what the current legislation allows, provides advice on how to register a service and gives examples of good practice;
introduced changes to the legislation in February this year to make it easier to register a service with routes and timing that vary with demand, making it possible, for the first time, to register local bus services that are pre-booked and offer a door to door service. Thirty demand responsive services have been registered since the new regulations were introduced;
made demand-responsive services eligible for BSOG and extended the Rural Bus Subsidy Grant, which helps improve accessibility in rural areas, to include demand responsive and taxi-based services; and
increased local authorities' and operators' awareness of these schemes through road shows around the country.

5.27 We will continue to encourage local authorities and operators to make use of demand responsive schemes in areas not well-served by conventional bus services. Some authorities have achieved real benefits in rural areas through bringing education, health and social services transport together with scheduled and community services. We will review the regulatory framework and continue to work across government to ensure that the community transport sector can contribute more in future.

London

5.28 Buses will continue to play a key role in London's complex public transport mix. Transport for London (TfL) has a number of initiatives planned or underway, including:

continued investment in bus priority measures;
the use of smart cards to facilitate cashless buses; and
bus transit systems with new articulated buses and a considerable proportion of segregated bus lanes.

5.29 It will of course remain for the Mayor to decide on investment levels and fares, in the light of his available resources.

Buses in London

London benefits from one of the most extensive urban bus networks in the world - over 6,875 buses carrying up to 5.9 million passengers on over 700 routes on weekdays. London accounts for nearly 40 per cent of all bus use in England. The number of passengers is at its highest level since 1969 with over 1.7 billion journeys in 2003-04.

Bus use in London has increased by 30 per cent since 2000, and is up by 11 per cent in the last year alone. There has been an 18 per cent increase in the average number of passengers per bus over the last four years. London buses are:

more reliable, with excess waiting times at bus stops down 29 per cent since 2000;
more accessible - 89 per cent of the bus fleet is now accessible to modern wheelchairs, up from 35 per cent in 2000; and
safer - 60 per cent of the bus fleet has CCTV cameras installed.

TfL was able to procure additional bus services for central London rapidly prior to the introduction of the congestion charge. The charge has reduced road congestion by 32 per cent, resulting in improved bus performance and increased passenger numbers.

Conclusion

5.30 We are reversing the long decline in bus patronage. In the right circumstances, with the necessary commitment and support, bus use can be increased dramatically, with consequent reductions in congestion and social exclusion. In our new strategy buses will play a bigger role in tackling congestion in urban areas, as well as complementing or replacing rail journeys where Passenger Transport Authorities judge they offer best value for money.

5.31 For those authorities who develop bold schemes to deliver these objectives, we are encouraging the use of Quality Contracts. For less densely populated areas our strategy rests on accessibility planning and flexibility. Overall, by encouraging partnership, providing financial support and the right regulatory framework, we will enable buses to play a much bigger part in an improved transport system.

(1) Available from the Department for Transport website - Flexible Transport Services.