Local councils demand sweeping reforms to financial support to bus operators

The Local Government Association (LGA), representing county, district and unitary councils in South West England, has demanded radical reforms to the ways in which financial support is paid to bus operators. A report for the LGA from consultants Oxera claims that spending on bus subsidies has risen by more than one billion pounds in the last decade – the report claims that most subsidy is paid to bus companies without any guarantees as to the service to be provided and that the current subsidy package delivers questionable value for the monies provided. The consultants, Oxera, conclude that the present subsidy regime, with seven different forms of financial support for the bus industry, is too complicated. Oxera recommends the abolition of the Bus Service Operators Grant (BSOG), with the monies saved and all other funding streams been paid direct to local councils to deliver specific bus service improvements including congestion, air quality, social exclusion, reduced carbon dioxide emissions. Oxera also recommended the abolition of free concessionary fares for the elderly and disabled, but this particular proposal was not supported by the LGA due to the ‘popularity’ of the existing schemes.

Transport Select Committee demands changes to rail franchising

The members of the House of Commons Transport Select Committee have called on the Department for Transport (DfT) to improve the rail franchising system – the committee claim that the present system is ‘a muddle’. The committee members were particularly critical of the steep fare rises and service reductions which some train operating company have introduced during the recession. The committee wishes to see franchises that are longer than the customary seven-year term to allow operators to make greater investments and obtain a financial benefit before the end of the contract.

High growth in rail passenger numbers in West of England

The National Rail Trends Yearbook, published by the Office of Rail Regulation, provides evidence of the growing popularity of rail in the South West of England – rail journeys in the region have increased by eighty-one per cent since 1995/6, with trips to and from stations in the city of Bristol rising by one hundred and nineteen per cent in the same period. The West of England Partnership (comprising the unitary councils of Bath and North East Somerset, Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire) has announced that the number of passenger trips made by rail in the geographical area of the four local authorities increased by fifteen per cent in the year to 31 March 2009 – the number of passenger trips in this sub-region is now forty-four per cent higher than five years ago in 2003/4.

Bath Transportation Package finally approved

The Development Control Committee of Bath and North East Council has approved at a third meeting the planning application and associated compulsory purchase orders for the construction of a Bus Rapid Transit route, partially along a disused railway alignment, and the expansion of the Newbridge park and ride site. The other elements of the Bath Transport Package were approved at a previous meeting.

ATCO wants DfT to centralise concessionary fares administration

The Association of Transport Co-ordinating Officers (ATCO) wants the Department for Transport (DfT) to centralise the administration of the concessionary fares scheme in England for the elderly and disabled – ATCO states that the transfer of responsibility for concessionary fares to a central agency would generate efficiencies of scale, eliminate the time taken by negotiations between Travel Concession Authorities (TCAs) (district and unitary councils) and bus operators, end damaging disputes between local authorities and bus companies and deliver a consistent approach to reimbursement across England.

First to install new on-bus technology

FirstGroup, which has four subsidiary bus companies operating in the South West, has announced plans to install new technology in all the vehicles operated by the group, which is designed to improve driving styles and reduce the carbon footprint of its buses. First has already installed one thousand buses operating in Bradford, London and Glasgow with GPS technology which acts like a giant electronic gyroscope and can detect dozens of driving movements per minute – the system immediately reports back to the driver how well she or he is driving. The equipment picks up on acceleration and braking patterns as well as corner, lane and speed handling – a ‘traffic light monitor’ on vehicle dashboards flashes green if the driver is driving correctly, or amber or red if a bus driver carries out an unwanted driving manoeuvre such as heavy braking or unnecessary acceleration. The driver can then make immediate changes to their driving to ensure buses travel more efficiently to produce fewer CO2 emissions and more smoothly for passengers.

People

Rick Haythornthwaite has been appointed as the new chair of Network Rail, in succession to Sir Ian McAllister – Rick was previously chief executive of Invensys, after holding senior management positions at BP and Blue Circle.

And finally,

Customers seeking train running information from the First Great Western website were confused when a service from Cardiff Central to Portsmouth Harbour, which was operating without the advertised at-seat trolley catering facility, was listed as ‘This train will run empty’!