Rural Buses

This week's item of interest in Route One magazine is the interesting (to us) topic of rural bus services being discussed by the Transport Select Committee. 

A useful summary of the wibble discussed can be found on this link. Of interest was the transcript of the hearings which as always is illuminating.  You can click here for PDFs of the transcript. 

One of the committee members is Chris Loder, MP for West Dorset and a former Railwayman. I met him in 2009 on a CILT 'Young Professionals' weekender in France. Suffice to say, he comes across in the hearings as a self important individual which is precisely the impression I gained from a few hours in his presence.  Being an MP is appropriate for someone with a god complex.... You know you're popular when you get an outing on a politics youtube channel. 

What also comes across is his complete lack of knowledge about local bus services in his constituency. For someone with a rural area one would expect him to be at the forefront of getting things done when it comes to buses. Much of rural Dorset falls within his constituency - so there's an evident personal interest in improving the lot of his potential voters by providing properly funded bus services at frequencies. That is before you consider his role on the Transport Select Committee!

He also appears entirely ignorant of the economics of bus operation.  I'll quote the transcript verbatim in an exchange with Councillor Ray Bryan of Dorset Council. The council which procures bus services in his constituency. 

Q37 Chris Loder: I am assuming that means concessionary bus passes are used much more.

Councillor Bryan: Absolutely. That is something we desperately need to look at. I can give you an example. On one particular route, which actually goes through the area you represent, Chris, we have a situation where, if I get on the bus, the bus company gets 92p if I use my bus pass. I don’t use it, but I have one. If a youngster gets on the bus, it is £13 for the same route.

Q38 Chris Loder: Do you mean to tell me that a walk-up commercial fare would be £13, yet if I was in receipt of a bus pass the bus operator would get 92p?

Councillor Bryan: Yes. Can I put some clarity on that? The £13 is a return fare, whereas the 92p is per journey. It is £1.84 as against £13.

Q39 Chris Loder: That is quite considerable.

Councillor Bryan: Yes.

Q40 Chris Loder: We wonder why there is a problem with providing rural bus services from the commercial operation, but that has almost explained it, particularly in areas that have a higher demographic with high use of the concessionary bus pass. That almost completely explains why the commercials of rural bus operation do not work. 

Councillor Bryan: Yes. Between 25% and 30% of the population of Dorset have a bus pass.  

Q41 Chris Loder: Is it a Government decision as to how much money is paid to the bus operator?  

Councillor Bryan: I believe so, yes.   

Chris Loder: Thank you. I will leave it there, Chair, and come back to other things a bit later. 

Evidently Loder isn't a bus user - buses are used by poor people - otherwise he'd be fully aware of the issues facing the industry. What's more disturbing is the lack of understanding of his brief. I'd expect a Transport Select Committee member to be active in his constituency promoting transport interests. 

Clearly I hope for too much from elected representatives?!

Discussion then moved onto DRT and how that'll be the solution to rural transport issues.  One nugget of information coming forth is comment on what Government wanted in the BSIP submissions. Chris Hinchliff, Campaigns Manager at CPRE.... 

"In general, we found that the BSIP process guidance very strongly encouraged local authorities to focus on demand-responsive transport as the solution for rural areas, as opposed to regular services. While there is undoubtedly a role to be played by demand-responsive transport, we have concerns about that because the evidence suggests that DRT does not match the passenger transport numbers that you can achieve with regular fixed route services. Given that we need to reduce traffic for a number of reasons, that was quite a concern."

My good friend of longstanding, Andy Fear at Citistar has just seen the loss of his local bus work in the WECA area thanks to the introduction of a DRT scheme intended to take care of much of that area's bus transport requirements. 

Given the acknowledged success of Lincolnshire in running a DRT scheme - since the introduction of Rural Bus money in the late 1990s it's very surprising no one from the council has been asked to appear before the committee. What DRT does require is lots of money to have adequate coverage. 

Q49 on the first part of the transcript is enlightening in showing the desire the committee has - and presumably Government has in encouraging operators to not operate large buses on local routes. They feel smaller vehicles (such as minibuses) are the ideal solution to rural transport problems. Evidently they can't mean a humble Mk7 Ford Transit with slam doors - they must be referring to a Mellor Strata bodied Mercedes Sprinter. 

Those are 'cheaper' in one sense, and will have lower operating costs but they still command a premium and will be over £100,000.  Also not getting considered is the 'peak hours' problem of the excess loads a vehicle carries twice daily. There seems to be an assumption that buses just run around all day with two or three passengers - which is certainly not the case!  In Dorset the smallest vehicle you need is around 40 seats - which can accommodate 20 standing passengers in the peaks.  You might get away with a 29 seat bus on some rural services.

So, twice a day it's moving the equivalent of a double decker load of passengers. At Yellows we found issues in capacity when sending out 29 seater Optare Solos and that the service slowed down significantly when those vehicles were used. That issue didn't happen when a 38 seat Dart SLF went out on a double deck working.....

"Q49 Karl McCartney: We can find out.

Councillor Bryan, coming to you very quickly, you mentioned you have 80 or so buses in your area. Listening to what Chris has just said, obviously we all know and understand that bus companies want to sweat their assets, but large buses travelling down rural lanes is not really where we are at this point in time. They are never going to be full, so I can see why you are pushing on this. How are you going to fund it, or where are you seeking it from? You mentioned some of your own services at the moment, but are you expecting private bus operators to move away from large, 50-plus seater single-deckers and double-deckers to more modern minibuses?

Councillor Bryan: To be honest, for the plan to work we have to persuade the bus companies to move down the smaller bus route. It is all about working together. We can fund the bus route, but after a year, if it is not making money, the bus company just gives it back to us. What I do not want to do is set the hares running on something that I cannot complete. That is why the plan we are trying to create in Dorset has longterm views. 

I have actually sent you the briefing notes that I received. Hopefully, you will see information there that you will find quite useful for this. I hope that from the meeting today we are going to persuade you to set up a full inquiry into rural transport. I really would like to see Dorset as part of that, because I think we have a lot to offer. The offer is on the table. I will throw resource behind trying to get this to the forefront. I have had permission from the leader to offer that. We are very keen to work with you on trying to resolve the problems that are in front of us; we are the eyes and ears out in the marketplace, but we rely on you, as central Government, to help us deliver."

All in all, a fairly disappointing hearing where 'buses' don't really get the attention they deserve. And we wonder why we're in the mess we're in when we elect people to office with zero understanding of their brief. Some preparation would have assisted the committee in asking the right questions.