Appendix ‘A’

DRAFT FOR CONSULTATION LANCASHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL LOCAL TRANSPORT PLAN 2006-2011

THE LANCASHIRE BUS STRATEGY

OCTOBER 2005

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CONTENTS Foreword by County Councillor Tony Martin – Cabinet Member for Sustainable Development

1 Introduction and Overview 2. Policy Context for the Bus Strategy 2006 – 2011: Introduction Local Transport Plan Bus Strategy 2001-20063 New Policy Context

Accessibility b. Reducing Road Congestion

Air Quality Improving Road safety Other “Quality of Life” and Economic Objectives

3. Bus Strategy 2006 to 2011 - Key Action Areas The County Council Supported Bus Network Improving Services - Partnership Working with the Bus Industry Improving User Confidence/Personal Safety and Security Improving the Passenger Waiting Environment – Bus Shelters and Stops Improving Interchange between Public Transport Services 3.6 Fares and Ticketing 3.7 Network Stability: Code of Conduct

1. Other Policy Areas 1.1 Information and Marketing 1.2 Real Time Passenger Information 1.3 Concessionary Fares 1.4 Park and Ride 1.5 Bus Services and New Development 1.6 Rapid Transit 1.7 Coach Strategy 1.8 Quality Contracts 2. Funding the Strategy 6. Monitoring and Review

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Appendices

Appendix A - Completed Quality Bus Schemes in Lancashire. Appendix B - Proposed Standards for Bus Stops in Lancashire. Appendix C - Interchange Projects in Lancashire since 2000 (Completed or in Progress). Appendix D - Hierarchy of Interchange Facilities. Appendix E - Availability of multi-operator/multi-modal tickets in Lancashire Appendix F - Category A and B Bus Stations & Interchanges Design Criteria.

Submitting your views on this Strategy

The final version of this Bus Strategy will be submitted to the Government in March 2006. It will form a “daughter” document to the County Council’s Local Transport Plan 2006-2011. The County Council would be pleased to hear your comments, which should be submitted by 9th December 2005. Your views and comments can be submitted as follows: Post: Public Transport Policy Environment Directorate Lancashire County Council PO Box 9 Guild House Cross Street Preston PR1 8RD e-mail: environmentmail@env.lancscc.gov.uk Fax: 01772 533981

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THE NEW BURNLEY BUS STATION (Opened August 2002) (And the Old!)

FOREWORD

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County Councillor Tony Martin Cabinet Member for Sustainable Development The Transport Act 2000 requires the County Council to consult on and produce a bus strategy, which sets out the requirements for bus provision in Lancashire over the next few years and how it will be achieved. This bus strategy forms a major part of our new Local Transport Plan that will run to March 2011. The bus provides mobility and access to many opportunities for those who do not have a car available. It can also provide an attractive alternative means of travel for those who do. Improved public transport reduces congestion on our roads, improves our air quality and boosts the local economy. Efficient bus services that connect people to jobs, shops, healthcare, recreation and friends and family are a prerequisite of a modern, inclusive society In July 2000 we produced our first Local Transport Plan. This has established the framework for transport provision and services in the County over the period 2001-2006. This, together with increased Government funding, has enabled us to make a good start in making the bus play a stronger role in reducing congestion and tackling social exclusion. But much more needs to be done. The Transport Act and the Government’s recent White Paper “The Future of Transport – a network for 2030” have given us a further opportunity to create a real step change in the quality of our bus network and the way many of us access essential services. This document sets out our ideas as to how we could start to achieve that step change over the next few years through working in partnership with the bus industry itself and many other agencies. However, the key people in all this are the existing and potential customers. We will all need to be responsive to the needs and expectations of the travelling public. I am committed to ensuring that we engage with our customers and seek their views on a regular basis. We want Lancashire to be a place where everyone can travel easily and safely. The County Council submitted its provisional Local Transport Plan to the Government in July 2005. The full Plan, including the final Bus Strategy, as a “daughter” document, will be submitted in March 2006. I believe our draft Bus Strategy to be realistic but it will also be challenging. The County Council will continue to face pressures on both its revenue and capital resources for the foreseeable future and this may well affect our eventual ability to deliver the whole of this Strategy by 2011. However, I am totally committed to deliver as many improvements as I can within the overall financial limits available to me. The next step is to receive your feedback on the ideas in this document. I look forward to hearing from you. 1. INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW

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The diverse requirements for travel in Lancashire are provided by a variety of both private and public modes. For many the private car predominates, but a significant proportion of journeys are made by other modes including walking, cycling and public transport. Insofar as the latter is concerned, for medium to long-distance journeys rail services and, to a lesser extent, coach services are significant. For more localised journeys, bus services are the main alternatives to the car The present legislative framework governing the provision of bus services, principally the 1985 and 2000 Transport Acts, places the initial responsibility for the extent of the network with bus operators. The operators determine the services they wish to operate and register them with the Traffic Commissioner (concurrently notifying the County Council). Any changes they may wish to make to these services are similarly submitted to the Traffic Commissioner. Services, and any changes to or withdrawals of them, come into effect after a specified time (presently 56 days) unless, in prescribed circumstances, special dispensation is granted by the Commissioner for earlier implementation. The County Council, as Local Transport Authority, has a number of roles in relation to local bus services in Lancashire. Under the Transport Act 1985, the County Council has a duty to contract for the provision of local bus services that are not provided on a commercial basis and which it deems necessary to meet local needs. The Transport Act 2000 gave local transport authorities additional powers and duties to enhance, integrate and promote bus services, within the statutory context of the Local Transport Plan. Local Transport Authorities are required by the Transport Act 2000 to consult on and publish a Bus Strategy as part of their Local Transport Plan. Policies established in the Bus Strategy must promote and encourage safe, integrated, efficient and economic bus services (and ancillary facilities) to, from and within the County for those living and working within it and for those visiting or travelling through it. The County Council’s Local Transport Plan (2006-2011) will also clearly identify how improved bus services fit into the wider strategies of the County Council, particularly “Ambition Lancashire”, which sets out the County Council’s strategic vision for the County over the next twenty years. In addition, the Government and the Local Government Association agreed, in July 2002, a set of seven shared priorities for Local Government. These priorities, which include meeting local transport needs more effectively, are a focus for the efforts of Government and Councils for improving public services. Of the seven priorities, four are pertinent to bus services. The four shared priorities to which improved bus services will play a major role are:

Improved accessibility for all to key services and facilities, Reduced road congestion Reducing road accidents and; Better air quality.

In the light of this, the County Council’s overall vision for the Lancashire public transport network is that by 2012 we will have made major progress in ensuring that we have a public transport system that:

People want to use rather than a means of last resort; Can be used conveniently and affordably by all; Is reliable; Can be used without any fear of crime or intimidation for both passengers and staff; Makes a positive contribution to achieving an improving environment and air quality; Can adapt readily to the public’s changing needs and expectations.

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This Bus Strategy document, which will form an annex to the Local Transport Plan 2006 to 2011, is designed to draw together in one place all of the County Council’s policies and proposals for bus services. This document, once formally approved, will replace the previously adopted Bus Strategy within the 2001-2006 Local Transport Plan

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2. POLICY CONTEXT FOR THE 2006 – 2011 BUS STRATEGY 2.1 Introduction Buses are the most used public transport option for local journeys in the County with 6% of journeys to work being made by bus. This is 1% lower than the average for England and Wales (7%). Bus services in Lancashire are provided by 24 operators, with the largest share of the total mileage operated in the County being provided by just seven operators. Across most of Lancashire, commercial bus services provide the overwhelming majority of journeys Over 80% percent of bus services in Lancashire are provided on a commercial basis, i.e. the operator receives no subsidy for providing the services. The County Council, through contracts with bus operators, provides the remaining non-commercial services. However, there are some sharp contrasts within this figure. For example, in Preston, there are very few secured journeys at all, and high levels of coverage are the norm in other urban areas of the County. Outside Preston, its immediate surroundings and the main urban corridors in East Lancashire, commercial provision is much reduced in the evening and on Sundays. Consequently, there is a requirement for secured bus provision in most areas of the County at these times. In the more lightly populated and rural areas, the secured network provides a significant proportion of the network as a whole. In addition, the County Council currently supports seven groups providing Dial-a-bus and Dial-a-ride services and fifteen community car schemes. In 2003/04, community transport schemes in Lancashire carried over 216,000 passengers. The County Council also recognises the high level of informal community transport provided by many groups and organisations in Lancashire who do not receive or request financial support. These groups provide valuable services to local communities, often with support from other funding agencies such as the National Lotteries Charity Board and Help the Aged through the provision of vehicles. The County Council provides technical advice and support to any organisation in Lancashire providing, or wishing to provide, community transport services. It also uses its powers to issue minibus permits under Section 19 of the 1985 Transport Act to all eligible groups in Lancashire. 2.2 Local Transport Plan Bus Strategy 2001-06 Central to the policies and measures contained in the Bus Strategy in the 2001 to 2006 Local Transport Plan was the creation of a virtuous circle of increased investment by both operators and the County Council working in partnership, leading to improved bus services, leading to increased use, and so on. On this basis, the County Council set a challenging target of increasing bus use by 10 % over the period subsequently increased to 11.5 % in accordance with its Public Service Agreement with the Government. The Bus Strategy consisted of a number of measures to improve the bus product in order to achieve these aims and these are described in subsequent sections. However, in common with most other transport authorities, Lancashire has suffered over the period of the last Local Transport Plan from the double problem of increasing operating costs in the bus industry (above normal inflation) leading operators to withdraw the more marginal services from their commercial networks. For the same reason of increasing costs in the bus industry, the County Council has seen above inflation tender price increases for both maintaining existing contracts and for replacing services withdrawn by operators. As a consequence, it has become increasingly difficult to maintain existing levels of service within a given level of financial resources.

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Nonetheless, there has been an overall growth in the number of bus passengers in the County since 2001 and improvements in overall public satisfaction with the bus network. 2.3 New Policy Context The policy context for the Bus Strategy 2006-2011 arises from the Government’s desire to deliver an inclusive society, a better environment and a better quality of life. The Government set out the role of improved transport in fulfilling its aims in the Transport White Paper “The Future of Transport” in July 2004. In addition, the County Council has agreed a set of corporate objectives, which were framed in response to the findings of extensive consultation. The corporate objectives are: To make Lancashire a good place to live, work and visit, now and in the future, a place where everybody matters, a place where people can:

• Feel safe. • Live healthy lives. • Get help when needed • Learn and develop. • Have jobs and a good standard of living. • Travel easily and safely. • Enjoy a high quality environment.

In developing the role of the bus in Lancashire there are a number of key themes that relate to the objectives of both central government and the County Council. These are set out below. a. Accessibility The term "Social Exclusion" describes the combined effect when people suffer from a range of related problems, such as unemployment, low income, poor skills, poor housing, high levels of crime and poor health. In February 2003 the Government’s Social Exclusion Unit issued a report called “Making the Connections”. This report examines the links between social exclusion, transport and the location of services. It focuses particularly on the barriers to people accessing those opportunities that have the most impact on life-chances, such as employment, education and healthcare. All local transport authorities are required to develop and implement an Accessibility Strategy as part of the Local Transport Plan 2006 - 2011. Accessibility planning focuses on promoting social inclusion by tackling the accessibility problems experienced by those in disadvantaged groups or areas. Tackling accessibility problems is more than just transport related. There are wide ranges of interventions that can be made through partnership working. These could include working with other agencies to achieve a more local delivery of services, or widening the times services are available. However, public transport in general and bus services in particular (including flexible forms of bus service) have a major role to play in tackling these issues. There are, however, barriers that need to be overcome before the bus can play its full part in overcoming

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accessibility problems. Barriers to the use of bus services for accessing essential opportunities and services include: The Availability of Transport Over the last few decades travel patterns have become more complex. Society has become organised around the use of the private car and many services and facilities that people need (including employment) have moved away from traditional urban centres and disappeared altogether from many rural communities. At the same time there has been a significant reduction in the extent of the bus network, particularly in areas away from main urban centres. However, in Lancashire, a sizable minority of people (25.6% of all households) do not have access to a car. For these people, even if they live close to a bus route, the service in question may not necessarily provide them with access to the full range of opportunities. Problems in rural areas can be especially acute for those who do not have access to private transport. In Lancashire, 15% of rural households do not have access to a car. Radial routes to and from centres historically dominate bus networks. However, supermarkets and new opportunities for employment and training are frequently located at the urban fringe where there is either no or limited public transport or, alternatively, necessitating long journeys by public transport, often requiring interchange between services, which may not be co-ordinated and perhaps requiring a further fare payment. Interchange is one of the key areas where the greatest numbers of barriers exist, notably:

It can add significant time to the journey; There can be additional cost due to the lack of through or multi operator ticketing; Personal safety at the interchange point can be a major concern, particularly where there is

an extended wait to continue the journey; A possible lack of familiarity with both the interchange point and/or the onward service.

In addition, major centres where there are frequent services require a focal point for public transport services wherever possible. Dispersed service departure points in city and town centres can prove a barrier to public transport use, especially for those who may be unfamiliar with the network. A further issue regarding interchange is the timing of connections. Uncertainty about making connections or simply connections requiring a lengthy wait can be a major barrier to public transport use. The Physical Accessibility of Buses Buses which are difficult to access for people with reduced mobility, whether as a result, for example, of age, disability, or a temporary impairment such as parents with young children in a pushchair are a major impairment to them accessing opportunities and services. Nationally, fourteen percent of adults have a physical disability or other long-term health problem that makes it difficult for them to use public transport. Bus access problems are usually caused by the vehicle having, sometimes, steep entrance steps, including the step up from the kerb. The Vehicle Accessibility Regulations, introduced following the Disability Discrimination Act,

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have been in force since August 2000. These presently require all new buses and coaches of over 22 seats to be fully accessible. However, single deck buses built before 1 October 2000 and used before 31 December 2000 do not have to meet the regulations until 1st January 2016. Double deck buses do not have to be compliant until 1 January 2017. This means that progress in introducing “easy access” vehicles may well be variable across Lancashire during the period of this Bus Strategy, although many operators have already fully converted some of their routes to “low floor” operation. There is also a need to cover the whole transport chain. In addition to designing bus stops to facilitate easy access and the need to keep them clear of parking, other physical barriers may exist that prevent people with mobility problems from getting to the bus stop. Accessibility may be further hindered for those with visual or hearing difficulties The Cost of Transport High fares can be a significant deterrent for those on low incomes. In Lancashire:

Bus fares have generally continued to rise in real terms. Research for the County Council in East Lancashire has shown that many people, perhaps

faced with needing to make a particular journey for the first time, can become anxious due to their unfamiliarity with the fares and ticketing on offer from any particular operator.

The lack of through or other form of multi-operator ticketing can add significantly to the

cost per mile of a journey where interchange, particularly between different operators, is required.

In rural areas the combination of the lack of public transport and the additional cost due to the generally longer journeys required has been demonstrated to be a significant barrier to access. Concessionary fares can be an important tool in tackling social exclusion amongst certain groups. However, only people of a pensionable age are presently covered by a statutory requirement within England. Safety and Security Fear of crime and anti-social behaviour can be a significant deterrent to the use of public transport, particularly for people who live in deprived areas where people are around five times more likely than those in the least deprived areas to say they are concerned. National research has shown that eighteen per cent of people would use buses more if personal security issues were tackled. Women and older people are most likely to be concerned about their security. Nationally, forty four per cent of women say that they feel unsafe at a bus stop after dark with eighteen per cent of people saying that they would use buses more if personal security issues were tackled. Specific barriers identified by the public in survey work in East Lancashire include:

The perception that using public transport at night may be unsafe.

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Having to wait for services increases the feeling of vulnerability. A perception of a low level of authority by bus drivers and other staff particularly in

relation to on-board anti-social behaviour. Connection locations that are not staffed or provided with Closed Circuit Television

coverage and, therefore, considered unsafe. Travel Horizons People on low incomes can be reluctant to travel long distances, or for a long time. This can be a particular problem for job seekers who may be unwilling to look for, or consider, job vacancies outside a narrow geographical area. Travel horizons can be limited because of:

Lack of trust and confidence that the bus will get them to where they need to be on time.

Lack of knowledge of how to use the public transport network. Often services are available for the journeys people want to make but lack of awareness or understanding means that these opportunities are not taken up. As a consequence, people often tend to look for opportunities, or travel to places that are familiar.

Instability of the network through frequent commercial service changes. b. Reducing Road Congestion In common with most other parts of the United Kingdom, road congestion is a growing problem in Lancashire. Excessive road congestion has a negative impact on quality of life. In so far as the role of buses is concerned:

Improved bus services are an important element in the overall “toolkit” for tackling congestion set out in detail in the Local Transport Plan, however;

Buses themselves can be the victims of congestion causing reliability problems for passengers and, in some cases, extra cost to the operator.

The Bus and Tackling Congestion By offering an alternative to the car, buses have the ability to help reduce peak time road congestion. However, to do this effectively the bus has to be an attractive alternative. Overcoming the barriers to delivering accessibility outlined in Section 2.3(a) will also help to promote the bus for certain journeys to existing car users. This is confirmed by recent interviews with non-bus users undertaken for the County Council in Lancaster and Chorley. Those interviewed were asked those factors that influenced their decision not to travel by bus and the key factors were identified as:

Fear of crime/anti-social behaviour particularly at night. Inadequate/poorly maintained waiting shelters. Inconveniently located bus stops. Buses difficult to access/poor vehicle design. Service too infrequent/no direct service. Lack of information on services and fares.

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Buses are considered unreliable. The same non-users were also asked to consider what courses of action might be taken by the County Council and operators to encourage them to travel by bus. The key actions to emerge are:

Improved journey times and reliability Better information, including at bus stops Charging for car use in town centres Better security both on and off the bus Increased service frequency Good interchange between routes and modes Simple, easy to understand fares structures Well maintained and lit stops and shelters Easy access vehicles Better availability of Travelcards and season tickets

Other survey work for the County Council in East Lancashire has highlighted that perceptions about the cost of public transport have a large impact on decisions whether to travel by public transport. Many car owners, for example, felt no need to even consider public transport having already invested in purchasing a car and the associated comfort and convenience, and that the cost of public transport would in any case for a particular journey be considerably more than those incurred making the same journey by car. The survey also highlighted a number of other specific barriers:

The lack of ease in obtaining advance information about fares for using bus services.

A perception that paying for a public transport journey is too complicated, including a lack of information on operators’ policy (and ability) for giving change and how to cost a journey involving interchange.

A perception that the bus is a slow mode of transport compared to the car, even in congested conditions. Some of Lancashire’s bus services have a low scheduled operating speed. For example, one inter-urban route in East Lancashire offers an end-to-end journey time equating to an average speed of just 8.3 mph. Even one of the main express bus routes linking East Lancashire with Central Manchester is only able to offer an average speed of just 14 mph on the section of route within Lancashire. This is unlikely to prove an attractive alternative for those with access to a car even where there are highway congestion problems.

Waiting time at interchanges can be a barrier to those who have alternative means of transport. The survey work highlighted that acceptable maximum interchange times varied considerably with the standard of interchange facility on offer, varying between 7 and 13 minutes.

The above illustrates the priority areas that will need to be tackled if the bus is to fulfil a role in alleviating the general problem of road congestion. There are, however, further measures that can be undertaken.

Park and Ride.

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Park and Ride allows people to drive from a disparate area and then travel by bus over the most congested part of their journey. Park and Ride can provide modal shift, assist in alleviating congestion and generally reduce traffic in main centres. However, to work to its full potential, there needs to be significant bus priority measures and/or a public perception that car parking in the centre is limited or relatively expensive.

Travel Plans There is growing evidence that interventions such as school and workplace travel planning can have an impact on car dependency and encourage consideration of the bus as the preferred means of travel. Congestion and Bus Punctuality The growth in road congestion is becoming a major problem for bus services in parts of Lancashire. Congestion not only extends journey times for bus passengers, but also is major contributor to unreliable services. Unreliable services act as a barrier to bus use for non-users and is also a major concern for existing users. Although the County Council has no specific evidence of this happening in Lancashire, one possible response from operators to varying levels of congestion and to meet the Traffic Commissioner’s present target of 95% of services to operate within a window of no more than one minute early and no more than five minutes late, is to lengthen journey times. However, this has the detrimental effect of:

• Deterring modal shift • When traffic conditions are good, this can lead to early running or waiting time (to the

annoyance of passengers). The Traffic Management Act 2004 imposes a new duty on local transport authorities to manage their network so as to secure the expeditious movement of all traffic (including pedestrians and cyclists). As part of this duty, the County Council is required to appoint a Traffic Manager, whose remit will be to direct the authority’s actions to minimise the disruption to road users from congestion. The Network Management Duty guidance issued by the Government says: ”Where necessary, Local Transport Authorities should work with the relevant parties, including Traffic Commissioners and bus operators in formulating and implementing improvement plans for bus punctuality”. The County Council is required to set a target for bus punctuality within the Local Transport Plan. c. Air Quality Air pollution can have a serious effect on people’s health. One of the main sources of air pollution is road transport, particularly in urban areas. In Lancashire, the district councils are responsible for local air quality management and have the responsibility for designating air

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quality management areas when levels of nitrogen dioxide and particles reach designated levels. At present in Lancashire there is one designated air quality management area (Lancaster) although the districts of Preston, Burnley and South Ribble are at present moving towards possible designation within the next few years. The Bus Strategy will assist in improving air quality in a number of ways, which can be summarised as follows:

• By making the bus an attractive and genuine alternative to rising car use and congestion.

• Through the encouragement of operators to introduce modern easy access vehicles with improved emission standards ahead of the deadline in the Vehicle Accessibility Regulations.

• Increasingly specifying the use of modern easy access and green-fuelled vehicles on

County Council contracts.

• Encouraging the trial of new technologies, including hybrid buses powered by bio diesel and using electric power in main centres.

d. Improving Road Safety Making the bus an attractive and genuine alternative to using the car will be crucial in constraining car growth and, as a consequence, will help to reduce the number of road accidents. The barriers to bus travel that will need to be overcome have already been identified in Section 2.3. e. Other “Quality of Life” and Economic Objectives There are a number of local objectives of the County Council to which bus services and associated facilities can make a contribution. The key areas are: Economic Regeneration Economic regeneration is a priority in many parts of Lancashire both urban and rural. The bus will play a key role in ensuring sustainable access for all to newly created opportunities. Quality of Public Space Poor quality public transport infrastructure such as badly maintained or vandalised bus shelters or poor quality/run down bus station buildings can lead to poor quality public space. Sustainable Tourism Good accessibility to key tourism locations is fundamental. However, at present, most tourist activity in Lancashire is car based. This leads to two problems: firstly, the inability of people without access to a car to reach such destinations and secondly, the creation of “honeyspots”

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where traffic congestion is causing a significant debasement of the “experience” of the visitor. Good public transport can assist with both of these problems. Supporting the Rural Economy Car ownership is much higher in Lancashire’s rural areas and because the population is much less concentrated than in the more urban parts of the County, public transport is more difficult to sustain. Never the less, buses, complemented by community-based transport do have a major role to play in supporting the rural economy. Good quality public transport in rural areas ensure that those without access to private transport can access key services and facilities whilst at the same time ensuring access to the countryside, rural businesses etc for people from the more urban areas. 2.4 Objectives and Policies of the Bus Strategy 2006-2011 To achieve the aims and objectives of the Local Transport Plan for Lancashire and the Core Objectives of the County Council, it is proposed to adopt the following Bus Strategy objectives: BUS STRATEGY: OBJECTIVE ONE To ensure that the bus network, including flexibly routed and community based services, makes a positive and sustainable contribution to the objectives of the County Council’s Accessibility Strategy and increasingly contributes to creating an inclusive society. BUS STRATEGY OBJECTIVE TWO To improve the quality of bus services for passengers and prospective passengers so as to ensure buses provide an attractive alternative to the private car and contribute fully to the County Council’s overall policies for reducing road congestion, reducing road accidents and improving air quality. This will be achieved through the following policies: BS1 Ensure that improvements to the quality, frequency, reliability and availability of

commercial bus services are secured through partnership working with bus operators and other agencies throughout the next Local Transport Plan period.

BS2 Implement a rigorous and transparent approach to bus service subsidies, including

Rural Bus Subsidy Grant (RBSG), based on clear priorities and a performance framework that assists the County Council in determining the optimum level of public transport provision to meet the objectives of the Bus Strategy and the Accessibility Strategy, including flexible and community based transport, for any given community.

BS3 Work in partnership with bus operators and other agencies to deliver targeted cost-

effective and socially inclusive multi-operator ticketing schemes that remove some of the barriers to public transport use.

BS4 Ensure that users and potential users of the bus network have access to good quality

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information at all stages of their journey, including those with visual or hearing impairments.

BS5 Improve actual and perceived safety of bus travel, including minimising incidents of

anti-social behaviour, to ensure bus users feel safe throughout their whole journey. BS6 Provide bus passengers with a waiting environment that is comfortable, secure and

provides easy access to buses whilst projecting an image of high quality. This includes the further development of measures to tackle incidents of vandalism at bus stops and interchanges.

BS7 Improve the integration of bus service timetables at key interchange points so as to

minimise the wait time for people needing to access key opportunities and services not located in town/city centres. This will include better integration with rail timetables at Bus/Rail interchanges.

BS8 Investigate the feasibility of introducing a 16 to 19 years old Concessionary Travel

Scheme to encourage people within this age group to make use of public transport to access a wide range of education, training and employment opportunities and other services and facilities.

BS9 Continue to work with employers, schools and other partners to promote, produce

and implement Travel Plans that overcome barriers to the use of public transport and encourage people to consider and use alternatives to the private car.

BS10 Adopt a consistent approach to developer contributions to fund additional public

transport services and facilities where existing facilities (if any) are considered inadequate to meet the policy requirements of the Local Transport Plan.

BS11 Encourage and explore avenues to assist operators attain early compliance with the

Vehicle Accessibility Regulations. In addition the County Council will, where appropriate and affordable, improve the physical accessibility and environmental requirements in its own local bus contract specification. Priority for the introduction of easy access buses on County Council contracts will be determined through the accessibility planning process.

BS12 Agree with bus operators a voluntary Code of Conduct on Service Stability to

limit timetable changes to a set number of predetermined dates each year. BS13 Work with local communities on a targeted basis to develop safe walking routes to

bus stops. BS14 Subject to the availability of financial resources at the time, consider pump-priming

improvements to commercial bus services where it can be demonstrated that the proposal will be commercially viable after an agreed period of time and will make a significant contribution to achieving the overall objectives of the Bus Strategy.

BS15 Implement a programme of bus based park and ride schemes where these will make

the greatest contribution to reducing road congestion.

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BS 16 Encourage the introduction of buses using proven alternative fuel technologies and

the trial of new technologies. BS17 Work in partnership with the bus operators to identify and overcome problems on

those parts of the road network where congestion is causing bus reliability to fall short of the targets set by the Traffic Commissioners.

BS 18 Maintain a coordinating role for the Countywide Concessionary Fares Scheme,

including the continuing development of NowCard, reflecting the importance the County Council attaches to the scheme’s contribution to tackling social exclusion.

BS19 Assess the likely impact and value for money of introducing a programme of Yellow

School Bus Schemes in Lancashire to test the effectiveness in reducing the effect of the “school run” and their potential effect on road safety, pupil behaviour and educational performance and attendance.

It should be noted that the County Council will continue to refine its Accessibility Strategy throughout 2005 and early 2006. There may be some changes or additions to the above draft policies as a result of this work.

3. BUS STRATEGY 2006 TO 2011 - KEY ACTION AREAS 3.1 The County Council Supported Bus Network

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In 2004/5, the County Council allocated a budget of £4.58 million net of fares and other revenue to supplement the commercial network in order to achieve an acceptable level of overall provision of bus services. In addition, the Government, by way of Rural Bus Subsidy Grant (RBSG), provided a further £1.069 million. The County Council has set support (excluding Rural Bus Subsidy Grant) at £5.19 million net of forecast revenue and other income for 2005/6. RBSG will be £1.2 million. At present, the County Council’s criteria for the financial support of bus services not provided on a commercial basis are aimed primarily at maintaining service levels, subject to services meeting a minimum financial threshold of then meeting at least 20% of their cost and incurring a subsidy of no more than £2 per passenger journey. Services supported through Rural Bus Subsidy Grant are treated differently in that they have been subject to a subsidy per passenger of no more than £10 per passenger journey (see below). There have been a significant number of commercial services de-registered over the last few years and growth in tender prices have been well above general inflation. This had led to severe pressure on the County Council’s revenue budget. Where the County Council has been unable to meet the full cost of maintaining service levels due to budget constraints, services have been reduced on a selective basis. This has been done, wherever possible, with regard to the availability of reasonable alternative services and that minimum service levels would apply in areas where bus services were provided as at 1st July 1999. The benchmark minimum level of bus service is as follows: JOURNEY PURPOSE MINIMUM SERVICE

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Employment/Training Two return journeys per day (Monday to Saturday

Shopping Three return journeys per day (Monday to Saturday

Evening or Leisure Four return journeys per day (Monday to Saturday

Sunday Travel Four return journeys The introduction of RBSG by the Government in 1998 provided a new opportunity to improve public transport provision in rural areas. The Government has recently announced that the Grant will continue until at least March 2008. As a result of extensive consultation, the County Council developed a criterion for the use of the grant. This applied a benchmark service level for each community dependent on its population, but subject to new services after at least twelve months of operation not exceeding a subsidy greater than the £10 per passenger journey. This benchmark service level is set out in the table below: -

No of (Return) Trips to a Designated Centre for: Settlement Population

Employment/ Training

Shopping Healthcare/ Hospital

Evening/ Leisure

50-149 Nil 1 per week 1 per week Nil 150-449 1 per day

Mon-Fri 2 per day on 2 days

1 per day on 2 days

1 evening per week

450-999 1 per day Mon-Sat

2 per day Mon-Sat

1 per day 3 evenings per week + 2 per Sunday

1,000-2,499 2 per day Mon-Sat

3 per day Mon-Sat

2 per day + 2 evenings visiting

per week

2 per evening + 3 per Sunday

2,500-10,000 Minimum 2-hourly service 0700-1900 Mon-Sat

4 per day + daily visiting including

evenings

4 per evening + 4 per Sunday

The following table shows the proportion of rural communities that had bus service levels at or above the benchmark level in 2003/4.

EMPLOYMENT 90% SHOPPING 93% EVENINGS 85% SUNDAYS 86%

It should be noted that some rural bus services introduced to meet the benchmark have now been withdrawn due to not achieving the required maximum subsidy per passenger journey. Why Change? The Need for Reform The present support criteria are only based on financial thresholds and take no account of the contribution a local bus service might make to either local or national objectives. In addition, it has meant that the role of the County Council has largely been one of responding to changes

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made by operators to the commercial network i.e. maintaining previous service levels wherever possible. There has been some development of the supported network, particularly in response to the Rural Bus Subsidy Grant and Government Challenge funding. However, these developments have largely taken place on the basis of opportunity rather than through any systematic approach. The County Council, therefore, proposes to reform its policy for supporting local bus services. This is to ensure, in particular, that financial support for bus services aligns itself far more closely to the Shared Priorities with Government, the County Council’s own Core Objectives and the objectives of local Community Strategies than it does at present. The County Council also wishes to ensure that it is getting best value for the revenue resources that are available. The County Council is proposing to achieve this through:

Maintaining and proactively developing a core supported bus network in order to support the accessibility standards set out in the Local Transport Plan Accessibility Strategy and to develop these services to reach there full potential in contributing to other Local Transport Plan targets.

Ensuring that the County Council together with partner organisations can develop targeted

and cost-effective solutions to accessibility problems where securing conventional bus services does not meet the criteria for the core-supported network. This includes the ability to engage effectively with other potential funding partners.

Ensuring that the County Council can proactively promote the improvement of commercial

bus services where this intervention can be demonstrated to both grow the public transport market and contribute to reduced road congestion and/or improved accessibility (The strategy for this is set out in Section 3.2).

However, it should be noted that the County Council’s overall budget may continue to be subject to pressures, both internal and external, and priorities may change. In addition the difficulty in predicting the effect of any commercial service withdrawals may continue to add to the difficulties in maintaining a stable supported network. Rural Services The introduction by the Government of the Rural Bus Subsidy Grant in 1998 created the opportunity for proactive intervention by the County Council in the provision of rural public transport. However, the present “benchmark” setting out target minimum service levels for rural communities (see above) has not proved to be totally appropriate for the following reasons.

• The rural “benchmark” does not take into account the differing accessibility requirements of individual communities of a similar size and had led to “one size fits all” solutions that have not always achieved value for money. The “benchmark” does not, for example, take into account the possible extra needs of rural “lagging” wards. This has, in particular, proved to be the case where individual communities have populations of less than about 1,000 people.

• At the time the “benchmark” was devised, the use of the Government’s Rural Bus Grant

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was limited to financially supporting the provision of additional conventional bus services in rural areas. The criteria have now been changed so as to allow its use to support less conventional solutions, which might allow financial resources to be targeted more effectively.

• The “benchmark” does not take into account the desirability of providing access to the

countryside and the value of such access to the rural economy. In addition, whilst the setting of a very high threshold of £10 subsidy per passenger appeared appropriate for new bus services introduced with RBSG to allow time for patronage to grow, subsidy of this level is clearly neither value for money nor sustainable in the longer term. It should be noted that the Rural Bus Subsidy Grant budget has also become increasingly under pressure because:

Annual contract price inflation is outstripping the annual grant increase;

The County Council has been successful in attracting short-term grant funding for new/innovative rural bus services through the Government’s Rural Bus Challenge programme. As grant for these services is coming to an end, successful schemes will need to receive continuation funding. This is presently being achieved largely through including support for such services within finite RBSG funding.

The consequence has been that a number of rural services meeting the above threshold have had to be withdrawn on a selective basis. Transport Procurement Unit In order to ensure that the County Council is getting best value from its overall expenditure on transport, in November 2004, the County Council set up a new Transport Procurement Unit. The Unit has brought together all the planning and procurement of public transport services throughout the County and will look to provide better value for money solutions and at the best way to provide services from the current mixture of local bus services, demand responsive services, community transport and transport provided for social services. In addition, healthcare transport is provided by local Primary Care Trusts in both urban and rural areas. Discussions have already been held with local Primary Care Trusts and the Ambulance Patient Transport services on how better integration of services might be achieved. Proposed Future Criteria for the Financial Support of Bus Services Financially supporting conventional bus services may not always be the most appropriate or cost-effective way of achieving optimum public transport provision so as to minimise accessibility issues. As a consequence the County Council is proposing to adopt the following approach to both the core-supported network and rural services: Core Supported Bus Network

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a. Bus Support Strategy (other than areas defined as rural). 1. Withdraw the financial threshold for service support of no more than £2 per

passenger journey. This presently causes a distortion in favour of providing subsidy for short distance services over longer distance services and takes no account of the value of an individual service in helping meet the County Council’s objectives and the Shared Priorities.

2. Introduce a new threshold for the minimum proportion of the cost of a supported service, including any proposed new services arising out of accessibility planning, to be met by users through the fare box. This will normally be 40% for all new or renewed contracts as opposed to 20% at present. This is based on the premise that 40% cost recovery is a reasonable indicator that a service is well supported by the public and that it fulfilling a variety of need. (However, such an indicator will always be arbitrary).

3. Introduce a value for money test for existing or new services where between 20% and 40% of the cost is or estimated to be met through the fare box. The test will be based on the measured contribution of the service to the County Council’s objectives. This will allow the County Council to prioritise the bus services it financially supports in accordance with its core objectives and the availability of financial resources as any one time. The proposed scoring system is at Table One below.

4. Identify services that have the greatest potential within the supported network for passenger growth (with the relevant operator where part commercial) and develop quality enhancement packages aimed at both increasing ridership and reducing the level of financial support.

Rural Bus Service Support Strategy (areas eligible for Rural Bus Subsidy Grant). The County Council will be looking towards supporting the best mix of fixed bus services, flexible bus services, and voluntary/community transport to meet the needs of rural resident and to provide access to the countryside. The County Council does not intend to retain the financial threshold for service support in rural areas of no more than £10 per passenger journey. This will be replaced by a new threshold for the minimum proportion of the cost of a supported service, including any proposed new services arising out of accessibility planning, to be met by users through the fare box. This will normally be 40% for all new or renewed contracts. Services where generally between 20% and 40% of cost is being met through the fare box will be subject to a value for money test based on its overall contribution to the County Council’s objectives. The proposed scoring system is as at Table One. Rural services will be subject, however, to an additional weighting reflecting the lower levels of population and to take into account the wider benefits of such services to the rural economy. It is proposed to define three levels of bus service (including flexible services) for rural areas: Category A - Services providing direct links between major centres but serving intermediate

areas classed as rural.

These services are mostly provided on a commercial basis on at least an hourly frequency but with the County Council sometimes financially supporting journeys at certain times of

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the day or week. Usually more than 80% of the route mileage would be within areas classed as rural and at least 70% of journeys across the week operated on a commercial basis.

Services falling into this category have significant potential to be developed further in that they:

• Provide links between the main urban centres of the County and into neighbouring

areas and could offer an alternative to the private car;

• Offer the widest opportunities for people in the rural communities served to access essential services;

• Offer the biggest opportunity within rural areas to effect some transfer of existing journeys from car to public transport.

• Offer the potential for local interchange points with other rural services operating on a demand responsive basis, including through ticketing.

The County Council is proposing: To identify with the relevant operators those services that have the greatest potential

for passenger growth based on a service development package that will bring significant accessibility benefits to the rural communities served.

To establish during the Plan period, from within its Rural Bus Services Grant, a

budget to enter into possible “Kickstart” agreements where the County Council considers the service development package will to bring the enhanced service to commercial viability within a set period of time.

To prioritise emerging proposals in order to achieve maximum benefit for the

available financial resources The County Council’s full approach to “Kickstart” funding is set out in Section 3.2.

Category B – Services that provide direct links between market towns or into major

centres/market towns from larger rural settlements These are services that would provide the core rural bus network funded primarily through RBSG and have the following characteristics:

• Unlikely to be provided on a commercial basis. • At least 80% of the route mileage would be within areas classed as rural.

• Have the potential to play a significant role in providing transport from rural areas to

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education establishments.

• Offer the potential for local interchange points with other rural services operating on a demand responsive basis, including through ticketing.

• Have a limited demand responsive element to allow smaller nearby settlements or

nearby tourist destinations to be served as required.

• Have the potential to give greater value for money in the longer term through the inclusion of the service in a rural “kickstart” initiative.

As part of the accessibility planning process, it is proposed to define the routes falling into this category and adopt the following target minimum service level benchmark (subject to the availability of financial resources):

Target No of (Return) Trips to a Designated Centre or Interchange for: Rural

Population served by the

route*

Employment/ Training

Shopping Healthcare/ Hospital

Evening/ Leisure

2,000-4,000 2 per day Mon-Sat

3 per day Mon-Sat

2 per day + 2 evenings visiting

per week

2 per evening + 3 per Sunday

4,000-10,000 Minimum 2-hourly service 0700-1900 Mon-Sat

4 per day + daily visiting including

evenings

4 per evening + 4 per Sunday

*Defined as population living within 400 metres walking distance of the route outside the major centre or market town (where over 10,000 in population).

For the purposes of determining the revenue to cost ratio of providing a service, where statutory schoolchildren are carried, the County Council will determine the cost of alternative provision and deduct this from the price of the contract. Category C - Serving rural populations of under 2000 people

As mentioned above, the County Council’s experience with “one size fits all” solutions to meeting the transport needs of rural communities has not always achieved best value.

Where conventional bus services (including flexible services) are provided or proposed, they will be expected to meet the core criteria for financial support as detailed above and will be subject to a value for money test (including the rural weighting and an allowance for any statutory schoolchildren) where at least 40% of cost is not met through revenue. For settlements classified as rural and not served by the core rural bus network defined above, the County Council will consider the best value solutions that are available to meet the accessibility needs of those communities based on the priorities to be established in the County Council’s Accessibility Strategy. This will include options such as demand responsive transport, community based solutions including social car schemes, or integrating with other available transport in the area such as that provided for Special Education Needs or Social Services Clients, or integrated with Transport

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provided for local Primary Care Trusts. The County Council will refer options for meeting accessibility needs to the relevant Local Accessibility Partnership (see below).

Community and Accessible Transport Strategy

In 2003/4, community transport schemes carried over 216,000 passengers. The demand for community transport (CT) services is ever increasing and outstrips supply. The County Council has provided additional financial resources to increase the provision of CT services and new weekend and evening services have been provided in various parts of the County. The County Council presently financially supports seven CT groups providing dial-a-bus and dial-a-ride services and fifteen community car schemes. CT services must be considered as an integral part of the public transport network although barriers to the full integration of services do still exist. The main barrier is that CT providers generally operate dial –a-ride and dial-a-bus services under Section 19 of the Transport Act, 1985. This restricts use to certain groups of the public. However, a growing number of CT groups have become full PSV operators and the County Council intends to give every encouragement to other non-PSV groups to obtain this status. This will allow such groups to play a full part in the provision of local transport services especially where recognised needs cannot be met cost-effectively through the provision of a conventional bus service as per the proposed criteria as set out below.

Value for Money Test for Conventional Bus Services

The County Council is proposing to use the test as set out in Table 1. As mentioned, the table is designed to ensure that where conventional bus services are operating at below 40% cost recovery, the money spent is targeted at the County Council’s accessibility priorities. Whilst the County Council considers that services/contracts that achieve a score of above 30 will be considered to achieve value for money, the table is also designed to allow the County Council to prioritise the services it supports when the available revenue budgets are insufficient to cover all the demands placed upon it.

TABLE ONE – VALUE FOR MONEY TEST FOR CONVENTIONAL BUS SERVICES MEETING LESS THAN 40% OF THEIR COST FROM REVENUE

CRITERIA MEASURE SCORE

AVERAGE PASSENGERS PER JOURNEY INCLUDING STATUTORY SCHOOLCHILDREN (derived from surveys or ticket machine data).

20 or more 15 to 20 10 to 15 5 to 10 1 to 5

10 8 6 4 2

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PRIMARY JOURNEY PURPOSE (Either direct or via an interchange) Where a journey has more than one primary journey purpose the score will be combined.

Employment Essential shopping Education/Training Health Facilities Journey supporting access to the evening economy Access to Leisure facilities. Non-essential shopping Other

10 10 10 10 5 5 3 0

RURAL SERVICES WEIGHTING Services where at least 80% of the route mileage is within areas classed as rural.

General weighting Provides access to Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty or tourist “honeyspots”. Provides for leisure visits to the countryside other than above

10 8 4

INDEX OF MULTIPLE DEPRIVATION FOR EACH WARD SERVED (Where availability of alternative public transport is greater than 400 metres)

Worst 5% 5-25% 26-50% 51-75% 76-95% Best 5%

20 16 12 8 4 0

Where an existing or proposed contracted conventional bus service achieves less than a score of 30 the County Council will consider the best value solutions that are available to meet the accessibility needs of those communities. This will include options such as community based solutions, or integrating with other available transport in the area such as that provided for Special Education Needs or Social Services Clients, or integrated with Transport provided for local Primary Care Trusts. The County Council will refer options for meeting accessibility needs to the relevant Local Accessibility Partnership (see below). Conventional bus services provided under contract to the County Council that do not recoup at least 20% of their total cost will generally not be supported by the County Council other than in the very short term whilst an accessibility audit and value for money solutions to cater for identified need are considered. It is intended that this process will be completed no later than March 2007. It should be noted

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that the above criteria are not intended to in any way to fossilise the supported network, even where services or journeys achieve value for money. The County Council will use accessibility planning to assess changes in need independently of changes to the commercial bus network. Development of the conventional supported network will continue to take place to ensure that services continue to deliver best value and contribute to the objectives of the Bus Strategy. Requests from the public for additional or new bus services will be investigated and prioritised through the accessibility planning process. Local Accessibility Development Partnerships One possible approach to identifying potential cross-sector solutions to accessibility problems within a defined area would be for each district council based Local Strategic Partnership in the County to instigate an Accessibility Development Partnership. From a public transport perspective, the partnership would be charged, for example, with:

• Determining the local priority areas for action, both urban and rural;

• Considering potential solutions developed by the County Council’s Transport Procurement Unit:

• Determining the resources available across the Partnership, including, for example,

financial resources and the availability of vehicles; PROPOSED POLICY CONTRIBUTION OF

ABOVE MEASURES BS2 Implement a rigorous and transparent approach to

bus service subsidies, including Rural Bus Subsidy Grant, based on clear priorities and a performance framework that assists the County Council in determining the optimum level of public transport provision to meet the objectives of the Bus Strategy and the Accessibility Strategy, including flexible and community based transport, for any given community.

HIGH

Quality of Vehicles on Contracted Services The County Council currently operates a maximum age threshold of 10 years for contracts operated by minibuses. On selected routes the County Council has specified the mandatory use of easy access vehicles or has issued tenders where operators have been invited to submit prices for the contract on the basis of providing both low floor and non-low floor vehicles to allow value for money comparisons to be made. The County Council has purchased a number of vehicles for use on rural, demand responsive or challenge funded contracts. Why Change?

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All bus services operated on behalf of the County Council will have to conform to the Vehicle Accessibility Regulations by the prescribed dates (single deck buses built before 1 October 2000 and used before 31st December 2000 do not have to meet the regulations until 1st January 2016. Double deck buses do not have to be compliant until 1st January 2017). However, the introduction of modern, easy access vehicles on contracted services ahead of the regulatory requirement would make a significant contribution to overcoming barriers to accessibility. The use of low-emission vehicles on contracts would also contribute, in a less substantial but worthwhile way, to the Local Transport Plan congestion and air quality strategies. It is intended, therefore, to take a proactive approach to improving the quality of vehicles on contracted services. Three options are available for this:

• The County Council specifies the minimum standard of vehicle it will allow to be used on the contract, with the operator supplying the vehicle(s);

• The County Council purchases or leases the vehicles required for a contract and

invites tenders on that basis;

• A mixture of the above approaches. There are a number of potential financial benefits to the local authority of being able to purchase buses to be used in contracted services, particularly those contracts that only require the use of one or two vehicles:

• The County Council may be able to get better terms for purchase or lease than, in particular, a small operator;

• The County Council has a greater degree of flexibility where it owns a mixed size

fleet. This means that buses can relatively easily be moved between contracts where, for example, a capacity problem materialises. This flexibility would not exist if separate individual operators owned the vehicles.

• The whole life cost of a contract to the County Council could well be reduced. A

smaller operator may well choose to write down the whole cost of obtaining a vehicle to the required standard early in the contract. This could arise where the operator sees no further commercial use for the vehicle once the contract is ended. Vehicles owned by the County Council could be transferred where a contract changes hands or re-deployed to other parts of the network.

• It allows experimental services to be operated with high quality vehicles without

the operator having to take the risk on finding alternative uses for the vehicles if the experiment is unsuccessful.

• The approach may well enable a larger number of operators to bid for contracts

therefore increasing competition. Financing the provision of high quality easy access vehicles would not be a possibility for all operators: hence they could be deterred from bidding.

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There are, however, limitations to the applicability to this approach. In summary these limitations are:

The availability of capital finance in any one financial year to enable the purchase or lease of vehicles by the County Council will restrict the widespread application of this approach;

The County Council will need to have in place a robust vehicle replacement policy,

bearing in mind likely future limitations on both capital and revenue spend.

Subject to the approval of Parliament, the proposed increase in permitted maximum contract lengths from five to eight years might encourage more operators to invest themselves in high quality vehicles by giving them a higher level of certainty on the return for their investment.

Operators may be dissuaded from tendering, or submit higher prices, should the

vehicle(s) supplied not fit with their engineering profile. The County Council is proposing the following measures:

Adopt a mixed approach to improving the specification of vehicles on its contracted services dependent on which approach gives best value for any individual contract and the availability of resources for the County Council to purchase/lease vehicles.

Pursue a progressive improvement to the accessibility of contracted bus services with

a target of 60% of public contracts operated with vehicles meeting the Bus Accessibility Regulations by March 2011. Priority will be given to (in order of importance):

Contracts providing services to target areas/groups determined through the

accessibility planning process;

Contracted services that will make use of facilities provided under a Statutory Quality Partnership (see Section 3.2);

Contracted services that provide infill/evening/weekend journeys where the commercial operator(s) provides the service with easy access vehicles.

3. Subject to Parliamentary approval for the proposed regulatory changes, trial on a

limited number of contracts an increase in contract lengths from five to eight years to test the desirability of this approach in achieving best value in achieving a progressive improvement to the accessibility of contracted bus services.

PROPOSED POLICY CONTRIBUTION OF

ABOVE MEASURE BS11 Encourage and explore avenues to assist operators

attain early compliance with the Vehicle

HIGH

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Accessibility Regulations. In addition the County Council will, where appropriate and affordable, improve the physical accessibility and environmental requirements in its own local bus contract specification. Priority for the introduction of easy access buses on County Council contracts will be determined through the accessibility planning process.

3.2 Improving Services – Partnership Working with the Bus Industry Present Position The Local Transport Plan 2001-6 endorsed the establishment of Quality Partnerships to take forward major improvements to commercial bus services. Quality Partnerships are a joint approach by local authorities and bus operators, in co-operation with the enforcement agencies, with the aim of making significant improvements to a specific bus route or a group of routes, including, where appropriate, bus priority measures. There are two types of quality partnership:

Voluntary Quality Partnership where there is an agreement between the County Council, relevant bus operator(s) and possibly others (e.g. district council, enforcement agencies) to enhance bus services in a defined area or corridor;

Statutory Quality Partnership; the Transport Act 2000 allowed for these to be implemented

by local transport authorities as part of their Bus Strategy. Essentially they are similar to Voluntary Partnerships in terms of the partners involved and the objectives. However, where the County Council provides facilities such as new shelters or bus lanes, under a Statutory Partnership it also sets the standard of vehicle allowed to make use of such facilities. Operators may not access those facilities unless they give an undertaking to the Traffic Commissioner that they will meet the requirements. This approach effectively excludes sub-standard services in terms of vehicle quality. A Statutory Quality Partnership must be in operation for a minimum of five years.

Since 1999, the County Council has established eleven Voluntary Quality Partnerships with bus operators. Six schemes are now in full operation with a further five at the planning stage or in the course of implementation. Our experience to date has shown that where there is a true commitment from all partners to improve the bus product, significant increases in use can be achieved. On some quality bus routes, patronage increases of over 20% have been achieved. There are no Statutory Quality Partnerships at present within Lancashire. A summary of the achievements to date with completed quality bus projects is at Appendix A: Why Change? There is a need to ensure that the County Council can proactively promote the improvement of commercial bus services where this intervention can be demonstrated to both grow the public transport market and contribute to reduced road congestion and/or improved accessibility.

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In many ways, the quality partnership approach to route or network enhancements has to date proved successful. However, there are a number of areas of concern. The main issues that have arisen with quality partnerships in Lancashire are:

• The selection of routes/corridors to be upgraded has been narrowly focused i.e. based on reaching consensus with the bus operator concerned rather than necessarily targeting corridors or networks that would bring the maximum benefits for the investment in terms of the shared priorities.

• Our experience suggests that all partners need a clearer understanding from the outset as

to the intended outcomes to be achieved through working together and the obligations required to achieve those outcomes.

Retaining agreed standards has sometimes been a problem for all partners, including, for

example, driver training in customer care, bus cleanliness and the enforcement of parking restrictions at bus stops. From the local authority side, on-going asset management/maintenance once the scheme is introduced has, in some cases, been unsatisfactory. (See sections 3.3 and 3.4).

On multi-operator corridors some operators have not wished to take part in the quality

partnership. This has led to the use of the enhanced facilities by non-partnership operators who are not willing/able to provide easy access vehicles and continue to use older, less accessible vehicles and drive down quality.

Frequent changes to timetables on certain schemes, after introduction, have led to excessive

public information costs and public confusion. (See Section 3.7) In addition, the County Council is now required to include in the Local Transport Plan formal targets for improving bus punctuality in Lancashire. The County Council endorses the principles set by the national Bus Partnership Forum in that the best way to improve performance is through the establishment of Bus Punctuality Improvement Partnerships covering the local areas where reliability is considered to be a problem. A further option for improving bus services is the “Kickstart” approach put forward initially by Stagecoach. Under this concept, funding is aimed at service improvements that will ultimately become commercial services once the “pump-priming” funding finishes (usually after three years). Until recently, the Quality Partnership approach has been the only effective means for the County Council to influence service provision but this has been limited to the operators’ willingness to respond to infrastructure and marketing/information initiatives. Two recent Government initiatives have changed this position:

• The Transport Act 2000 has clarified the powers of local authorities to procure enhancements to otherwise commercial services;

• Changes to the limits on payments to bus operators that can be made without

competitive tendering. Up until recently these limits have been very restrictive (£12,000 per service and £60,000 per operator per service, per annum). Local authorities with forecast expenditure on bus service subsidies of more than £600,000 in any one year are now able to spend up to 25% without competitive tendering and with no limit on the

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expenditure on an individual contract or with an individual operator, subject to satisfying other UK and European Union Regulations on procurement and State Aids.

The County Council believes that there are strong arguments for it to take a more pro-active role in the development of the bus network where this intervention can be demonstrated to both grow the public transport market and contribute to reduced road congestion and/or improved accessibility. In order to overcome the areas of concern above and improve the approach generally, and in the light of the likely availability of financial resources, the County Council is proposing the following: The County Council will invite bus operators to put forward proposals for Partnerships working as follows: Statutory Quality Partnerships

Operators will be invited to put forward proposals for a comprehensive approach to improving services, including reliability and increasing bus use. The County Council wishes to target capital funding to where maximum growth in passengers can be achieved most cost-effectively. Kickstart Operators will be invited to put forward proposals that will meet one or more of the following criteria:

The proposal will make a significant contribution to meeting the County Council’s

Accessibility Strategy within the corridor or local network and is value for money;

The proposal will make a significant and quantified contribution to reducing road

congestion/improving air quality within one of the County Council’s targeted priority areas and is value for money.

The proposal will ensure the on-going commercial viability within an urban area of a

major corridor or local network and where the operator can demonstrate that the proposal achieves value for money over the County Council tendering for replacement services.

The above policy will be implemented in the light of the guidance issued by the Department for Transport in April 2005 regarding European Public Services Contract and State Aid rules. Local Bus Punctuality Improvement Partnerships.

Operators will be invited to put forward proposals for the establishment of Local Bus Punctuality Improvement Partnerships.

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Priority will be given to establishing partnerships with those operators who:

a. Can demonstrate that traffic congestion is having a detrimental effect on service reliability or has necessitated significant additional time to be inserted into the schedule, and;

b. Are willing to agree a method for data collection and report regularly to

the County Council, on a confidential basis.

Each Bus Punctuality Partnership will be expected to have produced within six months of its establishment an agreed Bus Punctuality Improvement Plan that represents a joint commitment to achieving a continuous improvement in the punctuality of the defined bus service over an agreed period

To ensure that major improvements are achieved through the overall partnership approach:

All partners will be required at the outset to sign a Memorandum of Understanding

setting out their agreed obligations under the partnership. This will include a firm agreement to ensure that all new publicly funded assets are continuously maintained to a high standard and to how such maintenance would be funded.

The County Council will give high priority to ensuring the reliability and efficiency of

services through a range of active and passive measures including improved general traffic management, bus lanes, priority at traffic signal controlled junctions, giving bus services priority when designing new traffic management schemes and the enforcement of parking and loading restrictions though ParkWise.

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Cross-Boundary Services Where appropriate, the County council will work with neighbouring authorities to promote cross-boundary partnerships, including the Unitary Authorities of Blackpool and Blackburn with Darwen. PROPOSED POLICY CONTRIBUTION OF

ABOVE MEASURES BS1 Ensure that improvements to the quality, frequency

and availability of commercial bus services are secured through partnership working with bus operators and other agencies throughout the next Local Transport Plan period.

HIGH

BS4 Ensure that users and potential users of the bus network have access to good quality information at all stages of their journey, including those with visual or hearing impairments.

MEDIUM

BS6 Provide bus passengers with a waiting environment that is comfortable, secure and provides easy access to buses whilst projecting an image of high quality. This includes the further development of measures to tackle incidents of vandalism at bus stops and interchanges.

HIGH

BS14 The County Council will, subject to the availability of financial resources at the time, consider pump-priming improvements to commercial bus services where it can be demonstrated that the proposal will be commercially viable after an agreed period of time and will make a significant contribution to achieving the overall objectives of the Bus Strategy.

HIGH

BS17 Work in partnership with the bus operators to identify and overcome problems on those parts of the road network where congestion is causing bus reliability to fall short of the targets set by the Traffic Commissioners.

HIGH

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3.3 Improving User Confidence, Personal Security and Safety In 2002, the County Council established a Safer Travel Unit to address the problems of anti-social behaviour, including bullying and vandalism, on public transport services and infrastructure. Key strategies introduced by the Unit to address these problems to date are:

The establishment of a “hotline”, with a text service aimed at pupils, to report incidents of bad behaviour;

The establishment of a protocol for operators to report incidents on home to school transport;

In partnership with schools, delivering an educational programme concerning appropriate behaviour when using public transport to Key Stage Three pupils across the County;

An experiment to determine whether Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) can reduce incidents of anti-social behaviour on school buses;

Partnership working with operators and others to develop a driver training programme to assist with conflict resolution on home to school journeys;

Pioneering Acceptable Behaviour Contracts for school transport; Development of a transferable CCTV system to target bus shelters on quality bus route that

have a history of vandalism problems; Piloting a system whereby passengers on a vehicle can be addressed directly by the

operator’s control; an example might be to inform passengers directly that CCTV is monitoring the vehicle.

In conjunction with the Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive, compiling a regional database of incidents to help develop further strategies to address anti-social behaviour.

Why Change?

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A public perception of good personal safety is an essential element in promoting an attractive public transport system. The County Council intends to build on the work undertaken to date through the Safer Travel Unit. Priority will be given to the following measures and targets: 1. Safe Walking Routes to Bus Services The County Council recognises that walking to and from a bus stop/interchange can be an integral part of any journey by public transport. However, personal safety and security can be a barrier to using public transport as identified in Section 2. To address this it is intended to:

a. Work with Local Strategic and Crime Reduction Partnerships to identify target areas where perceptions of safety and security are a significant barrier to public transport use,

b. Undertake, in the target areas, personal safety audits and develop appropriate

solutions to address identified problems; and,

c. Where a bus stop is being relocated or provided to serve new development, a personal safety audit of walking will always be undertaken as part of the project. Developer contributions to the creation of safe walking routes to public transport will be sought where appropriate.

2. Safety Whilst Waiting for Buses

As mentioned above, a transferable CCTV system has been developed to target bus shelters on quality bus routes that have a history of vandalism problems. All bus shelters on the pilot routes have a warning that CCTV surveillance may be in operation. The trials of this system have proved to be very effective in reducing vandalism and other forms of anti-social behaviour at and around bus shelters. In West Yorkshire, the extensive use of transferable CCTV systems has led to a 23% reduction in bus shelter damage and other anti-social behaviour, with a commensurate reduction in cost.

It is intended to extend the availability of transferable CCTV systems so as:

Where a Statutory or Voluntary Quality Partnership is in place, 25% of all bus stops

covered by the Scheme to have CCTV coverage at any one time.

To ensure that 15% of other “at risk” bus stops across Lancashire have CCTV coverage at any one time by March 2011.

3. Safety Whilst Travelling

In partnership with operators the County Council will continue to improve on-vehicle security through:

Increasing the availability of on-vehicle CCTV coverage, including facilities for the

easy download of CCTV images at bus depots and major interchanges with a target of 50% of “at risk” routes having suitably equipped vehicles by March 2011.

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Increase the availability of driver training in conflict management with a target of 95%

of drivers of companies participating in the scheme trained by March 2009 and subsequently maintained at that level.

Work through Community Safety Partnerships to establish a strategy for targeting “at

risk” bus routes by March 2007.

Home to School Transport

In partnership with bus operators, schools and parents/guardians the County Council will continue to develop measures to further reduce incidents of anti-social behaviour on journeys to and from school. PROPOSED POLICY CONTRIBUTION OF ABOVE

MEASURES BS13 Work with local communities on a targeted

basis to develop safe walking routes to bus stops.

HIGH

BS5 Improve the actual and perceived safety of bus travel, including minimising incidents of anti-social behaviour, to ensure bus users feel safe throughout their whole journey.

HIGH

3.4 Improving the Passenger Waiting Environment - Bus Shelters and Stops Bus shelters in the County are owned by a number of bodies. This includes district councils, parish and town councils, private sector companies (who use shelter advertising as a source of revenue) and the County Council on Quality Bus Routes. Bus shelter owners are responsible for their cleaning and maintenance. There are currently over 8,000 bus stops in Lancashire. As at January 2005, 1973 bus stops had a shelter with 428 of these provided by private sector companies. The County Council owns and maintains all bus stop poles and flags and timetable cases except where these are integral to the shelter. Why Change? Bus Stop Standards Standards at bus stops can be a significant barrier to public transport use for some people. This can range from difficulty in boarding buses from standard kerb height for customers with a mobility difficulty, illegal or inconsiderate parking of other vehicles preventing buses accessing the kerb, through to lack of adequate shelter and poor lighting. About 650 stops in the County now meet the proposed standard (October 2005). Most of these stops are located on “Quality Bus Routes”. There will clearly be a need for the introduction of fully accessible bus stops to mirror the introduction of fully accessible buses. To address this the County Council is proposing the following measure:

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To adopt the standards set out at Appendix B for all refurbished bus stops in the County and to undertake a general programme of bus stop improvements subject to the availability of financial resources. It should be noted, however, that there would be a significant cost (approximately £12 million) in achieving this standard countywide. There will also be on-going maintenance/running costs (including the provision of information). The estimated cost of an initial programme is included within the overall cost of the Bus Strategy in Section 5. In addition, the County Council intends:

To seek Bus Stop Clearway Orders for all stops in the County. Early priority will be given to routes on which illegal or inconsiderate parking has become a significant problem for buses accessing stops.

To ensure that, where major road maintenance schemes are carried out, bus stops are

concurrently rebuilt to the adopted County standard.

To ensure that, where bus stops are moved to new locations to meet changing demand or provided to serve new development, they are built to the adopted County standard.

Bus Shelter Maintenance The quality, state of maintenance and general ambiance of the facilities where people wait for buses contributes significantly to the overall image of bus travel and, where all these are good, assists in overcoming some of the barriers to its use. It also assists in maintaining the overall quality of public spaces and streetscapes. The standard of bus shelter maintenance and cleaning by shelter owners across the County is variable. However, the poor standard in a number of areas, particularly shelters in public ownership, has become a major source of concern. Public sector shelter owners have usually procured on the cheapest basis without consideration of the whole life cost with maintenance/repairs/cleaning undertaken up to a preset budget limit. Shelter maintenance/repair/cleaning budgets have historically been targeted at times when district councils have found revenue budgets under pressure. Poorly maintained shelters, or those that are in a vandalised state, are a deterrent to bus use and contribute to perceptions that bus use is unsafe. To address this the County Council is proposing the following: a. Short-term One of the issues that need to be addressed urgently is how damage and graffiti is reported to the shelter owner. There needs to be a clear protocol for reporting all damage to bus shelters regardless of ownership. Damage reporting would include damage to information display cases and real time passenger information displays where appropriate.

The following measure is proposed: Each stop/shelter will be issued by April 2007 with a unique identification number that will be prominently displayed on the shelter. This will allow members of the public/bus operators to report bus stop damage via the County Council’s new Contact Centre. Each

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shelter will contain information as to how the public can report any damage to it. Once reported, the Contact Centre will then inform the shelter owner as to the nature of the damage and ask them to effect repairs/cleaning. b. Medium Term The County Council considers that the following should be the minimum standard for the repair and maintenance of all bus shelters:

b. All stops to be cleaned at least weekly and all non-hazardous damage to be repaired within three working days from the damage being reported.

c. All offensive graffiti to be removed within 24 hours. All non-offensive graffiti

to be removed within three working days from the incident being reported.

d. All stops to be provided with a litterbin that is emptied at least weekly.

e. Removal of any litter in and around the shelter at least weekly. The County Council, however, is not presently in a position to insist that repairs/cleaning are instigated by a third party within any given timescale or indeed carried out at all, other than where the nature of the damage is such that it constitutes a hazard and needs to be made safe. It is also acknowledged that, given present budgetary constraints, it might be difficult for shelter owners to make an early commitment to achieve the above standard for all shelters in their ownership. To address this it is proposed to:

a. Develop a voluntary Code of Practice with shelter owners that sets out target standards for repairs and cleaning based on the above.

b. Work through Local Strategic Partnerships to identify funding streams,

including private sector funding through shelter advertising etc, with a target of ensuring that all bus stops and shelters in Lancashire are cleaned and maintained by their owner to at least the above standard by March 2011.

c. Ensure that all bus stops that form part of Statutory Quality Bus Partnership

are maintained to the above standard from the outset. This may involve agreeing a financial contribution from partner operators where an agreed passenger growth threshold is exceeded.

Measures to reduce incidents of anti-social behaviour in around bus stops are outlined in Section 3.3.

Rural Bus Shelter Grant Scheme There is also an on-going need to improve passenger-waiting facilities in the rural areas. Whilst Parish and Town Councils are usually in a financial position to clean and maintain the shelters they own, there is strong evidence to suggest that they are finding it increasingly difficult to fund shelters in new locations and replace life expired shelters.

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The following measure is proposed: It is proposed to introduce a funding stream for the improvement of waiting facilities within Parish or Town Council areas. This would fund the procurement and installation of the shelter up to a maximum cost of £5k per shelter for a standard shelter and up to £7k for a shelter with solar powered illumination. In return, the Parish or Town Council would agree to fund the maintenance of the shelter by undertaking regular cleaning and repair of any damage, to an agreed specification, for at least five years. The County Council has made an initial allocation of £100,000 in the 2005/6 Capital Programme. It is intended to make a grant for this purpose available throughout the currency of this Bus Strategy with the financial allocation reviewed in the light of experience with the scheme. PROPOSED POLICY CONTRIBUTION OF ABOVE

MEASURES BS6 Provide bus passengers with a waiting

environment that is comfortable, secure and provides easy access to buses whilst projecting an image of high quality. This includes the further development of measures to tackle incidents of vandalism at bus stops and interchanges.

HIGH

3.5 Improving Interchange Between Public Transport Services Interchange Locations Whilst it will always be desirable to provide as many journey opportunities as possible without the need to change services, this will not be possible for many journeys. The Lancashire Local Transport Plan 2001-6 highlighted the need for interchange points to be as attractive, easy and problem free as possible and identified a programme of interchange improvements based around a hierarchy of standards. This hierarchy is at Appendix D. New or improved interchanges either completed or in progress in the County since 2000 are listed in Appendix C. Customer satisfaction surveys are regularly carried out at Chorley Interchange (Category A) as part of the County Council’s management contract with Blackburn Transport. The Management Contract, in summary, includes the following provisions:

The Interchange has a staff presence at all times when the interchange is operating Assist the public with enquiries, including advising on alternative transport arrangements

when services are disrupted. Provide a secure environment. Ensure the interchange is cleaned to “shopping mall” standards. Provides a “Shopmobility” service within the interchange for customers with a mobility

impairment. The Customer Satisfaction Survey at Chorley Interchange in September 2004 gave the following results:

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CATEGORY SCORE % Cleanliness 92% Security 92% Management 90% Overall Satisfaction

95%

42% of those surveyed gave the maximum score across all four categories. Surveys at other completed major interchanges (categories A and B) have also indicated a strong and positive feedback from users and highlight the value placed on a clean, safe and welcoming interchange environment by the travelling public. As a consequence, the County Council proposes to undertake the following measures (subject to the availability of resources):

Maintain the existing hierarchy of interchange standards as shown at Appendix D,

Ensure that the key provisions of any Management Contract at Category A and B interchanges include a requirement for the interchange to be staffed at all times and for the facility to be cleaned and maintained to “shopping mall” standards.

c. Complete the interchange upgrade programme as shown at Appendix C

d. Complete major improvements to Category A interchanges in Preston and

Accrington.

Complete major improvements to the Category B interchange at Ormskirk, including the link to the railway station.

Undertake a programme of targeted improvements to Category D interchanges with

priority given to those interchanges that facilitate access to employment, training and education opportunities.

The County Council has derived operational standards for all new bus stations that require “drive in, reverse out” facilities. These are set out in Appendix G. In addition, in line with the requirements of the Transport Act 1985, interchanges will be available for all operators to use. The County Council will endeavour to ensure that sufficient capacity is provided to allow for at least a 15% growth in peak hour departures from the level pertaining in the design year. This is to ensure that new operators can enter the market and use the facility and that future improvements to service levels are not constrained. Timing of Connections The County Council is proposing to use accessibility mapping to highlight where barriers to the use of the public transport network are being caused by poorly timed connections at interchanges. Existing interchange wait times can vary across a network dependant on the time of day and day of the week. The County Council is establishing interchange wait thresholds for

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Category A, B and C interchanges. The wait threshold defines the maximum acceptable time that interchange users are prepared to wait before it becomes either a barrier or source of frustration. The County Council accepts that it would be unreasonable to expect all services to make connections within the desirable thresholds. It is, therefore, intended to focus particularly, but not exclusively, on services where accessibility mapping indicates that poor connections are a barrier to accessing key services such as employment, education and healthcare. The County Council proposes to undertake the following measures:

Review its contracted services serving interchanges so as to ensure, in so far as possible, these are optimally timed so as to be within the wait threshold for the standard of facility for passengers requiring onward connections to access key services and facilities.

Issue advice to commercial operators as to the wait threshold for interchange facilities

they are using and to highlight where wait thresholds for passengers wishing to access key services are being exceeded.

PROPOSED POLICY CONTRIBUTION OF THE

ABOVE MEASURES BS1 Ensure that improvements to the quality,

frequency and availability of commercial bus services are secured through partnership working with bus operators and other agencies throughout the next Local Transport Plan period.

HIGH

BS4 Ensure that users and potential users of the bus network have access to good quality information at all stages of their journey, including those with visual or hearing impairments.

HIGH

PROPOSED POLICY (CONTINUED)

CONTRIBUTION OF THE ABOVE MEASURES (CONTINUED)

BS5 Improve actual and perceived safety of bus travel, including minimising incidents of anti-social behaviour, to ensure bus users feel safe throughout their whole journey.

HIGH

BS6 Provide bus passengers with a waiting environment that is comfortable, secure and provides easy access to buses whilst projecting an image of high quality. This includes the further development of

HIGH

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measures to tackle incidents of vandalism at bus stops and interchanges.

BS7 Improve the integration of bus service timetables at key interchange points so as to minimise the wait time for people needing to access key opportunities and services not located in town/city centres. This will include better integration with rail timetables at Bus/Rail interchanges.

HIGH

3.6 Fares and Ticketing General Position Since the deregulation of bus services in 1986, bus operators have been free to set fare levels on commercial services. However, the County Council sets fares on services that are contracted. On contracted services the level of fare set by the County Council generally mirrors commercial fare levels where:

The service provided by the County Council extends the duration of services that are otherwise commercial e.g. early morning, evening or Sunday journeys, or;

The service provided by the County Council has to parallel a commercial service for 15%

or more of its journey. This is to meet the requirement on the County Council to comply with legislative requirements in respect of anti-competitive practices. Prior to the deregulation of bus services, the County Council had developed and implemented the “Red Rose Rambler”, an all-operator family of day and weekly tickets. These tickets were valid throughout Lancashire and also to the main destination on many cross-boundary routes. Local versions of these tickets allowed for discounted multi-operator travel within logical travel to work areas. Deregulation brought an end to these tickets with operators introducing their own brands but limited to each individual network. As at January 2005, there were 26 single operator day tickets and 36 single operator weekly tickets available in Lancashire. The only multi-operator/multi-modal tickets available in Lancashire are listed in Appendix F. The County Council has managed to secure the inter-availability of return tickets on some corridors. This has mostly been where the service is commercial during the day but contracted in the evening. In such instances the contracted operator is required to accept the return portion of tickets issued by the commercial operator earlier in the day. NoWcard NoWcard is a pilot smart card project undertaken in partnership with Cumbria County Council, Blackburn with Darwen Council, Blackpool Council and twenty district councils. At present the scheme is limited to concessionary pass holders, with over 87,000 smart cards being issued to concessionary pass holders in 2004/5. The bus operators are currently being equipped with on-bus smart card readers and compatible ticket machines. The aim of the project is to:

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Improve service delivery for entitled persons; Improve the reimbursement arrangements for bus operators; Provide accurate management data for district councils (who are responsible for

concessionary travel arrangements for senior citizens).

In due course, it is anticipated that the NoWcard could provide a platform for new multi-operator ticketing schemes where a sound business case exists. Why Change? Section one of the Bus Strategy highlighted the barriers to public transport use caused by the lack of through and multi-operator ticketing schemes and their effect on accessibility. The Competition Act (1998) contains a number of exemptions to allow for certain ticketing agreements between operators, for example, multi operator Travelcards and through tickets. In addition, the Transport Act 2000 has provided powers under which local transport authorities can develop multi-operator ticketing schemes (and, if necessary, require operators to participate in them). The County Council has been developing a ticketing scheme to overcome the problems experienced by bus users needing to change operators for across Preston journeys. However, despite agreement in principle from all the operators concerned, it has so far proved difficult to reach agreement on both the price of the ticket and a cost-effective mechanism for apportioning revenue. Further discussions are now underway through the EU funded CIVITAS project, which is seeking to identify best practice for managing transport within medium sized urban cities on a Europe-wide basis. The County Council intends to publish proposals for multi-operator ticketing in the final version of this Bus Strategy. Work on this is presently on going with a view to introducing a series of pilot products in the East Lancashire area (including Blackburn with Darwen) by April 2007 but with the ability to be rolled out and extended through Lancashire (including Blackpool) with a target date of April 2009. In addition, there is a need to consider cross-boundary arrangements with neighbouring authorities. There is increasing cross-boundary travel, particularly to/from the adjacent Passenger Transport Authority areas. It is intended that the final proposals will:

Have been the subject of full consultation with bus (and, where appropriate, rail) operators;

Be fully costed both in capital and revenue terms and address cost barriers for passengers (both existing and potential), operators and scheme administration;

Set out the proposed methodology for revenue apportionment, including the

administration of the scheme, that meets the requirements of the Office of Fair Trading’s Block Exemption, within the meaning of the 1998 Competition Act;

Quantify the benefits to users, operators and the wider non-transport sector;

Include proposals for off-bus ticket sales (including building on the NowCard Smart

card project) to reduce boarding times with benefits for journey times and reliability;

Include proposals for targeting particular sectors of the community, including job

seekers and better provision for families travelling together.

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Have been the subject of detailed consultation with neighbouring authorities with a

view to ensuring that cross-boundary ticketing arrangements meet the needs of passengers travelling between administrative areas and do not act as a barrier to promoting bus travel.

PROPOSED POLICY CONTRIBUTION OF

ABOVE MEASURES BS3 Work in partnership with bus operators and

other agencies to deliver targeted cost-effective and socially inclusive multi-operator ticketing schemes that remove some of the barriers to public transport use.

HIGH

3.7 Network Stability: Code of Conduct Instability of the network through frequent commercial service changes is a barrier to the use of the network. It also increases cost, particularly in relation to the provision of information. At present operators have to give 56 days notice to the Traffic Commissioner and the County Council of any intended changes. The County Council endorses the principles set out in the voluntary Code of Conduct on Service Stability introduced by the national Bus Partnership Forum. This aims to:

Define the days of the year on which network or timetable changes can take place; the Code of Conduct recommends that six dates are chosen for any one year.

Reduce the number of changes to an individual service to a recommended no more than

twice per year.

Ensure that the County Council has sufficient notice of forthcoming commercial service changes i.e. greater than the statutory 56 days.

Ensure that operators have sufficient notice of tenders and tender awards so that any

consequential operational changes to other services can be implemented from the same date that tenders come into effect.

In practice, the Code of Conduct has not, to date, been followed in Lancashire. However, as the overall objective of this policy is to increase user confidence in the network thereby encouraging passenger growth, the County Council will be looking to agree its implementation with all commercial operators from an early date. The County Council recognises that there will also be a need to cooperate with neighbouring authorities, particularly the three Passenger Transport Executives, to ensure that proposed timetable change dates are fully co-ordinated. The County Council will work with operators and neighbouring transport authorities to effect a Voluntary code of Conduct on Service Stability. PROPOSED POLICY CONTRIBUTION OF ABOVE

MEASURES

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BS12 Agree with bus operators a voluntary Code of Conduct on Service Stability to limit timetable changes to a set number of predetermined dates each year.

HIGH

BS4 Ensure that users and potential users of the bus

network have access to good quality information at all stages of their journey, including those with visual or hearing impairments

MEDIUM

Quality Bus Stop in Burnley

4. OTHER POLICY AREAS 4.1 Information and Marketing The Transport Act 2000 requires the County Council to produce a Public Transport Information Strategy. It also gives the County Council powers to:

Specify what information should be provided about bus services. Specify how it should be delivered and to seek to arrange with bus operators for its

provision. Recover reasonable costs from the operators concerned if arrangements cannot be made by

agreement.

The County Council’s present Public Transport Information Strategy was published in March 2002 and can be obtained at:

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www.transportforlancashire.com. The Public Transport Information Strategy is presently being updated and will be published for consultation during 2006. Delivery of the new Public Transport Information Strategy will be a key feature in achieving the overall objectives and policies of the Bus Strategy. The County Council will, therefore, set minimum standards for passenger information following consultation with both users and operators and enforce them, if necessary, through mechanisms available in the Transport Act 2000. PROPOSED POLICY CONTRIBUTION OF ABOVE

MEASURES BS4 Ensure that users and potential users of the bus

network have access to good quality information at all stages of their journey, including those with visual or hearing impairments.

HIGH

4.2 Real Time Passenger Information Real Time Passenger Information (RTPI) is now provided at 75 bus stops within the Preston Area following the equipping of the Preston Bus fleet of 124 vehicles with a Global Positioning System linked to the County Council’s Urban Transport Management and Control Centre. The same information is also available to the public via the County Council’s website. Real time bus information is also provided at the Royal Preston Hospital. The system also:

• Gives the operator the opportunity for voice communication with the whole of their fleet. This means, for example, that any on-board emergency can be communicated swiftly.

• Is linked to bus priority measures at traffic signal controlled junctions so that late

running buses can be given priority over other traffic.

• Can be adapted, where required, so as to give passengers on-board automated announcements (both audio and visual) as to the name of the next stop and nearby facilities e.g. “alight here for…..”.

• Can be made available to the public through the Internet, SMS messaging and via other

electronic media. The system is presently being extended into parts of South Ribble and Chorley. The extension of RTPI to services in other areas of the County is currently at the planning stage The County Council has also pioneered the provision of low cost real time passenger information in rural areas. The Rural Intelligent Bus Stop System allows communication between the driver of the bus and bus stops in rural areas. The driver operates the system through an easy to use cab mounted consul. The system is successfully operating on two rural routes in the north of the County.

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The County Council intends to further extend the provision of Real Time Passenger Information to other parts of the County (including rural areas) in partnership with the bus operators. Priority for the extension of the Global Positioning based system will be given to those proposals making the biggest contribution to the overall objectives and policies of the Local Transport Plan and will be linked, where possible, to Statutory Quality Bus Partnership agreements. PROPOSED POLICY CONTRIBUTION OF

ABOVE MEASURES BS4 Ensure that users and potential users of the bus

network have access to good quality information at all stages of their journey, including those with visual or hearing impairments.

HIGH

4.3 Concessionary Fares Concessionary fares are an important tool in tackling social exclusion. Since 1986, the County council has worked in partnership with the District Councils and the Unitary Authorities of Blackburn and Blackpool to provide a joint concessionary fares scheme for senior citizens. The scheme is managed by the County Council on a countywide basis to simplify the administration. Many concessionaires now hold the NoWCard smart card (see section 3.6) The Transport Act 2000 introduced a legal requirement that a half-fare concessionary fares scheme for those over 60 years of age should be provided in all newly titled Travel Concession Authority (TCA) areas. In addition, responsibility for issuing concessionary passes to disabled persons passed from the County Council to the TCA. In two-tier authority areas such as Lancashire, the TCA is the district council. The main features of the statutory scheme are:

• It is available on all registered local bus services within the TCA boundary.

• It is available to those of state pensionable age.

• The concession is available between 0930 and 2300 on weekdays and all day Saturdays, Sundays and bank holidays.

• The pass is available free of charge.

• Other types of scheme could continue such as those with a charge for a greater level of

concession provided the statutory minimum within each TCA is also available. The joint scheme in Lancashire together with Blackpool and Blackburn with Darwen offers a greater concession than the statutory minimum scheme. The key enhancements are as follows:

• It is available on all registered local bus services within all TCA boundaries within Lancashire including Blackpool and Blackburn with Darwen.

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• It is available on all registered local bus services starting in or finishing in Lancashire, including Blackpool and Blackburn with Darwen, and which cross the County or Borough boundary to/from the terminus of that service.

• It is available on the Fleetwood to Knott End ferry.

• It is available on the Fylde Coast Tramway.

• It is available on community transport services recognised by the Travel Concession

Authorities. Disabled people currently receive a flat fare pass, which entitles each single journey to be made at a current flat fare of 50p (or half fare if its cheaper). Validity is similar to that applicable to the senior citizens concession. In his Budget Statement in March 2005, the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced that from April 2006, the statutory minimum requirement would be increased from half fare to free (including those with disabilities) for travel from 0930 Mondays to Fridays and all day at weekends. At present, arrangements between the partners in the Lancashire scheme for cross TCA travel have yet to be determined, although it is expected that the scheme to operate in Lancashire from April 2006 will be agreed and published by the end of November 2005. The County Council places a high priority on the joint Lancashire Concessionary Fares Scheme, reflecting the importance it attaches to the scheme’s contribution to tackling social exclusion. As a consequence, whilst it has no legal responsibility for the provision of concessionary fares, the County Council will maintain its coordinating role, including the continuing development of NoWcard. Sixteen to Nineteen The County Council is investigating the possibility of a concessionary fares scheme that will allow all people aged between 16 and 19 inclusive to travel at half fare on all registered local bus services within Lancashire and to/from the terminus of those services that cross the County or Borough boundary. The facility is being investigated through a partnership consisting of the County Council, colleges and the Learning and Skills Council. PROPOSED POLICY CONTRIBUTION OF

ABOVE MEASURES BS18 The County Council will maintain its coordinating

role for the Countywide Concessionary Fares Scheme, including the continuing development of NowCard, reflecting the importance it attaches to the scheme’s contribution to tackling social exclusion.

HIGH

BS8 Investigate the possibility of introducing a 16 to 19 years old Concessionary Travel Scheme to encourage people within this age group to make use of public transport to access a wide range of education, training and employment opportunities and other services and facilities.

HIGH

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4.4 Park and Ride

The County Council has developed two Park and Rides serving the Preston area as a cornerstone of its policy of reducing congestion and pollution in the City Centre and as a contribution towards the maintenance of a healthy and prosperous City by offering and promoting alternative means of transport to the private motor car. The Portway Park and Ride site has been operational since 1996 and Walton-le- Dale since the 1st December 2002. Portway has 390 spaces and Walton-le-Dale 810 spaces. Both sites offer a secure and attractive, high quality, reliable Park and Ride service that is responsive to customer requirements. Since the opening of the second site at Walton le Dale the two sites have been managed under one contract, where the contractor operates both the Park and Ride bus services and the terminal facilities. The contract is for 5 years and the service is operated with modern, low-floor easy access buses. The total number of passengers carried between 1st December 2002 and 2 February 2005 is:

Portway 537,419 Walton le Dale 608,662

The County Council is committed to the further development of Park and Ride. At present a number of potential schemes in both the Preston and Lancaster areas are under evaluation. The sites include:

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a. Preston - Broughton, near the M55 Junction 1. b. Preston - Samlesbury, near M6 Junction 31 c. Preston - Penwortham, Broad Oak Lane roundabout. d. Preston - Riversway. e. Preston - Adjacent to junction 31A of M6 motorway. f. Lancaster - Near M6 Junction 34 g. Lancaster - Near White Lund.

The County Council will publish its proposals for Park and Ride in the final version of this Bus Strategy. However, it should be noted that the strategy as developed would extend beyond the currency of the 2006 to 2011 Local Transport Plan. Resource constraints mean that it is unlikely that more than one scheme will be completed during the period 2006-11. PROPOSED POLICY CONTRIBUTION OF THE

ABOVE MEASURES BS15 Implement a programme of bus based park and

ride schemes where these will make the greatest contribution to reducing road congestion.

HIGH

4.5 Bus Services and New Development The local Planning Authority as part of any outline or full planning permission should secure developer contributions, particularly where the proposed site is not easy to access by means other than the car. The method of securing developer contributions to improving non-car access is normally through an agreement under the Section 106 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990. For commercial development, a Developer Contribution Framework is being established by the Joint Structure Plan Authorities that provides the mechanism for identifying the relative accessibility of the site(s) concerned. The framework will require the developer to produce both a Transport Assessment (TA) and a Travel Plan to be produced for all proposed developments that exceed certain thresholds. Measures to be financed through developer contributions, including improvements to public transport services and infrastructure and their expected impacts, will be contained within the Travel Plan element of a TA. A similar framework to ensure that new housing developments have access to key services is also being established. The County Council will work in partnership with the local planning authority to ensure that, where appropriate through the Developer Contribution Framework, measures are implemented to ensure adequate access by public transport is provided to all new development. Developer contributions will also be sought to negate the impacts or deficiencies from developments and also to contribute to the overall LTP strategy and its priorities. It is also essential that the design of major new developments take full account of public transport requirements. The County Council will seek to influence the design of proposed major developments to ensure that it will allow for buses to serve them unencumbered. Workplace Travel Plans

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The County Council has encouraged the adoption of Workplace Travel Plans by employers. Workplace Travel Plans are measures tailored to individual or groups of organisations to reduce the impacts of car travel. The County Council will continue to assist major employers to adopt Workplace Travel Plans and maximise opportunities within this overall approach to promote the greater use of bus services. PROPOSED POLICY CONTRIBUTION OF

ABOVE MEASURES BS10 Adopt a consistent approach to developer

contributions to fund additional public transport services and facilities where existing facilities (if any) are considered inadequate to meet the policy requirements of the Local Transport Plan.

HIGH

BS9 Continue to work with employers, schools and other partners to promote and produce Travel Plans that overcome barriers to the use of public transport and encourage people to consider and use alternatives to the private car.

HIGH

4.6 Bus Based Rapid Transit The County Council and Blackburn with Darwen Council have jointly identified a pilot scheme for possible bus based rapid transit in areas where this might be justified. East Lancashire has been chosen to pilot the concept in Lancashire, as the County Council believes that major improvements to the public transport network will be a key driver in achieving the long-term strategy for regeneration. The Rapid Transit concept would see a significant improvement over that being achieved through the present Quality Partnership regime as follows:

• Extensive bus priority measures;

• Possible sections of segregated kerb-guided busway;

• Bus lanes where guided busway is not feasible including road widening to accommodate in a number of locations;

• Reconfiguration and redesign of a number of key road junctions to improve general

traffic flow and provide priority for bus services. The benefits would be:

Significantly lower on-bus travel time with a target of achieving journey times which are the equivalent of at least 85% of car speeds at peak times;

Significantly greater service reliability;

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Reduced operating cost with some of the savings to the operator(s) put back into improved frequencies;

Approaching light rail standards in terms of quality and public perception but at

significantly lower cost. Preliminary study work for the authorities has indicated that the above proposal for a pilot scheme in East Lancashire would score well in terms of the Government’s present approach to assessing major schemes. The County Council has previously agreed that its priorities for major scheme bids to Government (those costing more than £5 million) during the currency of the 2006-2011 Local Transport Plan should include a bid for significant public transport improvements in East Lancashire. The County Council will refine the details of the project with a view to submitting a Major Scheme funding bid, jointly with Blackburn with Darwen Council, to the Government during the currency of the Bus Strategy. The preferred delivery mechanism for this project will be through strong partnership with existing operators in the chosen corridors. 4.7 Coach Strategy The County Council recognises the importance of a strategy to assist coach operators. Coach travel is a flexible and sustainable means of transport able to facilitate social inclusion and congestion reduction. It is the prime mode of transport used by the young and elderly for organised occasional journeys and is the most flexible mode of transport in terms of capacity, access and timing for one-off events. It is also an important economic driver for the county with the ability to generate additional tourist spend. Carefully targeted additional coach journeys and the resultant passenger spend will generate new G.V.A with little capital expenditure. Coach passengers are generated for journeys within the county as well as journeys to and from the NW region, the UK and overseas. Blackpool, the UK’s biggest tourism destination for coach tourism traffic is reached by roads through the county, although mainly via the Motorway network. In addition, the County Council will work with the coach and bus industry to develop policies that will encourage the use of buses and coaches for journeys not covered by regular bus services. The County Council is proposing to work with the coach industry and district councils to identify safe places for loading and unloading of coaches, and coach parking during the visitors stay. This will include a review of existing and potential new coach boarding and alighting points to ensure compliance with DDA best practice, highway safety, passenger health and safety issues, passenger security and convenience. Drivers Hours regulations and the Working Time Directive require coach operators to consider where drivers can safely park coaches as well as the drivers travel time from coach park to coach stop, from coach park to driver’s accommodation. This is resulting in an increased need for access to suitable driver facilities. Where appropriate, County Council publicity will encourage travel by coach as an alternative to the private car. Whilst this will inevitably be targeted at group travel the county will seek to work with the coach industry to identify opportunities for the operation of excursion coaches to popular events.

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The strategy will be monitored in consultation with Confederation of Passenger Transport North Western Region and its North West Coach Commission. 4.8 Home to School Transport The County Council has a legal duty to secure best value from its overall passenger transport expenditure including Education and Social Services functions. As mentioned in Section 3.1, the County Council has set up a new Transport Procurement Unit. The Unit has brought together all the planning and procurement of public transport services throughout the County, including local bus services, home to school transport, community transport, special educational needs transport and social services transport. The County Council’s proposed approach to home to school transport will be to maximise the use of the public network where this achieves best value. This approach will help ensure the sustainability of some parts of the commercial networks and, in particular, assist with ensuring that many rural communities retain affordable levels of bus service. A number of local authorities throughout the country have been operating pilot yellow bus schemes for home to school transport. These schemes offer a number of advantages in that they improve the quality and image of school transport, reduce congestion, provide regular drivers, a guaranteed seat and improvements to safety and behaviour through CCTV provision. The County Council is assessing the likely impact of such schemes in Lancashire and whether they offer value for money in home to school transport provision. The Government has published a Schools White Paper that, once enacted, will bring significant changes to the way home to school transport is presently organised. Specifically, it is intended to introduce a new general duty on local education authorities in England to support parental choice and flexibility in education provision and a requirement to assess the travel and transport needs of all pupils and to promote safe and sustainable methods of travel to school. This duty will require local authorities to conduct audits of bus, cycle and walking routes and of the transport needs and wants of pupils and parents. It is intended that each authority develop a travel and transport strategy so that local transport infrastructures are developed to meet the aspirations of both parents and schools. The Government is also intending to extend the existing free travel entitlements to enable parents of disadvantaged pupils to have greater choice of school. Authorities would be required to provide free transport to any of the three nearest secondary schools, where these are between two and six miles from the pupil’s home. In addition to the above, it is proposed to establish “pathfinder” authorities that will test further reforms that, amongst a wide range of other measures, could include:

• Support parental preference; • Reduce car use on the home to school journey; • Extend further the free travel entitlement; • Support wider access for the entire fourteen to nineteen age group.

The County Council is assessing whether it wishes to put forward a pilot pathfinder scheme for consideration by the Government. School Travel Plans also have a major role in tackling school run congestion. Amongst other sustainable modes, using Travel Plans to increase the use of the bus for journeys to and from school will make a valuable contribution to meeting the County Council’s targets.

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The County will continue to promote the use of bus services through School Travel Plans as a sustainable alternative to the private car. PROPOSED POLICY CONTRIBUTION OF

ABOVE MEASURES BS19 The County Council will assess the likely impact

and value for money of introducing a programme of Yellow School Bus Schemes in Lancashire, including their effectiveness in reducing the “school run” and their potential impact on road safety, pupil behaviour and educational performance and attendance.

HIGH

BS9 Continue to work with employers, schools and other partners to promote and produce Travel Plans that overcome barriers to the use of public transport and encourage people to consider and use alternatives to the private car.

HIGH

Quality Contracts A Quality Contract is the provision of a bus network where the Local Transport Authority determines the standard and quality of service (including frequencies and fares) to be provided by bus operators for a given area through a competitively tendered franchising arrangement. Where a local transport authority wishes to make a Quality Contract, the authority needs to demonstrate to the Secretary of State for Transport that this is the only practical way of delivering its Bus strategy. This will include a clear explanation of how a Quality Contract would implement the policies of the Bus Strategy and why those policies cannot in practice be implemented satisfactorily by other means. The present view of the County Council is that the voluntary partnership approach to delivering the Bus Strategy policies in the 2001 to 2006 Local Transport Plan has led to good progress being made. However, there is still much that needs to be done and partnership working will need to be strengthened further if the objectives of this Bus Strategy are to be realised by 2011. The County Council believes that this strengthened partnership working can be achieved. The County Council will, therefore, not be pursing the introduction of any form of Quality Contract in Lancashire unless the partnership approach is demonstrably not working in achieving the Objectives and Policies of the Bus Strategy and Local Transport Plan.

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5. FUNDING THE STRATEGY

This strategy seeks significant improvements to bus services and ancillary facilities over the period 2006 to 2011 in order to fulfil the objectives of the Local Transport Plan and to help deliver the shared priorities. The financing of this strategy will, however, require the optimum balance of revenue and capital spending. In recent years, the Government has increased the capital funding available to encourage local transport infrastructure improvements. However, this has not been matched by an equivalent rise in revenue funding to ensure adequate maintenance or to meet the running costs of the facilities. This is a key issue for the successful delivery of this Bus Strategy, particularly if the enhanced quality is to be maintained. In determining the revenue-funding requirement there are a number of key revenue issues related to capital spend that need to be taken into account:

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Maintaining the quality of roadside and other infrastructure can require significant revenue expenditure, in particular, the cost of cleaning, maintaining and repairing bus stops to the required standard in Lancashire.

However, if sufficient revenue resources are not subsequently available there will be a rapid deterioration in the condition of the assets and public loss of confidence. It is severely questionable as to the value of undertaking infrastructure projects without a commitment to provide the revenue requirements to fully maintain the assets in subsequent years.

The provision of high quality interchange, for example, will also have revenue implications where staffing and a high standard of cleaning and maintenance and information provision is required as part of this Strategy.

Provision of information displays, including real time information, require on-going

revenue support both in maintenance terms and in ensuring information is up to date at all times.

PROVISIONAL BUS STRATEGY FUNDING REQUIREMENT The following tables show the funding requirement to implement this Strategy in full by March 2011. Table 5.1 PROPOSED CAPITAL SPEND ESTIMATED CAPITAL FUNDING (£m at April 2005)

06/07 07/08 08/09 09/10 10/11 TOTAL

QUALITY PARTNERSHIPS £1.65m £1.15m £1.15m £ 1.15m £1.5m £6.6m MAJOR INTERCHANGES (Categories A and B)

£5.3m £3.0m £8.4m £7.75m £3.25m £27.7m

MINOR INTERCHANGES (Categories C and D)

£0.1m £1.4m £0.1m £0.1m £0.1m £1.8m

REAL TIME PASSENGER INFORMATION/TICKETING

£1.0m £1.0m £1.0m £1.0m £1.0m £5.0m

BUS PRIORITY MEASURES (Local Bus Punctuality Improvement Partnerships)

£0.5m £1.0m £1.0m £1.2m £1.2m £4.9m

BUS STOP IMPROVEMENT MEASURES (Including “safe routes”)

£0.1m £0.1m £0.2m £0.2m £0.2m £0.8m

BUS CLEARWAY ORDERS £0.24m £0.24m £0.24m £0.24m £0.24m £1.2m PARISH SHELTER GRANT £0.1m £0.1m £0.1m £0.1m £0.1m £0.5m NEW PARK AND RIDE SCHEME £0.18m £1.7m £1.6m £0.1m - £3.58m PURCHASE/REPLACEMENT OF BUSES FOR CONTRACTED SERVICES

£0.25m £0.25m £0.25m £0.25m £0.25m £1.25m

TOTAL CAPITAL REQUIREMENT PER ANNUM

£9.42m £9.94m £14.04m £12.09 £7.84m £53.33m

Possible availability of external Capital grant

£1.00m £1.9m £5.0m £5.0m £0.0m £12.9m

LOCAL TRANSPORT PLAN REQUIREMENT

£8.42m £8.04m £9.04m £7.09m £7.84m £40.43m

PROVISIONAL TOTAL ALLOCATION (Note 1)

£11.031m

£11.031 £11.584 £12.164 £12.774m

£58.584m

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Note 1 – The County Council’s indicative allocation for Integrated Transport announced by the Government in December 2004.

The table illustrates that the full implementation of the Bus Strategy by 2011 would require the County Council to allocate around 69% of its indicative allocation for Integrated Transport schemes to improving bus services. This could lead to reduced allocations, particularly in the first three years of the Strategy for other activities such as walking, cycling and homezones. The following table indicates the likely required additional revenue resources to implement the Strategy over the five years from April 2006 to March 2011. Table 5.2 REQUIRED ADDITIONAL REVENUE FUNDING ESTIMATED ADDITIONAL REVENUE FUNDING £m (All costs are at April 2005)

06/07 07/08 08/09 09/10 10/11

“KICKSTART” FUND £0.5m £0.5m £0.75m £0.75m £0.75m RURAL KICKSTART FUND (Top- sliced Rural Bus Subsidy Grant) – Note 1

£0.2m £0.2m £0.2m £0.2m £0.2m

REVENUE COST – PARK AND RIDE – Note 2

- - £0.05m £0.115m £0.015m

MAINTENANCE OF CAPITAL ITEMS (STATUTARY /VOLUNTARY QUALITY PARTNERSHIPS)

£0.201m £0.227m £0.25m £0.272m £0.3m

MAINTENANCE OF OTHER UPGRADED BUS STOPS

- £0.005m £0.01m £0.015m £0.02m

STAFFING/MAINTENANCE OF INTERCHANGES (Net of income) Note 3

£0.043m £0.18m £0.18m £0.18m £0.205m

MAINTENANCE OF ANCILLARY EQUIPMENT (e.g. real time information) – Note 4

£0.05m £0.05m £0.05m £0.05m £0.05m

16 TO 19 YEARS CONCESSIONARY PASS

- £0.2m £0.2m £0.2m £0.2m

TOTAL ADDITIONAL REVENUE REQUIREMENT PER ANNUM

£0.994m £1.362m £1.690m £1.782m £1.740m

Note 1 - Rural Bus Subsidy Grant funding presently only guaranteed until March 2008. Note 2 - Estimate based on performance of Walton-le-Dale Park and Ride and assumes a

December 08 start of service. Note 3 - Based on the timescales in Appendix C and assumes that the new Preston Bus Station

can be operated at no net cost. Note 4 - This has yet to be fully costed. A notional £0.05m per annum has been included

pending further work. Table 5.2 takes no account of changes to revenue support requirements for non-commercial bus services or for meeting other requirements of the emerging Accessibility Strategy other than the introduction of new “kickstart” funding. It should be noted that the County Council’s overall budget will continue to be subject to pressures, both internal and external, and priorities may change.

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Other assumptions made in building Table 5.2 are:

• Maintenance of new bus shelters and real time passenger information at upgraded stops is capitalised through supply and maintain contracts for the first five years (this will have implications for the revenue budget post 2011/2 financial year).

The proposed multi-operator ticketing scheme will be self-financing.

No allowance has been made for any implications for Highways maintenance arising from

junction improvements/other bus priority measures. Further refinement of the shown costings will take place before the final strategy is submitted to Government in March 2006 and will take into account any revisions to the Capital Planning Guidelines to be issued by the Department for Transport in late 2005. At this stage, possible revenue contributions from sources external to the County Council, including, for example, the bus operators, district councils and local partnerships, have not been identified other than an inclusion in the net figures of an estimate of charges to bus operators for the use of certain facilities such as bus stations. An estimate of external contributions to the Capital cost of certain projects has been included but, other than the contribution of £1.0 million to Nelson Interchange, no other external contribution had been formally confirmed as at September 2005. The tables do not include the projected spend on any major schemes that may be submitted to Government during the lifetime of this Strategy. 6. MONITORING AND REVIEW To demonstrate progress against the objectives and policies of the Bus Strategy, it is proposed to set targets in key areas of policy and to use a number of indicators to demonstrate progress against the adopted strategy. The National Transport Target of particular relevance to this Bus Strategy is: “Secure improvements to the accessibility, punctuality and reliability of local public transport (bus and light rail), with an increase in use of more than 12% by 2010 compared to 2000 levels across all regions”. The County Council proposes to use the following indicators to measure progress against an April 2004 baseline (indicators in bold are mandatory Local Transport Plan indicators): BVPI1102 PUBLIC TRANSPORT PATRONAGE Total Local public transport journeys per year

by bus BVPI103 SATISACTION WITH THE LOCAL

PROVISION OF TRANSPORT INFORMATION

Percentage of (a) users and (b) all asked satisfied with the provision of local transport information.

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BVPI104 BUS SATISFACTION Percentage of (a) users and (b) all asked satisfied with local bus services.

LTP1 ACCESSIBILITY OUTCOMES Indicators relating to total travel time by public transport. Awaiting final advice from the Department for Transport.

LTP5 BUS PUNCTUALITY Exact measure to be determined BSL1 LOW FLOOR VEHICLES Percentage of total bus network by vehicle miles

served by fully accessible low floor buses. Percentage of buses at least Euro II emission standard compliant.

BSL2 BUS STOPS Number of bus stops that meet the County Council’s standards for access by people with mobility impairments, waiting facilities and passenger information. Percentage of bus shelters covered by an agreement to be cleaned at least weekly. Percentage of bus shelters covered by an agreement to remove offensive graffiti within 24 hours and non-offensive graffiti within three working days.

BSL3 COST OF BUS TRAVEL Average cost of bus travel per mile to a number of specific destinations across the County. Exact measure to be determined.

BSL4 EVENING AND WEEKEND TRAVEL Percentage of people with access to public transport evenings and weekends.

BSL5 INCIDENTS OF CRIME AND ANTI-SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR

Number of incidents reported on and around public transport

BSL6 INFORMATION AT BUS STOPS Percentage of all bus stops with public transport/real time information displays.

BSL7 MAJOR INTERCHANGES User satisfaction with the standard of facilities and services at category A and B interchanges.

BSL8 INVESTMENT IN BUS CORRIDORS/NETWORKS

User satisfaction with the standard of service and facilities.

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APPENDIX A COMPLETED QUALITY BUS PROJECTS IN LANCASHIRE SCHEME PARTNER

OPERATOR INTRODUCTION DATE

PATRONAGE CHANGE TO DECEMBER 2004 (Based on 6-months moving average)

REMARKS

Preston to Tanterton

Preston Bus December 1999 14% .

Burnley Mainline

Burnley & Pendle (Blazefield Holdings)

November 2001 16%

Heysham to Lancaster University

Stagecoach December 2001 20.9%

Hyndburn Circular

Lancashire United (Blazefield Holdings)

April 2002 16%

Preston to Preston Hospital/Asda (Services 19/22/23)

Preston Bus June 2004 7%

Ribble Valley Circular

Contracted service

August 2001 Static Funded as a pilot project for rural areas through the Rural Bus Challenge scheme.

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APPENDIX B PROPOSED STANDARDS FOR BUS STOPS IN LANCASHIRE

Grade 1 (Minimum Standard) Medium to high use (i.e. over 50 people boarding at the stop per day)

Shelter mandatory. An enclosed shelter but depends on site restrictions. 3 bay shelter preferred where enclosed not possible.

Seating, lighting, timetable information and fare information. Timetable case within shelter double royal size All shelters DDA compliant (space for wheelchairs, colour contrasting mid rail etc) Litter bin Bus stop name clearly visible on shelter

37m bus stop box (marked with red textureflex or similar material) and 24 hour Clearway Order

Kerbs raised to 160mm (3 raised kerbs and 2 transition kerbs either side)

Block paving (red coloured) at boarding point

Buff paving or black top used as bus stop surfacing.

Grade 1 stops at category C interchanges (Minimum Standard)

As above plus: Directional signs and information displays. Stop numbering.

Grade 2 (Minimum Standard) Low to medium use (i.e. under 50 boarding passengers per day).

Shelter to be provided at all stops where space permits. Size and whether enclose or cantilever depends on site restrictions.

Seating, lighting, timetable information (with fare information). Timetable case within shelter double royale size.

All shelters DDA compliant (space for wheelchairs, colour contrasting mid rail etc).

Litter bin .

Bus stop name clearly visible on shelter.

37 metre bus stop box (marked with red

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texture flex or similar material) and 24 hour Clearway Order.

Kerbs raised to 160mm (3 raised kerbs and 2 transition kerbs either side). Block paving (red coloured) at boarding point.

Black top used as bus stop surfacing.

Grade 3 (Minimum Standard) Low use (i.e. under five boarding passengers per day).

Shelter not mandatory but could be provided at the discretion of the district or parish council. Timetable information Kerbs raised to 160mm (3 raised kerbs and 2 transition kerbs either side)

Block paving (red coloured) at boarding point

Black top used as bus stop surfacing Bus stop name clearly visible. 37 metre bus stop box (marked with red texture flex or similar material) and 24 hour Clearway Order.

Alighting stops only

Bus stop pole with Quality Bus plate. Bus stop clearly named. Kerbs raised to 160mm (3 raised kerbs and 2 transition kerbs either side). Block paving (red coloured) at boarding/alighting point.

37m bus stop box (marked with red textureflex or similar material) and 24 hour Clearway

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APPENDIX C – Interchange Projects in Lancashire 2000 - 2011. CATEGORY INTERCHANGE COMPLETION DATE Category A – Major Strategic (Major access point to the public transport network as well as a significant point for interchange between public transport services)

Lancaster Burnley Chorley Nelson Accrington Preston

March 2001 August 2002 March 2003 Spring 2007 Autumn 2010 Autumn 2009*

Category B - Major Local Clitheroe Carnforth Rawtenstall Ormskirk (Bus)

March 2000 March 2002 Autumn 2007 Spring 2011

Category C - Local Colne Skelmersdale Whalley Cleveleys

(Bus/Tram)

January 2002 March 2005 April 2005 Spring 2009

* The opening of the new strategic bus interchange in Preston will depend on progress on the

City’s Tithebarn Regeneration Project

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APPENDIX D – Hierarchy of Interchange Facilities CATEGORY DESCRIPTION PASSENGER

INFORMATION FACILITIES

PASSENGER WAITING FACILITIES

PASSENGER SECURITY

A – Major Major access point to the public transport network as well as a significant point for interchange between public transport services.

Departure indicator in real time where available. Public address system. Passenger enquiry office, including ticket retailing. Good quality timetable information at each stand. Regular customer satisfaction surveys (at least twice per year). Local map of surrounding area and directional signs, including nearest taxi rank.

Enclosed waiting facilities. Toilets. Cleaned to “shopping mall” standards. Cafeteria and shop. Public telephone.

Staffed presence at all times when interchange is operating. CCTV surveillance both inside and outside the interchange. Secure cycle parking Procedures in place for the reporting of all incidents.

B – Major Local

The centre point of a local & inter-urban network of routes, including, where appropriate, rail services.

Departure indicator. Good quality waiting facilities, including passenger shelter. Passenger enquiry office, including ticket retailing. Good quality timetable information at each stand. Local map of surrounding area and directional signs, including nearest taxi rank.

Toilets. Regular cleaning and maintenance. Public telephone.

Staffed presence at least 0700 – 2200 Monday to Saturday CCTV surveillance linked to town centre scheme when interchange is not staffed Secure cycle parking

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C - Local Locations where a number of regular bus routes intersect. Local interchange point between a number of bus services and rail.

Waiting and information facilities to conform to Grade One Bus Stop standards Real time departure information where available Local map of surrounding area.

Regular cleaning and maintenance.

CCTV surveillance linked to town centre scheme where available. Information on nearest public telephone.

D - Transfer Locations where two or more regular bus routes intersect. Interchange between bus and rail at local railway stations.

Waiting and information facilities to conform to Grade One Bus Stop standards. Directional signing to other services that are DDA compliant. Real time departure information where available.

Regular cleaning and maintenance.

Information on nearest public telephone.

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APPENDIX E - AVAILABILITY OF MULTI-OPERATOR/MULTI-MODAL TICKETS IN LANCASHIRE

TICKET AVAILABILITY Ribble Valley Day Ranger

This product is available for both purchase and use on most bus services operating within the Ribble Valley Borough area and to/from certain cross boundary places such as Accrington and Blackburn. Fourteen operators presently participate in the scheme although some of these are operating services under contract to the County Council. At present the operator selling the ticket keeps all the revenue.

Clitheroe Combi

This is a bus add-on for people travelling to the Clitheroe area by rail. The ticket is presently limited to the Bowland Transit group of services operating out of Clitheroe Interchange and is primarily designed to encourage inward travel to the Forest of Bowland by public transport.

Peak Wayfarer

This is a combined bus and rail ticket promoted by the Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Authority, Derbyshire County Council and the Peak District National Park. It has limited multi-operator availability in parts of the extreme south of the County, extending from the Greater Manchester Boundary to Accrington and Burnley via Rawtenstall and Bacup (rail validity is more extensive and includes Chorley, Parbold and Upholland). The ticket is available in a variety of combinations.

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Carnforth Bus This is an add on for people travelling to Carnforth by rail. The ticket is valid on the Carnforth Connect Line 1 and the Summer only Limestone Line services operated from Carnforth Station to Milnthorpe and Arnside respectively. The Line 1 service is aimed at commuters wanting to travel by train and visitors to the Silverdale/Arnside AONB.

PlusBus

PlusBus is a rail ticket that allows all-day travel on buses in the area of the station at either end of a train journey. It is presently available in Lancashire in the Chorley, Preston and Lancaster areas for a £2.00 supplement. It is also available in the Burnley area for a £1.50 supplement.

Blackpool Bus and Tram

Allows rail travel to Blackpool and all-day travel on the bus and tram network of Blackpool Transport Ltd.

System 1

This is a Greater Manchester ticket that extends slightly into East Lancashire. It is valid on the Bacup to Rochdale Corridor only. The ticket can be obtained for daily, weekly, monthly and annual travel. There are also concessionary rate tickets available for children, students, senior citizens and disabled persons.

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Appendix F - Category A and B Bus Stations & Interchanges Design Criteria The following criteria apply to all bus stations:

• Layout to accommodate sufficient stands to serve all buses serving town or city in a single central interchange

• Design to allow for 15 % additional capacity to permit introduction of new bus services & for potential future growth

• Maximum stand usage is 8 departures per hour per stand • Stands to be provided to accommodate side loading access for coaches & Dial a Ride

services • Design to permit for maximum permitted current vehicle dimensions • Layover spaces to be provided in addition to bus stands – based on 1 layover spaces for

every 4 stands • Boarding length for passengers to be provided to a minimum clear length of 3.2m –

additional lengths required for specialised vehicles (including Coach & Dial a Ride services)

• Boarding kerb height to be 160 mm minimum • Minimum stand width 3.5 m • Passenger concourse to provide minimum of 4 seats per departure bay • Passenger waiting area: Minimum 9sq. m per stand • Passenger concourse aisle to be minimum 4 m width

In addition the following criteria apply to A Drive In/Reverse Out bus station layout :

• Reversing length for bus stands to permit buses to reverse 1.5 times length of bus in addition to length of bus (i.e.: 2.5 times length of bus)

• 5m width running lane through site to be provided clear of reversing lengths Any departure from above criteria will only be permitted with approval of all above partners.