4.31
i.
Network – the network would be planned as a single network, improving efficiency and integration; design of services would balance affordability with social and economic objectives such as access to employment; GMCA would specify the vehicles to be used to run the service (including environmental performance) although further investment to improve the fleet is not assumed in assessing the scheme; there would be a performance regime with financial penalties to manage reliability and punctuality.
ii.
Simplified and Integrated Fares – period (e.g. day or week) tickets would be valid on all franchised buses; in the first instance, the fare level for a Greater Manchester ticket would be set at the lowest current single-operator fare of the large incumbent operators.
iii.
Customer Experience – GMCA would provide comprehensive (and real time) information about bus services as well as ticketing through a single website and mobile application (an ‘app’). Aspects of customer service such as CCTV or Wi-Fi would be specified in franchise contracts; comprehensive branding for the bus network across Greater Manchester would be introduced.
iv.
Value for Money – The bus service would be run with a view to being net revenue neutral – not generating a surplus over time but reinvesting any funds available or reducing fares. Therefore, all of the income for the bus service – from farepaying passengers and from taxpayers – would be used to provide the best service possible.
Extensive engagement has been undertaken with operators to help understand what a partnership could deliver. This has been done in the context of operators being fully briefed as to the purpose of the exercise so as to ensure that they have been afforded as full an opportunity as possible to develop their partnership proposal or any other proposals they may wish to submit to GMCA. As well as discussions, different proposals were set out by operators and these were considered in order to understand what a potential partnership could look like, what benefits it could bring and how it could help to achieve GMCA’s objectives. This is set out in the Assessment at section 8.5 and in more detail in ‘Partnership Option: Operators’ Position and Modelling Implications Supporting Paper’ (TfGM 2019h). At the time the Assessment was published, there was very limited agreement among operators about the specific commitments and actions they would be prepared to undertake. The Assessment therefore assesses a version based on the consolidated proposal put forward by operators and outputs of ongoing dialogue with operators and is referred to in the Assessment as the Operator Proposed Partnership. Partnerships
4.32
The current Operator Proposed Partnership would deliver the following: i.
46
Network – while a network review process has been agreed, there are severe limitations, as there would not be any redistribution of resources between operators, and operators would only reapportion routes in exceptional circumstances. This means that significant improvement is unlikely to be achieved. While reliability would be monitored and targets could be agreed, there remains uncertainty over any potential enforcement mechanism. HAVE YOUR SAY ON HOW YOUR BUSES ARE RUN – CONSULTATION DOCUMENT