Minutes of the Torbay Bus Enhanced Partnership Board (EPB) meeting held on 25 August 2023
None
1B) Share the proposed Bus Forum stakeholder list – RC (on Behalf of Torbay Council)
1C) Invite a representative from GWR/rail operator – RC
3Ai) Review the draft Passenger Charter – ALL (EPB members)
3Aiii) Provide baseline data against the targets in the BSIP – ALL (NB: Torbay to collate and update BSIP/EPP and EPS if needed).
4. ACTION: Understand how TC can refine the current system. With the aim of producing a more concise roadwork list - AL (Torbay Council)
5. ACTION: How do TC communicate the out-of-hours communications? Is there a need for an automated system SWISCO - AL
6A) Update the EPP & EPS and remove the requirement for TC to Chair the Bus Forum - RC
6A) Update the EPP & EPS to reflect the amended timescales set out in Section 3Aiii of these minutes – RC
8. Add to a future agenda item to have a further discussion on. Could bring along a climate emergency colleague.
Internal notes: virtual meeting, a recording and an automatic Teams transcript is available.
All agreed (25/08/2023).
Action: Invite a representative from GWR/rail operator (TBC: RC/Torbay).
This is the first meeting (25/08/2023) and therefore there are no previous minutes to approve.
Agreed: BSIP Targets (EP Annex 3) added to 09/02/2023 agenda.
Action: Provide baseline data against the targets in the BSIP. (ALL)
NB: Torbay to collate and update BSIP/EPP and EPS if needed.
NB: Within and around the Bus Operator updates, the board had a general reflection on bus passenger levels pre and post covid, the £2 fare, and Roadwork information and communication. These have been summarized at the end of this section.
Service changes: All registered and ready for 3rd September. Covering minor changes for the Torbay Area, aimed at improving punctuality and as a reflection that it is the end of the peak summer season. (i.e. one of the seasonal open-top services is coming off the road).
There are changes planned for later in the year, these are not finalized, and Stagecoach would value the input of the council. As such, there is a planned discussion with TC officers (to capture input). Details will be agreed upon, shared, and TC will be updated in due course.
Successful summer in Torbay, recognizing that Stagecoach services and network are approximately 30 to 40% busier in the summer months (compared to winter). Seen a 5.3% year-on-year increase in passengers in July. This is on trend with other locations within the wider Devon area.
The various cost pressures (increased by 30%) facing the industry include:
Looking at opportunities to drive efficiency, whilst continuing to invest in our business, remain in line with market rates, keep to existing standards and keep the same number of resources on the road.
Stagecoach welcomes the EP and working with the EPB, the aim to improve user satisfaction, the plans to grow the market and the sharing of the high-level strategy (especially in regard to congestion and bus prioritization) as these and how we can get our buses moving efficiently around the road network are at the forefront of our minds.
Pre/post covid: The general agreement among the bus operators present is that compared with pre-covid figures passenger numbers are still behind, with concessionary levels at 75%. Felt to be in line with national levels. Reasoning/suggestions include:
The £2 fare: Generally has increased patronage however not necessarily to the levels needed to make it commercially viable.
Roadworks: All agreed that TC do share a lot of roadwork information, that the majority of the time this is via a key contact and that there is an understanding that the nature of emergency and emergency works are a challenge to all involved – but that it is this unplanned/emergency works that cause the most disruption (and this is a common situation across the wider Torbay (and Devon) road network) as they, not only disrupt the service (and then buses are sat in the traffic), but Bus operators also can’t put in place a forward plan to communicate to customers what’s going on with the service either.
The Chair provided some background to the recent situation with emergency works, less than ideal signaling and lack of advance notice had caused traffic issues throughout the southern side of Torbay – and the fact it has resulted in TC meeting with utility companies to understand the “where, when, why.” TC are working with utilities to find the middle ground between what is and isn’t an emergency i.e. the number of unplanned incidents that get pushed through as an emergency (For clarity: the current system doesn’t have an alternative between putting in a three-month notice or classifying it as an emergency and doing it then and there (therefore the automatic incentive is to treat it as an emergency))
Ideas: triage the information i.e. a filter applied to the roadwork data to state if it is on a bus route (or not)? This would cut down on the amount of time each bus operator spends on filtering the information.
ACTION: Understand how TC can refine the current system. With the aim of producing a more concise roadwork list. (AL)
ACTION: How do TC communicate the out-of-hours communications? Is there a need for an automated system SWISCO (AL).
As noted in Section 1b – the Bus Forum hasn’t been formed, and therefore there are no BSIP reflections from the Bus Forum at this meeting.
The board voted on the following:
What do other environmentally friendly solutions or emerging technologies are there? (Hydrogen?) – need to be sure that EV is correct for the area (Service 12 (Stagecoach) could be a good trial).