FO EV RT ER NI Y GH T
ISSUE 268 1 JULY 2022
NEWS, VIEWS AND ANALYSIS FOR A SECTOR ON THE MOVE NEWS
Transdev Blazefield reported a 52% increase in passengers on its Cityzap route between York and Leeds on June 23
Shapps takes swipe at TfL’s bus cut claims
04
Transport secretary denies he is to blame
INSIDE TRACK
Why are free pass holders staying away?
Bus services boosted as rail strikes force switch
Many passengers used buses instead after rail services across the country were halted on three days last week because of industrial action by the RMT The impact of strike action by 40,000 RMT members at Network Rail and 13 train operating companies over three days last week appears to have boosted bus use. Transdev Blazefield reported a 52% increase in passengers on its flagship Cityzap route between York and Leeds on the second rail strike day (June 23). This followed a 40.5% increase on the first day of the dispute. The operator’s other Yorkshire routes providing an alternative to trains also reported significantly increased numbers. Its ‘Aireline’ buses between Keighley and Leeds saw a 44% patronage
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increase on the second strike day and its Route 36, which links Harrogate and Leeds a 30% rise. “As well as fulfilling our full timetable, extra buses were operated on a number of routes across Yorkshire so customers could experience our services in comfort,” said Transdev Blazefield chief executive Alex Hornby. “It is heartening to see people choosing the bus, rather than
“It is heartening to see people choosing the bus” Alex Hornby
feeling obliged to stay at home or resort to the car.” Stagecoach also reported a spike in bookings at its Megabus and Scottish Citylink operations ahead of the strike. At Megabus, seat sales were 85% higher than the week before the strikes. Social media also suggested there was enthusiasm for bus use from rail users. “I’ve been using the Stagecoach Gold buses on the X17 from Sheffield to Meadowhall this week during the strike and I can safely say it arrived on time and had seats that made a fair few rail companies First Class look like beds of nails,” said one commuter. “Maybe I won’t use rail again.”
18
Transport Focus offers insights
BRTuk
Europe’s longest BRT system
20
Norway’s ambitious 50km ‘Bussveien’
COMMENT
Can we really blame lapsed commuters?
26
Alex Warner on commuting changes
COMMENT
Mass transit in Mexico City
28
Alex Hornby shares his experiences
29/06/2022 16:53
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29/06/2022 17:52
CONTENTS
PASSENGER TRANSPORT PO Box 5496, Westbury BA13 9BX 020 3950 8000 editorial@passengertransport.co.uk
Should UK follow others and cut bus and rail fares? Spain became the latest country to slash public transport fares in response to the cost-of-living crisis. As part of a package of measures which include maintaining a discount on fuel prices, public transport fares will be halved by 50% for national Robert Jack companies and cut by 30% for fares handled by Managing Editor regional governments and local authorities. This action follows in the footsteps of New Zealand and Germany, where public transport fares have already been reduced. In Germany, local public transport is available for just nine euros per month during June, July and August. Unsurprisingly, this discount has proven popular and there is talk about what will happen when it ends. In Sweden, the Stockholm County region is offering a free travel pass to young people aged 12-18 in June, July and August. The aim is to reacquaint young people with public transport after the Covid hiatus. Closer to home, Scotland quietly introduced free bus travel for under-22s in January while Northern Ireland’s publicly-owned public transport operator, Translink, has frozen fares at 2019 prices. Is it time the UK Government and devolved administrations funded nationwide fares offers? The 5p reduction in fuel duty cost £5bn but was lost in a tidal wave of rising costs (see page 32 for details). It failed to make people feel that they were receiving any tangible help. In contrast, reduced public transport fares could deliver a feel-good factor and encourage positive travel habits for the future. HAVE YOUR SAY Contact us with your news, views and opinion at: editorial@passengertransport.co.uk PASSENGER TRANSPORT editorial@passengertransport.co.uk forename.surname@ passengertransport.co.uk Telephone: 020 3950 8000 Managing Editor & Publisher Robert Jack Deputy Editor Andrew Garnett Contributing Writer Rhodri Clark Directors Chris Cheek, Andrew Garnett, Robert Jack OFFICE CONTACT DETAILS Passenger Transport Publishing Ltd PO Box 5496, Westbury BA13 9BX, UNITED KINGDOM Telephone (all enquiries): 020 3950 8000
EDITORIAL editorial@passengertransport.co.uk ADVERTISING ads@passengertransport.co.uk SUBSCRIPTIONS subs@passengertransport.co.uk ACCOUNTS accounts@passengertransport.co.uk Passenger Transport is only available by subscription. Subscription rates per year; UK £140 (despatch by Royal Mail post); Worldwide (airmail) £280 The editor welcomes written contributions and photographs, which should be sent to the above address. All rights reserved. No
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part of this publication may be reproduced in whole or in part without the publisher’s written permission. Printed by Cambrian Printers Ltd, The Pensord Group, Tram Road, Pontllanfraith, Blackwood, NP12 2YA © Passenger Transport Publishing Ltd 2022 ISSN 2046-3278 SUBSCRIPTIONS HOTLINE 020 3950 8000
IN THIS ISSUE 22
WE FIND OURSELVES IN AN ABSTRACT EQUATION
24
IT’S TIME TO RETHINK OUR REGULATIONS
30
AN ELIZABETHAN TRANSFORMATION
33
ALL CHANGE PLEASE, ALL CHANGE!
“Public transport here in this country finds itself settling into some sort of abstract equation, populated by unknowns and this time without an answer at the back of the book you can look up,” writes Norman Baker.
ORGANISATION
PAGE
Alexander Dennis 28-29 Avanti West Coast 7 Cardiff Bus 8 Chiltern Railways 7 CitySwift 11, 14-15 CPT Cymru 11 CPT Scotland 5 Deutsche Bahn 17 Diamond Bus 10 First Bus 10 FirstGroup 22-23, 33 Go-Ahead Group 22-23, 33, 34 Go North East 9 Hitachi Rail 7 Ipswich Buses 17 London Overground 7 Merseyrail 7 Mott Macdonald 10 Network Rail 6 Nexus 9 Optibus 17 Oxford Bus Company 8 Paragon ID 17 RMT 6 ScotRail 6 SkedGo 17 Stagecoach 1, 8, 11, 22-23, 33 TfGM 17 TfWM 9 Transdev Blazefield 1, 8 Transport Focus 18-19 Transport for London 4, 7, 30-31 Transport for Wales 6 TSSA 7 UITP 16 Urban Transport Group 16 UrbanThings 17 Warrington’s Own Buses 13
Multi-operator Demand Responsive Transport services can makes buses accessible to more people and drive down per-passenger subsidies, but barriers exist. Beate Kubitz believes its time to rethink the complicated regulatory environment.
Despite being late and over budget, trains are now running on the Elizabeth line. What can we learn? Nick Richardson writes: “Given the vast sums of money being thrown around in the past few years, perhaps Crossrail was a bargain after all.”
Our Whitehall insider imagines what’s going on inside the minds of the mandarins at Great Minster House, home of the Department for Transport, and writes: “I confess to some surprise there’s this degree of interest in the UK bus and rail market.”
REGULARS NEWS ENVIRONMENT INNOVATION & TECH INSIDE TRACK COMMENT CAREERS DIVERSIONS
03 16 17 18 22 34 36
1 July 2022 | 03
29/06/2022 18:09
NEWS ROUND-UP
Shapps takes a swipe at TfL’s bus cut claims Transport secretary says the government has not forced Transport for London to make cuts to the capital’s bus network in return for funding FUNDING
A war of words has broken out over Transport for London’s proposed shake up of bus services in central and inner London with transport secretary Grant Shapps claiming TfL has not been forced into making cuts in order to secure continued funding. He also pointed out that the government has provided revenue subsidy for the bus network throughout the pandemic and this would continue. Last month TfL announced proposed changes to 78 bus routes and the complete withdrawal of a further 16 (PT266). It claimed that reducing the bus network by 4% by 2024/25 was part of a plan to achieve significant financial savings that were required by government conditions linked to continued emergency funding. However, in a letter to London mayor Sadiq Khan, Shapps said this was untrue and that it was Khan and TfL who had first floated a reduction in the size of the bus network in their own Financial Sustainability Plan, published in January 2021. “The government did not force you to do so,” said Shapps. “According to the plan, the reductions you proposed were due to changes in demand. “Second, it is untrue that a 4% reduction requires TfL to withdraw 21 routes and reduce or change a further 57 routes. Your plan stated that the 4% cut could be achieved by ‘frequency reductions’ of 25% on ‘around 04 | 1 July 2022 PT268p04-05 4
Route 12 is one of the bus routes threatened by TfL’s plans for cuts
25’ routes and made no mention of withdrawals. The plan stated that ‘there is not yet evidence to support... large-scale reductions in levels of service’. It said that ‘reducing service levels significantly will not realise large savings quickly’, projecting a saving of as little as £8m. “Third, over the 17 months since your Financial Sustainability Plan was published, you have already implemented cuts to the bus network, reducing frequencies on 62 routes, though usually by less than 25% on each route.” He continued: “The companies which operate the threatened
“There is, and will be, more than enough money to maintain services” Grant Shapps
routes are bemused at your new and more dramatic proposals, pointing out that several of the routes have seen among the best recoveries of passenger demand in London. The chief executive of one of the companies described your plans to us as ‘making no sense at all’ and as putting its own investment in London at risk.” Shapps added that officials had made it clear that cutting services should be a last resort. Instead TfL had been urged to try to cut costs and generate revenue, including greater bus priority to speed up buses and allow frequencies to be maintained with fewer resources. “Cities across Britain and the world are learning this lesson,” Shapps said. “But across the whole of Greater London, you installed only 450 metres of new or improved bus lanes in the first eight months of 2021/22. “In short, the new cuts are not
necessary and will not save much money. They have been artificially created by you as a political weapon in your campaign for a long-term capital funding deal. But bus operations have little or nothing to do with capital funding - they are supported by revenue subsidy, which the government has provided throughout the pandemic and which it will continue to provide.” On revenue funding, Shapps pointed out that support since May 2020 already totals £5bn, making the organisation the largest recipient of support in the transport sector. He said business rates would raise £1.8bn for TfL this year and claimed receipts from road user charging have risen sharply because of the expanded Ultra Low Emission Zone. Shapps continued: “TfL’s income (from fares, commercial activity, road charges, business rates, council tax, and the emergency revenue subsidy provided by us) is about the same as before the pandemic. In other words, there is, and will be, more than enough money to maintain services.” The transport secretary also took a swipe at claims that TfL was planning for a ‘managed decline’ of services. Shapps said this was hard to reconcile when no fewer than three major new rail schemes have opened in London in recent months. “As you know, we do want to give TfL a longer-term capital deal,” concluded Shapps. “But your tactics are the wrong way to achieve one. They are harming London’s interests.” Meanwhile, TfL this week extended the closing date for the public consultation into the proposed cuts to August 7. “Interest in this consultation has remained exceptionally high,” it said. www.passengertransport.co.uk
29/06/2022 16:43
Scotland offers further Covid recovery funding £25m will secure services until October amid CPT concern FUNDING
The Scottish Government has confirmed an additional £25.7m will be provided to extend recovery funding for the bus sector until the autumn. It says the Network Support Grant (NSG) Plus is a temporary scheme that aims to support services and protect fares until October while patronage continues to recover from the impacts of the pandemic. The Scottish Government adds the funding is in addition to wider support, which includes funding for bus priority infrastructure, improved data services and ticketing options, the National Concessionary Travel Scheme and free bus travel for all under 22s. NSG Plus is in addition to
the £93.5m already allocated to support bus services this year. Scottish operators received up to £210m by March 31, 2022 to maintain bus services over the course of the pandemic. Ministers says that with bus patronage now growing and more young people continuing to take advantage of free bus travel, support will evolve and NSG Plus will cease at the end of this extended period of support. “We continue to deliver on our commitment to provide additional recovery funding and we have supported bus operators through the most difficult periods of the pandemic,” said transport minister Jenny Gilruth. CPT Scotland, which has been working with its members to make the case to government for further financial support, welcomed the move. It says the additional funding will likely head off the
Wales beefs up bus funding until 2023 £48m funding package aims to help industry survive FUNDING
The bus industry in Wales is set to receive a support package worth £48m to help it recover from the impact of the pandemic and deal with emerging financial challenges, the Welsh Government has announced. Significantly, the Bus Emergency Package will see funding put in place until the end of the current financial year
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in 2023. The Welsh Government says it is one of a number of short-term measures that have been taken to support bus operators at a time when they need it the most. With the longer-term future of the bus industry in mind a review of the existing Bus Services Support Grant (BSSG) scheme will also be undertaken to consider how it can be used to move the industry away from a reliance on
prospect of expected deep cuts to bus services had funding not been forthcoming. The bus and coach sector trade association also warned the bus industry is facing the most challenging landscape it has ever faced. “We are experiencing driver shortages, surging fuel, energy, maintenance, and staff costs, along with suppressed passenger numbers, as people’s travel patterns evolve,” it said. “Many of these challenges will remain when NSG Plus ends in October and difficult decisions will continue to have to be made as our bus networks adapt this year to the ever-changing landscape.” CPT Scotland added that although it would not stop changes happening to networks at present, “continued funding will likely help mitigate the scale of changes that will be required come October”.
emergency funding schemes and bridge the gap to franchising. “The bus industry is emerging from some of its toughest times, and we need to continue to provide support to help the industry recover and secure a healthy future,” said deputy climate change minister Lee Waters. “The funding I’ve announced will provide a short-term solution to help the industry to begin to recover from the challenges it has and continues to face whilst we develop a longer-term solution to tackle the gradual decline in passengers over the years.”
BUS PATRONAGE ON THE UP BUT STILL A WAY TO GO DfT stats confirm ridership still lower than before Covid PATRONAGE
New statistics from the Department for Transport have revealed that bus patronage in England was 2.91 billion journeys in the year ending March 2022, an 85% increase when compared with the previous year. However, patronage is still well below (31% lower) pre-Covid levels in which there were 4.22 billion passenger journeys in England in the year to December 2019. The lower levels were broadly consistent across different areas, with current bus passenger journeys 32% lower in England outside London, 33% lower in metropolitan areas and 31% lower in London and nonmetropolitan areas. The number of passenger journeys increased in April to June 2021 as movement restrictions were eased while following the road map out of lockdown and this increase continued in July to September 2021. Levels in October to December 2021 and January to March 2022 were broadly similar, although this may have been impacted by additional restrictions introduced at the end of 2021 as a result of the Omicron variant of Covid-19. Meanwhile, local bus fares in England are now starting to increase after several quarters of little change. For the quarter January to March 2022, there was a 3.6% increase when compared to January to March 2021. This is faster than in previous quarters, but slower than the all items Consumer Prices Index rate of inflation (5.0%). The increase in local bus fares in England was largely driven by a 5.9% increase in London. In England outside London, local bus fares increased by 1.8%. 1 July 2022 | 05
29/06/2022 16:43
NEWS ROUND-UP
Shapps told to step in and negotiate with RMT As more than 40,000 RMT union members at Network Rail and train operators walk out, transport secretary is urged to negotiate directly
Rail services faced massive disruption after more than 40,000 RMT members at Network Rail and 13 train operating companies walked out for three days last week in a dispute over pay, conditions and job security. A further 10,000 staff ar London Underground also walked out on the first day of the dispute (June 21) as union members there commenced industrial action in a separate dispute over pensions, jobs and conditions. The RMT said the “source of these disputes is the decision by the Tory government to cut £4bn of funding from our transport systems - £2bn from national rail and £2bn from Transport for London”. General secretary Mick
FIRST MINISTER SLAMS NR
Drakeford accuses Network Rail of unfairness DEVOLUTION
Mark Drakeford, first minister of Wales, has accused Network Rail of moving staff out of Wales to sustain services in England during last week’s rail strike. Transport for Wales Rail and ScotRail both had to cancel a high proportion of their services, and the entire Merseyrail service was suspended on strike days. RMT members at all three operators had not voted to take part in the strike, but services were severely constrained by signallers and other Network Rail employees being on strike. 06 | 1 July 2022 PT268p06-07 6
Lynch also warned that industrial action could spill over into other parts of the economy amid increasing concern about inflation. “Our members are leading the way in standing up for all working people trying to get a pay rise and some job security,” said Lynch. “In a modern economy workers need to be properly rewarded for their work, enjoy good conditions and have the peace of mind that their job will not be taken away.” He also called on transport
secretary Grant Shapps to step in and to personally get involved in negotiations. Lynch continued: “Grant Shapps needs to get in the room or get out of the way so we can negotiate with these companies who we have successfully struck dozens of deals with previously. “What we cannot accept is thousands of railway workers being thrown on the scrapheap after being praised as heroes during Covid.
“Grant Shapps needs to get in the room or get out of the way so we can negotiate with these companies” Mick Lynch, RMT
Andrew RT Davies, leader of the Conservatives in the Senedd, asked Drakeford to agree with him that working practices needed updating on the railway. Drakeford responded: “Let me explain to the leader of the opposition why trains aren’t running in Wales: it’s because his government [the Conservative UK Government] has created a dispute with Network Rail, and Network Rail have removed some of the staff who could have been available to make trains run in Wales in order to keep trains running in England. “I wonder if he supports that measure, which was a decision of his government, to deny people in Wales the opportunity to travel - where there is no dispute - by removing
those workers to look after what clearly is for them a higher priority than Welsh citizens will ever be.” Network Rail rejected Drakeford’s assertion. A spokeswoman said: “No Network Rail staff have been redeployed from Wales to England during this industrial action. We’re continuing to work with our partners at Transport for Wales and other train operators to keep passengers moving where we can.” It was reported that in Britain as a whole, half of the rail network was open and 20% of services operated on strike days. However, less than 3% of Network Rail’s Wales and Borders route miles were open. Reduced GWR services operated between Cardiff Central and the Severn Tunnel. While TfW operated a reduced service on
“RMT will continue its industrial campaign until a negotiated settlement is reached.” The strike paralysed the rail network with the infrastructure controller focussing on keeping the main routes open albeit with a skeleton service in place. With no replacement bus services provided and many stations closed, train operators advised passengers to travel only if necessary. Non-strike days also saw services disrupted and pared back due to the displacement of rolling stock and resources around the network. Although RMT members at Govia Thameslink Railway voted for action short of strike, action by Network Rail signallers across its network meant the impact was the same as elsewhere on the network. The only operation not affected by the strike was the tiny Island Line operation on the Isle of Wight where RMT members who operate both track and trains had voted against any form of strike action.
some of the devolved Core Valley Lines, 100% of its services on Network Rail lines were suspended. The Scottish network was closed north and south west of the central belt, and most of the Strathclyde suburban network was closed. ScotRail operated only on five routes. Passenger Transport understands that historic under-investment in signalling equipment was the main reason for large areas of the Scottish and Wales and Borders networks being closed on strike days. The numerous mechanical signal boxes, token exchange systems and level crossing boxes would require more contingent staff than were available on strike days. Some other areas of England, besides the counties bordering Wales, also came into www.passengertransport.co.uk
29/06/2022 17:47
“I am busy getting on with the job at hand and modernising our railway”Grant Shapps
Government commits £1bn to digital upgrade East Coast Main Line signalling system to be modernised The government has said it will commit more than £1bn towards the introduction of digital signalling technology on the southern section of the East Coast Main Line. European Train Control System (ETCS) technology will be rolled out from London’s King’s Cross station to Stoke Tunnels, just south of Grantham. The move from legacy lineside signalling will mean faster, safer and more regular trains and allow capacity to be increased. Transport secretary Grant Shapps said a week after more than 40,000 rail staff staged strike action in a dispute over modernisation of the sector,
funding the East Coast Digital Programme (ECDP) was a key example of how the government wants to bring the industry into the 21st century. “While union bosses waste time touring television studios and standing on picket lines, I am busy getting on with the job at hand and modernising our railway,” said Shapps. “This £1bn investment will allow us to replace unreliable Victorian infrastructure with cutting-edge technology which will mean fewer delays and more regular services for millions of passengers. “The world is changing and, despite the best efforts of unions, I am determined to help our railway change with it.” ECDP will remove lineside signalling and replace it with ETCS which brings signalling into train drivers’ cabs and provides
this category. No trains operated in Cornwall, for example. Devolved train operators could have suffered a bigger financial hit from the dispute than the 13 DfT-sponsored operators where RMT members were on strike. Whereas salary costs for the 13 operators were reduced on strike days, TfW paid employees to attend for work while receiving no revenue from operating trains on lines owned by Network Rail. A TfW spokesman told Passenger Transport last week: “TfW staff scheduled to work on 21, 23 and 25 June will continue to work. Those who are unable to carry out their roles due to the industrial action will use this time to complete regular training or be deployed to other areas of the business.”
A ScotRail spokesman said: “ScotRail staff are expected to attend their usual place of work on days of strike action, and staff are being redeployed for other duties, which includes training and staff briefings, where appropriate.” A Merseyrail spokesman said: “Merseyrail are not part of the current dispute and as such all our staff will report for duty in the usual manner. Where possible they are spending their time undertaking training or administrative work that would normally be fitted in around passenger service.” London Overground and Elizabeth line were also not among the 13 train operating companies where the RMT was on strike. They operated a reduced service on strike days.
DIGITAL RAILWAY
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them with real-time, continuous information throughout their journey. The government says its introduction will create a more responsive, more resilient railway. The ECDP follows more than £350m of previous investment to install ETCS equipment on rolling stock that uses the route. At present more than 80% of passenger trains on the southern section of the ECML can use the technology. Earlier this year ETCS was commisioned on the Northern City line between Finsbury Park and Moorgate. Network Rail says it expects Govia Thameslink Railway’s services on the route to only use in-cab signalling by 2024. “Digital signalling will allow the full potential of our Azuma fleet technology to be realised,” said David Horne, managing director of LNER.
MERSEYRAIL’S 7.1% PAY RISE
TSSA members vote to accept ‘sensible’ pay offer PAY
Members of the TSSA union at Merseyrail have overwhelmingly voted to accept a 7.1% pay offer. The union represents staff that include station retailers, customer relations assistants, train crew admin assistants, stations managers, resource controllers. “What this clearly shows is our union, and sister unions, are in no way a block on finding the solutions needed to avoid a summer of discontent on the railways,” said TSSA general secretary Manuel Cortes.
IN BRIEF CHILTERN CONTRACT RENEWAL Train operator Chiltern Railways has been awarded a new six-year, with a guaranteed core term of 3.25 years, National Rail Contract that includes commitments to continue working towards decarbonising and modernising its fleet and customer experience. Chiltern will continue and expand the trials of HybridFlex technology which converts existing trains to diesel-battery hybrid with zero emissions whilst at stations. It will also work on a business case to convert its diesel fleet to hybrid technology. OVERGROUND EXTENSION Transport for London has confirmed the London Overground extension to Barking Riverside will open this summer, ahead of schedule. The 4.5km extension extends the Gospel Oak to Barking London Overground route to a new step-free station at Barking Riverside. With four trains per hour, it will facilitate easy interchange at Barking station with London Underground and c2c rail services into central London. AVANTI’S NEW TRAINS The first of Avanti West Coast’s new fleet of trains has entered static testing at Hitachi Rail’s Newton Aycliffe factory in the North East. The new fleet will be a mix of 10 seven-carriage electric trains and 13 five-carriage bi-mode trains, with the ability to switch seamlessly between electric and diesel power. The Class 807 fleet will operate between London, the West Midlands and Liverpool while the bi-mode version will be focused on the London to North Wales route. The new fleet is expected to start entering service next year.
1 July 2022 | 07
29/06/2022 17:47
NEWS ROUND-UP
Transdev Blazefield has placed advertisements for buses on fuel pump nozzles on petrol station forecourts
Bus operators use fuel prices to lure motorists
Transdev Blazefield, Cardiff Bus and Stagecoach are among those who are contrasting rising fuel prices with the affordability of their own bus services MARKETING
Bus operators have been targeting motorists with marketing campaigns that highlight soaring fuel costs and the wider cost-of-living crisis. For decades many buses have carried advertisements for cars, some which even deride bus services. North of England bus operator Transdev Blazefield has turned the tables with advertisements on fuel pump nozzles on petrol station forecourts. With the average cost of a full tank of petrol having now risen to over £100, these advertisements display the cost of travel on local bus services and urge motorists to “read the signs”. A campaign by council-owned Cardiff Bus is also urging motorists to “switch to bus and beat the fuel price hike”. For regular travellers, day tickets 08 | 1 July 2022 PT268p08-09 8
allow unlimited journeys from £3.80 per day, with even bigger savings available on one week, four week, and annual tickets. For customers who don’t travel often, flexible tickets on the Cardiff Bus app offer 10 single tickets for £16, saving 20% compared to
THE RISING COSTS OF AN AVERAGE JOURNEY BETWEEN 2015 AND 2021 Source: Stagecoach 6.30 5.34
2.32 2.42
1.62 1.14
2015 2021 2015 2021 2015 2021 BUS TRAIN CAR +4.6% +18% +42%
buying each ticket individually. Alternatively, if customers wish to travel throughout the day, they can purchase the ‘Easy 3 Bundle’, which consists of three day tickets for £10.40 which can be used any time within a year of purchase. Cardiff Bus commercial director Gareth Stevens said: “Whilst costs at the pump continue to rise, we remain committed to offering our customers the best possible price on travel and delivering a top-quality service during a turbulent time.” A multi-partner campaign led by Oxfordshire County Council is encouraging people to use buses to help combat the costof-living crisis. The campaign is designed to highlight the financial advantage of taking a bus over a private vehicle, where possible. Fresh data collated by bus operators has revealed savings
which can made before factoring in paying to park. For example, a return journey between Abingdon and John Radcliffe Hospital via Oxford Bus Company’s X3 service five days a week achieves an annual saving of up to £2,318.23 compared to using a private vehicle. Stagecoach, Britain’s largest bus operator, is meanwhile claiming that bus travel was becoming more competitive with car use before fuel costs spiralled. Its analysis shows that the average cost of car journeys has increased by 48% for diesel and 42% for petrol since 2015, with the average UK bus fare only increasing by 4.6% in this time (see graph). Bus fares saw the lowest increases in this period, the only form of transport under the average national inflation level of 6.2% over the last 12 months By switching from the car to the bus on just two days, petrol car drivers could save £350 on average over the course of a year, and diesel drivers could stand to save £506. The analysis also found that mixing up a commute for just two days a week by taking the bus instead of train, could save travellers over £800 a year. Carla Stockton-Jones, UK managing director of Stagecoach, commented: “The cost-of-living crisis is taking its toll on everyone and we want to play our part in helping. We’ve experienced a rise in fuel, energy, labour and supply chain costs, which all have a knock-on effect on fares. This research helps to identify exactly where the public can make a saving on their transport by mixing up their commute ... We’re proud to see that bus services are still the cheapest travel option. Increases have fallen below the national inflation average, proving that buses are an affordable and reliable way to travel.” www.passengertransport.co.uk
29/06/2022 17:48
Nexus sets its sights on Metro expansion Leamside Line to be at heart of new Wearside loop STRATEGY
Expansion of the Tyne and Wear Metro system, improvements to rail stations across the region and capacity upgrades on the East Coast Main Line for both passenger and freight traffic have been approved in the first North East Rail and Metro Strategy. The new blueprint sets out the region’s collective rail and Metro ambitions and shows how things could look by 2035. Extending the Metro is a key priority of the strategy. The document says there is the potential to deliver a circular Metro service covering South Tyneside, Washington and Sunderland, by piecing together several disused rail corridors, including the Leamside Line. Meanwhile, the strategy also floats the potential for an ‘inner
loop’ Metro service by reusing old rail alignments to connect the Cobalt business park and Silverlink retail park with the northern and southern sections of the Metro’s existing North Tyneside loop. Other rail aspirations include a Metro link into the West End of Newcastle and a new station at East Gateshead to serve a new arena on the Quayside. On stations, improvements at Newcastle and Sunderland are also mooted. Other key commitments include: Increasing the capacity and resilience of the East Coast Main Line and Durham Coast Line, improving connectivity; Ensuring freight can travel sustainably by rail and delivering additional capacity where required; Working with Great British Railways to form a new partnership which represents the
Nexus steps in to secure bus services £4.3m rescue package follows Go North East cuts Nexus has announced a £4.3m rescue package to respond to cuts being made by bus operator Go North East. The Gateshead-based bus operator announced further cuts to its network in May that would be introduced from July 24. It followed cuts to services in Newcastle and the wider Tyneside area earlier this year.
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Nexus says it has now drawn up a £4.3m package to replace services which would otherwise be lost, or re-cast publicly-funded routes it already provides to mitigate the worst effects of the planned cuts. It adds that this is the second time this year it has been forced to step in to secure the future of such services. “The bus network is something
North East, ensuring local needs are taken into account; and Introducing the new Stadler fleet on the Metro and working towards the introduction of zero emission trains on local rail services. “Our sights are firmly set on reopening the Leamside Line and extending the Metro and we are already taking steps to make these ambitions a reality,” said Martin Gannon, chair of the North East Joint Transport Committee. “We also want to drive investment in the East Coast Main Line in the North East and we’ll continue to make our region’s case for funding from central government to boost capacity. “These developments will allow us to achieve our health and economic goals and help local people to access better opportunities- whether that’s for employment, leisure or education.”
local people rely on every day and it is vital that services are available for them when they need them,” said Martin Gannon, chair of the North East Joint Transport Committee. “Unfortunately bus ridership is still way below pre-pandemic levels and with government Covid-19 funding support due to end in October, the operators are making cuts in response. “It is great news that Nexus is able to step in and make sure that communities stay connected.”
IN BRIEF MANCHESTER’S £2 FARE CAP Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham has announced that from September 1, 2022, single journey bus fares will be capped at £1 for children and £2 for adults. In addition, there will be a new £5 day ticket people can buy which will allow for unlimited travel on all operators. The new fare structure will come in a year earlier than originally planned and is subject to agreement with the government and local bus operators. LEICESTER SETS A DATE Leicester’s St Margaret’s Bus Station reopened to passengers this week after 18 months of reconstruction work. The new landmark building creates a gateway into the centre of the city. It features a glazed concourse to maximise natural light and cut energy consumption and a curved aluminium roof where a solar array of 390 photovoltaic panels will generate more power than the building consumes. FIRST PHASE OF SPRINT OPEN Buses using the A34 and A45 in Birmingham can bypass traffic jams to offer passengers quicker journeys and more reliable services following the completion of the first phase of the Sprint bus rapid transit project. The £88m project, developed and delivered by Transport for West Midlands, has also seen 76 new enhanced bus shelters, each including CCTV, installed along the entire route from Walsall to Solihull via Birmingham. “This particular set of new bus lanes and infrastructure has already started to make a meaningful difference for local residents,” said West Midlands mayor Andy Street.
1 July 2022 | 09
29/06/2022 17:48
NEWS ROUND-UP
Report backs speed limit on Cambs busway Safety improvements follow three deaths on guided busway route SAFETY
Improved signage and maintenance and a permanent 30mph speed limit have been recommended by an independent expert review into safety on the Cambridgeshire Guided Busway. The busway runs for 16 miles and is made up of two sections - a northern section between Cambridge and St Ives and a short southern section linking Cambridge railway station, Addenbrooke’s Hospital and the park and ride site at Trumpington. Both sections feature an adjacent maintenance track which is also used as a pedestrian right of way and cycleway. There are also numerous pedestrian crossings. Pedestrian Kathleen Pitts was struck on the southern section of the busway between Cambridge railway station and
WORCESTERSHIRE PLANS ‘TASKFORCE’ Move follows Diamond plans for service cuts NETWORKS
Worcestershire County Council has launched a ‘Bus Travel Task Force’ to review current bus provision and “to ensure bus travel is able to meet residents’ needs across the county”. The move follows an announcement by operator Diamond Bus that a significant number of routes that make up its network in the Midlands are currently at risk. The Rotala subsidiary claims that all but one of their routes in 10 | 1 July 2022 PT268p10-11 10
Long Road in October 2021. It was the same stretch of guideway where cyclist Steve Moir was killed in 2018. In November 2015 another pedestrian was knocked down by a bus at Fen Drayton on the northern section when attempting to cross the guideway. Consultants Mott MacDonald were commissioned by Cambridgeshire County Council to appraise the safety of the
infrastructure following the most recent accident. They found a number of problems, including insufficient warning advice at all pedestrian and cyclist crossing points and worn road markings at all vehicle entry points. Mott MacDonald has recommended improvements that could reasonably be made to enhance safety - such as new and consistent signage, reflective Mott MacDonald has concluded safety should be improved
Kidderminster and Redditch are losing money. As a result up to 30 routes are under threat. The outcry was such that the local council has convened the task force which will be comprised of the county council, bus operators, passenger groups, and Worcestershire MPs. “The task force meetings will be an opportunity for all key partners and the county council to hear about the challenges that are currently being faced by bus users, bus companies and bus employees,” said the council. “The task force will travel to each constituency within the county to ensure it is close to the issues in the local areas.
“The aim of the task force is to provide a platform for new solutions and ideas on how the current issues can be addressed, these can then be shared with the Department for Transport.” The council adds the task force approach adds to the work it is doing to understand and improve bus travel in the county using a threephase approach: review, enhance and secure. This will see a full network review, the findings of which will be submitted to the DfT; enhancements to the passengers experience; and the securing of services with innovative solutions, such as DRT, that “improve network resilience”.
lining, opportunities to improve the maintenance track and a new lower 30mph speed limit for vehicles using the southern section of the busway “where significant pedestrian and cyclist activity frequently occurs”. The consultant added that bus speeds in excess of 30mph were “incongruent within an urban area”. However, Mott MacDonald rejected calls for a fence between the guideway and the maintenance track as this would “not be a long-term practical intervention as a fence would restrict bus occupants evacuating a guided bus in case of an incident”. “Following Mott’s reports, we have already implemented many of the recommendations, such as a 30mph speed limit on the whole southern section,” said Alex Beckett, chair of Cambridgeshire’s highways and transport committee. “Many of the markings, signs and highfriction surfacing will be complete by the end of August. We are also looking at opportunities to improve the quality of cycling and active travel provision.
FIRST SIGNS FOR METROBUS ROUTE First Bus will operate new route to Bristol Parkway PARTNERSHIP
The West of England Combined Authority has announced First Bus will operate the new M4 Metrobus service between Cribbs Causeway and Bristol Parkway. The corridor will see a number of improvements including improved bus stop infrastructure, new bus lanes, cycle and pedestrian pathways as well as other highways improvements. The £57m project has been led by South Gloucestershire Council. www.passengertransport.co.uk
29/06/2022 16:56
“We need to see a much stronger emphasis on tackling congestion”
Operator concerns at 20mph speed limit plan Buses are likely to be disproportionately affected by change RELIABILITY
Analysis of the 20mph default urban speed limit which will be introduced in Wales next year reveals that journey times will be increased for buses more than any other vehicle category. Last week, the Welsh Government laid the legislation in the Welsh Parliament for the current 30mph default limit to be replaced with 20mph, except where local authorities use exemptions criteria to determine that the 30mph limit will remain. The government forecasts significant road safety benefits, and expects the change to generate an increase in active travel. However, bus operators have raised concerns about the impact of increased bus journey times, pointing out that additional
STAGECOACH’S PROFIT BOOST
Revenues recover as acquisitions is completed FINANCIALS
Stagecoach said it has returned to growth with passenger demand recovering after it posted pretax profits of £44.1m on revenues of £1,176.5m for the year ended April 30, 2022 compared to pretax profits of £17.0m and revenues of £928.2m the year before. The news comes just days after the group delisted from the London Stock Exchange on the morning of June 28 following its recent £600m www.passengertransport.co.uk
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vehicles and drivers will be needed to maintain existing frequencies where journey times are extended. Passenger Transport understands that the government has not estimated the cost of maintaining current service frequencies or identified funding to prevent service reductions when the 20mph default limit is rolled out in September 2023. CPT Cymru director Josh Miles said: “Welsh Government has laudable ambitions to improve road safety and bus and coach
20mph default speed limit starts in September 2023
acquisition by DWS infrastructure. When looking at the group’s operations, revenues grew 34.8% at the UK regional bus operations to reach £892.2m (2021: £662.2m). Operating profits there increased from £24.5m in 2021 to £57.9m with a margin of 6.5% (2020: 3.7%). The London bus operation recorded revenues of £272.6m in 2022 (2021: £261.7m) with operating profits of £20.7m and a margin of 7.6% (2021: £18.7m and 7.1% respectively). Of the group’s joint ventures, the Scottish express coach joint venture with ComfortDelGro reported operating profits of £0.4m (2021: a loss of £0.3m).
operators are keen to play their part in this agenda. One consequence of these proposals could be slower bus and coach speeds which will have an impact on passenger journey times, scheduling more generally and potentially the number of people willing to use the bus. “To help mitigate these impacts, we need to see two things. Firstly, local authorities should look to use the exceptions process appropriately on key arterial routes that have the most potential to impact on bus journey times. Secondly, we need to see a much stronger emphasis on tackling congestion for buses and coaches by introducing ambitious bus priority measures - such as bus lanes - in Wales’ towns and cities.” The government’s analysis, published with the legislation, shows that about 24% of mileage by buses and coaches will be affected by the change from 30mph to 20mph, compared
with 18% for cars and taxis, the same for vans, 9% for other goods vehicles and 19% for motorcycles. The percentage of bus mileage affected is likely to be even higher than the 24% for buses and coaches, since coaches tend to travel long distances on inter-urban roads, where the speed limit will not change next year. Similarly, the impact on the taxi trade could be understated by their inclusion in the same category as cars. The analysis by the Welsh Government says: “No assumption or allowance has been made for any direct costs to commercial businesses such as taxi firms, bus companies and logistics companies though some concerns were raised in the consultation process. “An analysis by CitySwift of three bus routes indicates that increased running times on some bus routes across Wales could potentially lead operators to adjust their operations so that they can mitigate any increased operating costs.” CitySwift found that journey times would increase by 5%, 8% and 12% on the bus routes it analysed.
The group said it expects it will take some time for demand at the regional bus operation to return to pre-Covid levels, “and are therefore planning for a number of scenarios”. Stagecoach said it was pleased with the financial performance of the London bus operation and noted part of its contractual revenue from Transport for London is adjusted for changes in inflation. “That, together with our continued focus on cost control and our fuel hedging programme, should help offset inflationary costs pressures,” the group added. Stagecoach chief executive Martin Griffiths said the Perth-based group
was “in a good financial position”. “We look to the next phase of our journey under new ownership,” he added.“We are not immune from the global macro-economic headwinds. However, we believe our good value public transport services offer consumers help in managing the cost-of-living challenges and high fuel and energy prices. “Looking ahead, public transport remains critical to economic recovery, healthy and connected communities, levelling up the country, and delivering a net zero future, and I am confident Stagecoach has positive long-term prospects.” 1 July 2022 | 11
29/06/2022 16:56
NEWS ROUND-UP
Council concerns over Welsh bus franchising Cardiff Council is seeking protection for its bus company as the Welsh Government moves towards bus franchising. Rhodri Clark reports MUNICIPALS
Cardiff Council fears for the future of its bus company under the Welsh Government’s proposed franchising system. The Labour-controlled authority has also told the Labour government that that the Regulatory Impact Assessment on franchising highlights benefits without due attention to potential downsides. The government’s proposals differ from recent legislation in England and Scotland in that franchising would be applied everywhere, without alternative partnership options. This would compel Cardiff and Newport councils to franchise services which currently form the bedrock of their own bus companies. “Competitive tendering for franchises will be very challenging for municipal bus companies against a low-cost operator,” says Cardiff Council in its response to the government’s consultation on the White Paper. “If the council’s municipal bus company, Cardiff Bus, does not win a franchise or a sufficient number of them to sustain the business, there would be significant liabilities on the council related to potential redundancies, pension costs and asset write-offs. “The White Paper does not offer a mechanism to protect municipal bus companies from exposure to the risks associated with competing for franchises. Protecting municipal bus operators is likely to require a mechanism where direct award is 12 | 1 July 2022 PT268p12-13 12
Could franchising spell the end for Welsh municipals?
permitted. However, competition law and the circumstances where this might be appropriate to ensure this can be legal will need careful consideration as competition law is not a devolved responsibility.” In a briefing on the consultation response for the council’s cabinet, transport portfolio holder Dan De’Ath explained: “The White Paper, whilst encouraging municipal ownership, makes no reference to the very real challenges that UK competition law could bring to such a situation if that approach [franchising] were to be followed. Council officers are exploring how such a scheme
“Competitive tendering will be very challenging for municipal bus companies”
could work and expect to take legal advice in due course to confirm the courses of action available.” Cardiff’s consultation response says competition for the supply of bus services would not necessarily align with the geographic concept of municipal ownership. It said it would welcome clarity from the government on this. Cardiff Council also criticises the RIA which underpins the proposals, claiming that the assessment is too narrowly focused and lacks analysis of the amount of decline in bus patronage attributable to private car use. “It is significant that the qualitative assessment of the policy changes only discussed benefits of each intervention. A rounded assessment should of necessity examine downsides and the risks that are associated with each option,” said the council. “The limited scope of the RIA shows in the analysis of costs and benefits. Whilst the status quo
in bus terms is easily defined, the alternative ‘do something’ scenarios do not consider regional variations in funding and capability that will inevitably occur. “It also does not acknowledge the potential localised benefits that road/congestion management schemes could offer. Any such assessment needs to consider that any revenue streams developed from this would most likely be local in nature and need to be reinvested back into sustainable transport infrastructure and services locally.” It says the RIA quotes successful examples of integrated transport networks overseas but without exploring their scale, compared to the proposed whole-Wales ‘one size fits all’ approach. “A thorough investigation would show that locally defined and procured networks within a national framework is the actual model employed in these examples and one which cannot be compared to a single source national delivery model as proposed.” It argues that the RIA significantly under-estimates the costs of fitting out depots for zero emission vehicles, and queries assumptions on connectivity. “It is significant that the analysis of journey time assumes that a franchise model would seemingly decrease interchange penalties by up to 66%. “Even with a single ticket system and matched headways, achieving this level of gain appears to assume substantial frequency increases (which in turn implies effectively unconstrained funding as costs rise with frequency). The analysis of infrastructure interventions within a franchise arrangement appears to support our contention that locally defined services would be necessary to maximise the benefits of franchising.” www.passengertransport.co.uk
29/06/2022 17:15
Former Engineer of the Year banned by TC Stephen Stringer ‘dishonestly’ misled operator’s management COMPLIANCE
A highly respected bus operator engineer has been disqualified from acting as a transport manager for two years after his employer was called to a public inquiry following reports that 28 buses had been operated in public service after their MoT tests had expired. Stephen Stringer was head of engineering and transport manager at Warrington’s Own Buses between 2015 and November 2021. A highly competent bus engineer, he had been named Engineer of the Year at the 2019 UK Bus Awards. The inquiry heard that the operator, including managing director Ben Wakerley, “had complete faith in Mr Stringer as a long-standing employee who had established a reputation as being reliable and trustworthy”. In his written verdict, North West traffic commissioner Gerallt Evans said the operator had assured him that it did have a robust audit system in place prior to the Covid-19 pandemic to monitor and audit vehicle maintenance. “This included reviewing key performance indicators as well as regular spot checks of vehicle files which were undertaken by Mr Wakerley in person,” Evans added. Social distancing and other restrictions introduced in the wake of Covid-19 meant the supervisory system had to be modified and was far more reliant on individuals such as Stringer www.passengertransport.co.uk
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Warrington’s Own Buses head of engineering was named Engineer of the Year at 1999 UK Bus Awards
passing on relevant information. Evans continued: “One significant change was that the vehicle files to be checked were now selected by Mr Stringer himself rather than Mr Wakerley as previously.” Meanwhile, with a reduction of services as a result of lockdown, far more of its vehicles were parked up. Evans said this also served to obscure the extent of any difficulties with testing and roadworthiness. “The operator now considers that Mr Stringer had been misleading senior management about the annual test position and other vehicle maintenance matters since at least early 2021,” he added. “The operator stressed that had it not been for the revised working practices introduced as a result of the pandemic, its internal audits would have swiftly identified the problem with the annual tests.” Stringer, who did not attend the public inquiry on May 3, had consistently reported to the operator’s board and senior management that throughout 2021 buses were being presented for
MoT and claimed most, if not all, were passing the first time. In July 2021, he had even claimed to have hit a 100% first-time pass rate. But by this stage, it is known that vehicles had already failed to be submitted for a test as required. Stringer did report that one vehicle had failed its test in October 2021, but he presented this as an exception. In an e-mail sent on the afternoon of November 23, 2021, Stringer admitted to getting “some MoT dates wrong on the planner” and then referred to four specific buses. Evans believed the e-mail had been prompted by rumours circulating on social media about the problem. Stringer subsequently claimed in an e-mail to the traffic commissioner in April this year that as soon as he became aware of the MoT issues, he had formulated a plan to begin working through 28 buses. “I then gave my notice with immediate effect to protect the company’s interest,” he claimed. However, this was at odds with evidence provided by the operator and supported by e-mails
between Wakerley and Stringer on November 23 and 24, 2021. These e-mails had claimed just four buses were affected and were “indicative of his [Stringer’s] continuing efforts to mislead the operator”. Although Warrington’s Own Buses had initially declined to accept Stringer’s resignation, he was suspended after senior managers, including Stringer, had worked through the night in an attempt to resolve the problem. “I am not convinced that Mr Stringer offered his resignation to protect the company’s interests,” said Evans. “I think it is more likely that he realised the extent of his failures would result in inevitable dismissal. “I find that not only did Mr Stringer fail to ensure the vehicles were submitted for annual test as required, but it is also clear from the evidence that I have seen that he actively and dishonestly sought to conceal the true position on testing from his senior managers for several months.” Since the issue came to light, Warrington’s Own Buses has also introduced additional external auditing and strengthened its internal management with the appointment of David Aspinall as director of engineering. “We accept the outcome of this inquiry,” Ben Wakerley told Passenger Transport. “The individual in question, who previously was trusted and highly respected across the industry, was suspended immediately and subsequently left our employment. We cannot know what led to such a significant change in his behaviour. “We have since put in place additional measures to increase the scrutiny of engineering processes to ensure that misreporting does not happen again in future, with this work recognised in the inquiry.” 1 July 2022 | 13
29/06/2022 17:15
NEWS THE STATE OF UK PUBLIC TRANSPORT
Data and tech aid recovery
What they told us.. What is the most important key performance indicator for public transport in the next 12 months? (Select one)
Public transport professionals are considering technology upgrades to help with challenges The Covid crisis accelerated the use of data and technology by the passenger transport sector, and this trend looks set to continue. A survey of passenger transport professionals found that most are considering an upgrade of their data analysis capabilities over the next 12 months. Passenger Transport teamed up with data specialists CitySwift to undertake a survey of 49 public transport professionals - The State of UK Public Transport - including many well known faces in the sector. Among the findings, which were published in the last edition of this magazine (PT267), were that most (54.2%) cited accelerated use of data and technology as one of the positive legacies that the Covid crisis will leave behind for public transport. Only enhanced cleaning regimes were mentioned more (56.3%). During the pandemic, bus and rail operators harnessed the power of data and technology to rapidly redesign their networks in response to changing lockdown restrictions, again and again. They accelerated the roll out of cashless ticketing, minimising the risk of virus transmission while providing new, convenient payment formats.
“Only one in six feel that they have the data they need readily available to them” 14 | 1 July 2022 PT268p14-15 14
And now they are using it to monitor changes in network usage as the recovery progresses. Our survey also included eight questions on the subject of data and technology (see opposire), and this article reveals the responses to those. It provides an insight into how passenger transport professionals are using data and technology and the tools they are now planning to invest in. The survey found that data on passenger satisfaction was the most important key performance indicator for public transport in the next 12 months (cited by 54.2% of respondents), followed by punctuality (41.7%). However, in order to achieve this KPI, only one in six (16.7%) feel that they have the data they need readily available to them. Most (54.2%) have some of the data, while 29.2% say the data they need is not readily available. Meanwhile, public transport professionals are only moderately confident that their network understands current passenger mobility patterns, compared to pre-pandemic passenger mobility patterns, and that supply and demand are efficiently balanced. It is therefore not suprising that most (51.6%) are considering an upgrade of their data analysis technology systems in the next 12 months. Almost half (48.8%) plan to upgrade their scheduling technology while more than two-fifths are looking at their planning (41.9%) and ticketing technology (41.9%).
Passenger satisfaction/NPS (54.2%) Punctuality (41.7%) Vehicle emissions (4.2%)
In order to achieve this KPI, do you feel you have the data that you need readily available to you? (Select one) 16.7%
54.2%
Yes, I have quick and easy access to all the data I need
29.2%
Some data is readily available, some is not
The data I need is not readily available
What data, if any, will you be using in network planning over the next 12 months? (Select all that apply) Passenger origin destination 75.6% Ticketing
w
71.1%
Scheduling 57.8% In-person, on-site analysis 48.9% GPS 46.7% Cellular data 22.2%
How often do you plan to review this data, on average? (Select one) 47.7% 29.5% 11.4% Weekly or more
Monthly or more
Once per quarter
2.3%
4.5%
4.5%
Bi-annually
Annually
Less often
www.passengertransport.co.uk
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How often do you plan to make changes to your network, on average? (Select one) 29.5%
29.5%
13.6%
11.4%
11.4%
4.5% Weekly or more
Monthly or more
Once per quarter
Bi-annually
Annually
Less often
On a scale of 1-5, how confident are you that your network understands current passenger mobility patterns, compared to pre-pandemic passenger mobility patterns? Average = 2.9
47.9% 27.1% 8.3%
16.7%
1
2
3
4
5
On a scale of 1-5, how confident are you that your network is accurately and efficiently balancing supply with demand? 35.4%
35.4%
3
4
Average = 3.0
20.8% 8.3% 1
2
5
Are you considering an upgrade to any of your technology systems in the next 12 months? (Select all that apply) Data analysis 51.6% Scheduling
w
48.8%
Planning 41.9% Ticketing 41.9% Rostering 35.5% Network optimisation 32.3% www.passengertransport.co.uk
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COMMENT
Leveraging data is how we future-proof buses We have a unique opportunity to level-up services If the last two years have taught us anything, it’s how resilient the industry can Brian O’Rourke be in the face of CitySwift great uncertainty. We have seen the growing importance of data in building this resiliency, helping operators predict and adapt to a changing environment. It’s exciting to see a shift in mindset towards using data. In last year’s survey, data analysis technology was one of the lowest ranking technology priorities. But we live in a new world: in the next 12 months, bus operators have rated data analysis technology as their number one technology to upgrade. As organisations dig deeper into building a data-led operation, they have realised that they don’t have the access they need, or the confidence in their existing data. Reliable data is more essential than ever for understanding bus network movement patterns. How can you adapt your service, if you don’t know where your passengers are? And operators have caught on - respondents rated origin-destination and ticketing data as the top two sources they will be using in the coming year. Over half of respondents feel they don’t have all of the access they need to this data. It’s crucial, but it’s hard to get. Pre-pandemic, it was easy to make assumptions about office hours, leisure activities and shopping habits. Figures from the UK’s Department for Transport suggested that public transport patronage was
slowly recovering in Great Britain, but patronage at weekends was often exceeding that of weekdays. Regional bus services also followed this trend and regularly reported patronage in the high eighties at weekends, up from the early seventies on weekdays. This is also true in London where patronage was generally around 70% on weekdays but mid to late 80% at weekends. What we know about how people move has been turned on its head. We don’t know that there won’t be further shifts and changes in the years to come - we could never have predicted the last two years, after all. It’s no surprise that the agility shown by operators was rated as a positive covid legacy, it was wonderful to see. This legacy, coupled with the flattening of traditional peaks - another positive legacy - gives a sense that the industry is moving ever-closer towards the concept of the dynamic bus network. Fixed routes and timetables that operate on out-of-date data and assumptions just won’t cut it anymore. The impact of the pandemic has seen operators already introducing the likes of Friday-only timetables, as an example. Dynamic networks are the answer to ever-changing conditions and the permanent move to less predictable routines. Digitalisation of operators paves the way for dynamic bus networks, and the last two years have presented us with a unique opportunity to make this change. Brian O’Rourke is CEO and co-founder of CitySwift 1 July 2022 | 15
29/06/2022 16:50
ENVIRONMENT
‘Met authorities are key to climate response’ Report sets out benefits of transport authorities…and how to set up new ones. It also identifies four key challenges for urban transport governance POLICY
Metropolitan transport authorities have an integral role to play in responding to the global climate crisis by reducing emissions from, and increasing the resilience of, transport systems, according to a new report. The report, written by Urban Transport Group director, Jonathan Bray for UITP, the global public transport body, shows how new and existing transport authorities can deliver on the carbon reductions and air quality improvements required from transport as part of wider city region and national government targets. They can do this by investing in low and zero emission vehicle fleets and the supporting infrastructure; generating or purchasing green energy to power public transport fleets; promoting modal shift from the most polluting and carbon intensive transport modes; and improving the resilience of cities to the more extreme weather conditions that climate change is bringing. With nearly 70% of people expected to live in urban areas by 2050 and with cities now consuming two-thirds of global energy consumption and generating 70% of greenhouse gas emissions, the report shows how, by establishing empowered transport authorities, metropolitan areas can respond effectively to the resulting challenges whilst ensuring that urban areas continue to be the engines of national economies. 16 | 1 July 2022 PT268p16-17 16
The wide-ranging report, which was launched this week in Paris, sets out the many benefits of metropolitan areas establishing empowered transport authorities (beyond just climate benefits) and provides a guide to the issues and options for those areas who are considering setting one up. It shows how transport authorities have been able to address complex challenges and make trade-offs with finite resources and in the context of serving urban areas which are dynamic and constantly evolving. The report also identifies four key contemporary challenges for urban transport governance. These are: making timely decisions on how best to reduce carbon emissions whilst improving climate
“Public transport will be vital in combatting climate change” Mohamed Mezghani
Mohamed Mezghani
resilience; realising the consumer benefits of new technologies, new mobility formats and business models whilst at the same time protecting the wider public interest; balancing the need to improve the quality of place with providing access to those places; ensuring that transport authority governance reflects the full diversity of the places it serves in the way it works and in the decisions it takes. The report finds that: “Around the world, transport authorities in all their different guises have both kept metropolitan areas moving day in and day out whilst at the same time always looking to the future as to how they can improve the service they provide and how they can best respond to the constant churn of social, economic and environmental change. In doing this, they seek to serve the wider public interest whilst making difficult choices as to what priorities to pursue and how they are to be funded. Based on their achievements already and the complex challenges that 21st century metropolitan areas face, the case for transport authorities for metropolitan areas is stronger than ever, especially given the key role they will need to play in meeting the global challenge of climate change.” Mohamed Mezghani, secretary general of UITP, commented: “Public transport will be vital to the recovery of the economy and society in a post-Covid 19
world and in combatting climate change. However, these objectives will not be possible without the planning and organisation of strong transport and mobility authorities. They are key in ensuring that public transport services are provided with public policy goals in mind whilst also considering citizens’ expectations. “As the International Association of Public Transport, UITP is excited to participate in this valuable report and we will continue to support the improvement of the governance of urban mobility by promoting the benefits of transport authorities as a way to ensure a thriving, sustainable and resilient transport sector.” Jonathan Bray, director of the Urban Transport Group, who authored the report, said: “Given the huge and complex transport challenges that metropolitan areas around the world are facing, many are looking at how they can plan and operate transport in the future in a more coordinated way. I hope this report can help provide an accessible and non-technical guide to the benefits of metropolitan area transport authorities as well as the issues around establishing them and the options for the different forms they can take. “Although no one size fits all, and all governance is fluid, I strongly believe that transport authorities are a key building block for a better future for metropolitan areas and as the Director of the Urban Transport Group in the UK, I am delighted that we have been able to work with our fellow transport authorities around the world on this initiative.” The full report - Transport authorities for metropolitan areas: The benefits and options in times of change - can be downloaded at urbantransportgroup.org www.passengertransport.co.uk
29/06/2022 17:13
INNOVATION & TECHNOLOGY
TfGM agrees MaaS initiative Partnership sees transport authority incorporate SkedGo’s journey planner onto its website MOBILITY AS A SERVICE
Mobility as a Service provider SkedGo has announced a collaboration with Transport for Greater Manchester to help ease city congestion and encourage public transport use. The partnership sees TfGM incorporate SkedGo’s journey planner onto its website, offering commuters a wide range of mobility options in Greater Manchester, including buses, trains and trams. Users can see the CO2 output for each trip and prioritise journeys based on low carbon emissions, time taken, convenience and cost. “MaaS technology is a fundamental tool to reduce air pollution,” said SkedGo CEO John Nuutinen. “Our journey planner provides authorities and local governments with the data needed to make greener and sustainable travel a realistic goal. “MaaS technology has proven its success already and we’re looking forward to supporting TfGM on its sustainability objectives.” More than 5.6 million journeys are made across Greater Manchester’s transport network each day and congestion costs Greater Manchester £1.3bn a year. SkedGo’s contract with TfGM
“MaaS technology has proven its success already”
John Nuutinen, SkedGo www.passengertransport.co.uk
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TfGM journey planner
follows its ongoing work with Leicester City Council, promoting active travel as part of the Choose How You Move initiative. Nuutinen added: “Manchester’s population is expected to hit 627,000 by 2025 with 100,000 people choosing to live in the city centre. We believe our journey planning technology can encourage the use of public transport and increase cycling and walking, to ensure our UK cities become healthier, greener and more productive.” SkedGo was founded in 2009 by Claus von Hessberg, Tim Cooper, Adrian Schoenig and John Nuutinen, who identified a logistical issue when trying to organise transport for a regular football match and set out to solve the problem through mapping tools.
ROUND-UP
DRIVERLESS PARAGON ID BUYS SHUTTLE LAUNCH URBANTHINGS DB and partners will begin service next year
Deal aims to accelerate growth of digital solutions
AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES
ACQUISITIONS
In the Rhine-Main region, “the first completely autonomous vehicle fleet in public transport” is to start in 2023. Deutsche Bahn with its subsidiaries ioki and Clevershuttle, the Intel-company Mobileye, the Association of German Transport Companies and Rhine-Main Transport Association, presented the project at a conference in Frankfurt last month. The vehicles in autonomous level 4 will operate in Darmstadt and the Offenbach district from 2023 - fully integrated into regular public transport operations. DB technology company ioki will provide the software for this groundbreaking project.
Paragon ID has acquired UrbanThings in a deal that will integrate product offerings, in particular those from Paragon ID’s subsidiary airweb, to accelerate the rollout of a global mobility platform for the mass transit market. UrbanThings is a UK-based technology company that provides cities, local authorities, and passenger transport operators with a range of digital solutions. These include an integrated mobility hub for Mobility as a Service, mobile ticketing, real-time journey information, vehicle tracking and rich passenger analytics. Their technology powers over 130 million passenger journeys a year. They are also the team behind Bus Checker, the ticketing, journey planning and real-time information app used by millions of passengers across the globe. Paragon ID is a leading provider of smart ticketing solutions worldwide. In the last few years, the company has expanded into mobile and web ticketing solutions through its French subsidiary, airweb.
IPSWICH BUSES IS CLOUD-NATIVE
Optibus used for planning, scheduling, and rostering SOFTWARE
Ipswich Buses has announced that it will use Optibus’ cloud-native software for all planning, scheduling, and rostering needs. The councilowned company will also be one of the first UK operators to implement Optibus’ new real-time Operations module. “Optibus is the ideal solution for our operation moving forward. The software’s proven ability to improve business efficiency is unparalleled,” said Ipswich Buses boss Steve Bryce.
Carl Partridge, CEO UrbanThings and Konstantinos Lagios, CCO Paragon ID
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INSIDE TRACK MARKET MONITOR
Why are free bus pass holders staying away?
Transport Focus has studied why some concessionary bus pass holders have stopped using buses, and what can be done to encourage them to return As the independent consumer watchdog Transport Focus we want David Sidebottom to make sure Transport Focus people are getting what they need from bus services. This includes looking at ways to encourage more people to give buses a go. Back in 2009 Transport Focus was building towards the expansion of our statutory remit in 2010 to promote the interests of bus passengers in England, outside of London. Our very first piece of research in this sector was to look at the consumer experience of the England-wide concessionary bus travel scheme. Our research found that older and disabled people were using buses significantly more since free local bus travel was introduced in April 2006, and extended in April 2008, to enable pass-holders to travel free on local buses anywhere in England. Not having to pay to use the bus made it easier for older and disabled people to get out of the house, visit friends and relatives, go shopping and take advantage of sport, leisure and recreation opportunities. Some told us about making journeys they wouldn’t previously have made. Some of those who had cars were leaving them behind, preferring to take the bus. Fast forward to spring 2022 and though bus patronage has 18 | 1 July 2022 PT268p18-19 18
broadly returned to around 80% of pre-pandemic levels, fewer free pass-holders than fare payers have returned to using the bus. Older and disabled people in England, Wales and Scotland qualify for a free bus pass - we used our Transport User Panel to explore the reasons why these passengers were not getting back on board.
Change of travel habits among current users Half of current bus users on our panel who hold a concessionary pass or who are eligible to do so say that the way they use buses has changed since the start of the pandemic. 38% say that they are using buses less frequently now in comparison to just 13% who say they are using buses more
Why are you using buses less frequently than you did prior to the start of the pandemic? (Top 10) Because I am generally making fewer journeys now than I did before the start of the pandemic 65% Because, in terms of coronavirus, I believe that using a bus is less safe than using alternative types of transport 35% Because bus services have been reduced in my local area 25% Because buses are too crowded 18%
frequently. Among those who are using buses less frequently, 65% say that they are generally making fewer journeys now than they did before the start of the pandemic. Some say this is because they are having shopping delivered or working from home more. Meanwhile 35% say that they are using buses less frequently because, in terms of coronavirus, they believe that using a bus is less safe than using other modes of transport. Current usage is not set in stone. Of all those who are using the bus currently (such as those who have been using buses more, less or the same amount as they were before the start of the pandemic) 71% say that they would consider using a bus more frequently in the future. 54% say that they would consider using buses to make the journeys that they currently make using other forms of transport. Half of those who would consider using buses more often say that increased frequency of buses and a greater range of direct routes would encourage them to do so. An opportunity for ambitious local bus operators and authorities?
Because I have found that buses are often not running on time 16%
Concerns over coronavirus: lapsed users
Because I find that buses are often cancelled at the last minute 15%
Turning to panellists who are eligible for or hold a concessionary pass who do not use buses now but used to (‘lapsed users’), fear of coronavirus continues to influence them. Over half (54%) say the reason they have stopped using buses is because they feel buses are less safe than the alternative forms of transport. Almost two-fifths (39%) of lapsed users say that they would be most likely to use buses again if more was done to ensure protection against coronavirus.
Because I have less knowledge and confidence about bus services, timetables etc 14% Because I am having shopping delivered now / family or neighbours do my shopping for me 13% Because I am now working from home more often / I have stopped travelling to work 11% Because of changes to my health 10% Base: All those who are currently using buses less frequently than they did since before the start of the pandemic (1,665)
www.passengertransport.co.uk
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Find out more about the work Transport Focus is doing at www.transportfocus.org.uk
Concerns over coronavirus: all respondents Looking at all respondents (current users lapsed users and non-users) 54% agree that coronavirus is a major concern for them while 25% disagree that enough is being done to ensure coronavirus safety on public transport. Almost one in five agree that they will never again feel completely comfortable travelling on buses. While 36% say that the coronavirus pandemic is not having an impact on their decision to use buses or otherwise, 44% say that new variants of coronavirus would need to have increasingly mild symptoms for them to be unconcerned about using a bus. 43% say that the number of hospitalisations and deaths due to coronavirus would need to fall to near zero to have the same impact.
Knowledge and reliability of bus services We also asked whether passholders had the information they needed. Unsurprisingly this varied considerably depending on bus use. Among current bus users who say that they know at least something about their local bus service, 89% say that they know all or most of what they need to know concerning the times that a free pass can, or cannot, be used. Conversely, only 73% of these respondents say that they know all or most of what they need to know regarding wheelchair access. Only 68% have the information they need about how busy the bus is and only 45% know what they need to know about whether the cost of the free pass covers that of travelling with a carer. For those who say that they know nothing about their local bus service, 71% would like to know more about what times the buses run. 68% would like to know more about which buses to catch. www.passengertransport.co.uk
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Conclusion Many concessionary pass-holders are either making fewer bus trips or have stopped using the bus altogether since the start of the pandemic. This could be because their habits have changed including working from home more or getting shopping delivered. With more than half of concessionary pass-holders saying coronavirus is still a major concern at the time of the research, the number of bus trips they make is unlikely to return to anything approaching pre-pandemic levels until their anxiety subsides. But has the warmer weather and the reduction in coronavirus cases changed attitudes over the last three months? To find out, we compared our concessionary pass-holders’ survey results with those from our Bus User Survey published in June. This indicates that 43% of those who are over 65 and/or have a disability agree that coronavirus is a major concern for them, compared with 54% in our concessionary pass-holders’ survey in March/April. Since the sample for this work is largely made up of bus users, among whom the data shows little decline in concern about coronavirus, the level of
concern among the panellists is likely not to have fallen to any significant extent. With the exception of simpler ticketing and lower fares, concessionary pass-holders want the same things that fare-paying passengers want - frequent and reliable buses, taking them to where they want to go. They also want to be able to use their passes whenever they want to travel without the current timing restrictions. To better meet the needs of these users and non-users Transport Focus suggests: using funding to enhance the network, introduce measures to prioritise buses on roads and improve frequency and reliability; looking at whether there are opportunities to allow users to travel on concessionary passes in the morning or charge a reduced fare; working with passengers and representatives to have targeted communication to build confidence about things like the busyness of the bus, wheelchair access and travelling with a carer; considering if there’s anything operators can do to reassure passengers more about the efforts being made to make bus travel safe.
What bus passengers told us...
“I seldom use the buses now and only do so if they are almost empty.” FEMALE, 65-70 Disabled persons pass-holder, using bus once or twice a week
“I used to commute to work by bus and train but worked from home from March 2020 until I retired in July 2021. I try to avoid busy times, e.g. when schools have just finished, so the buses are less crowded (due to Covid risk).” FEMALE, 65-70 Older persons pass-holder, using bus three or four times a week
How much would you say that you know about your local bus service? All those who are currently using buses 28%
59%
All those who are not currently using buses, but used to 12% 50% Those who don’t use buses 21% A great deal
A fair amount
55% Not very much
12% 33% 22% Nothing at all
“Once you start using the car more, it is tempting to continue.” FEMALE, 71-74 Older person’s pass-holder, currently using bus once a month
Base: All those currently using buses (4,387). Those who are not currently using buses, but used to (521). Those who don’t use buses (189) 1 July 2022 | 19
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BRTuk LUNCHTIME MASTERCLASSES
roundabouts to speed up journey times for bus users and create an incentive to leave the car at home. “In effect, this will be a light rail on rubber tyres,” Christensen explained.
A visualisation Icat dolutestorem of a voluptatiiscorridor Bussveien simodit alit esti
The £1.44bn project
Bussveien - Europe’s longest BRT system
Stavanger, a city roughly the size of Oxford, is building a 50km Bus Rapid Transit network. This massive £1.44bn project will be completed by 2030 Do you wish you could get support for bus priority on a core Robert Jack corridor in your Managing Editor town or city? Did your local authority miss out on a share of the funding available to support Bus Service Improvement Plans or equivalent funding schemes? Well you may go green with envy at the scale of ‘Bussveien’ - “Europe’s longest Bus Rapid Transit system” - in the Norwegian city of Stavanger. Liz Helen Rosenkilde Christensen, architect at Rogaland fylkeskommune, public roads administration, offered insights into this epic project in the fourth of BRTuk’s Lunchtime Masterclasses last month. Stavanger is Norway’s fourth largest city (145,000 people) and 20 | 1 July 2022
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third largest metropolitan area (237,000 people), comparable in size to Oxford. The region faces a number of transport challenges. This affluent region has urban sprawl and low density housing, a recipe for high car dependency and use. Consequently, Christensen said the public transport offering has to be as attractive as possible. “There really are few incentives to make the shift from private cars to public transit,” she said. “Bussveien has to be something more, and a better quality than all our bus rides in order to compete against cars.”
Net zero ambition In its report to the Paris agreement on carbon reduction, the Norwegian government formulated a new ‘urban growth agreement’. It is a governance platform combining transport infrastructure development with land use and transport. Its objectives are to reduce transport emissions by preventing growth in car use and to create modal shift from private cars to public transport, cycling and walking. In order to achieve these goals, the government wants to see separate bus lanes with priority for buses through junctions and
“Bussveien has to be something more, and a better quality than all our bus rides in order to compete against cars” Liz Helen Rosenkilde Christensen
Light rail was considered as an option for Stavanger but a 50km Bus Rapid Transit network has ben planned for the past decade and is now being constructed. This massive project costs £1.44bn, of which two-thirds will be provided by central government. The remaining third will be paid for by road tolls and other local sources. The network is divided into four corridors and 26 projects, across three municipalities. The first 8km of segregated busway opened in 2013 and 2015. An important corridor is scheduled to be completed in 2026, but the entire project is not expected to be completed until 2030. The busway itself is located in the middle of the highway, separated from lanes of traffic on either side by a reservation. Cycle lanes and better walking routes for pedestrians are an important part of the concept. Vehicles for the BRT system have yet to be purchased and are not included in the £1.44bn cost of the scheme, but they will be “recognisable” and electric. The decision on which vehicle to purchase has been delayed due to the fast development of battery and other technology. The route will feature bus ‘stations’ rather than ‘stops’, with 50-metre ‘platforms’ capable of boarding two buses at the same time. Attractive shelters will offer good weather protection, although, with a planned frequency of 16 buses an hour, it should not be necessary to wait more than four minutes for a bus to arrive. www.passengertransport.co.uk
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SUPPORTED BY: www.atkinsglobal.com @atkinsglobal
A visualisation of a Bussveien station
Underpasses are an important part of the project and the developers are keen to make them as wide and welcoming as possible. The largest underpass is known as the X-junction, where two main routes cross paths. “The property owners and developers on each corner are thrilled with the idea of Bussveien,” Christensen reported. “They understand what it means for the area and the property value.”
Land purchases Providing a central busway with a reservation on each side, flanked by lanes for traffic and bicycles and ample room for pedestrians, requires a standard total width of 28.6 metres, with some variation. This is not always available along ABOUT BRTuk BRTuk has members from across the industry, including operators, promoters, manufacturers and consultants. It serves as an information hub and engages with all levels of government. Visit: www.brtuk.com
www.passengertransport.co.uk
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the 50km route and compromises have to be made. Where the developers are unwilling to compromise the highway has been widened, with land, including homes, being purchased at market value. These acquisitions represent around 40% (£576m) of the project’s entire cost, but Christensen is also mindful of the human cost of such interventions. It has been necessary to purchase parts of the gardens of properties. Where this has happened these gardens have been upgraded and reconstructed in a way that offers privacy and shields them from noise pollution, and this has been popular. In heritage areas some older properties are being moved a short distance to provide more space. They will be improved and given noise insulation.
A map of the Bussveien network
LESSONS TO LEARN Liz Helen Rosenkilde Christensen explained what she has learnt from the Bussveien project:
Challenges It’s an expensive project and the budget cannot be exceeded, but the Ukraine war and inflationary pressures are pushing up material prices, which are much higher than six months ago. So the developers are looking for creative ways to cut costs without affecting quality.
Consider other ways to form teams. Form working teams where members of the authorities are included. Make sure that everyone has the same goal. Spend a lot of time in the beginning. Build trust between members of the team.
A project of this size should be dynamic. Some of the huge constructions that are now being built may not have been planned the same way today. There is a lot of public interest and some negative voices. Have a good plan for communicating.
1 July 2022 | 21
29/06/2022 15:26
COMMENT
NORMAN BAKER
We find ourselves in an abstract equation
There are so many unknowns in the world of public transport, like future ownership, passenger numbers and government policy I remember at school scratching my head while trying to work out quadratic equations. There seemed to be just so many unknowns: x, y, z. Where were the numbers? And now public transport here in this country finds itself settling into some sort of abstract equation, populated by unknowns and this time without an answer you can look up at the back of the book. The ‘x’ in my equation concerns the big transport operators. For really quite a long time, we have had stability not just in terms of ownership but also in terms of policy approach. Go-Ahead has been regarded as the most forward looking when it comes to the environment, Stagecoach were bitterly, almost fanatically opposed to anything that unpicked the 1986 deregulation of buses, while FirstGroup swayed around, into trains and out of them, into the American market and out again. Now the future direction of all three looks uncertain. Stagecoach was lining up for a merger with National Express. The Midlands-based bus and coach operator looked like being the dominant entity in any merger, but be that as it may, on paper the two companies provided a good fit. You could see how both bus and coach operations could be strengthened while back office overheads could be cut. But then National Express was gazumped by an outfit few, even in the transport world, had ever heard of: the German-based DWS 22 | 1 July 2022 PT268p22-23 22
Infrastructure. DWS is an asset management company emerging out of Deutsche Bank, which still holds 80% of the company’s shares. DWS is short for “die Wertpapier Spezialisten” or “the fund specialists”. Buses, indeed transport, appear to have featured little in their activities to date. It seems DWS sees Stagecoach simply as a good investment, much like a pension fund would, which implies a good deal of freedom for the senior employees of the company here in the UK. As part of the new arrangements, Brian Souter, who for many was Mr Stagecoach, has rung his last bell and issued his last ticket. Already, changes in direction are apparent, including a stronger commitment to the environment and a volte face on opposition to franchising. Meanwhile, the even less well known US-based I Squared Capital turned up uninvited to the HQ of Aberdeen-based FirstGroup with a £1.23bn bid. This has been rejected by First as inadequate but of course there is no guarantee that the US outfit will not be back with an improved offer.
“There is no guarantee that any replacement for Shapps would be as effective”
I Squared Capital is a private equity firm focusing on global infrastructure investments. The company invests in energy, utilities, transport and telecom projects in North America, Europe and select high growth economies, such as India and China. Why I squared? Apparently, according to the internet, “the I² statistic describes the percentage of variation across studies that is due to heterogeneity rather than chance. I² = 100% x (Q-df)/Q. I² is an intuitive and simple expression of the inconsistency of studies’ results”. Hope that’s clear. Stagecoach and FirstGroup between them control 47% of the bus market, while First is also the country’s largest train operator (unless you want to argue that the Department for Transport holds that position). Then there’s Go-Ahead. The successful global outfit had only recently changed its CEO with the retirement of David Brown, and embarked on a new direction under Christian Schreyer. Now, as reported in the last edition of Passenger Transport, the company has accepted a takeover bid from a consortium of transport interests from Australia, New Zealand and Spain, underwritten by a Canadian pension fund. In this case, the stated intention is to allow Go-Ahead to continue to operate as a stand alone company within the new group. No guarantees, mind you. Of course all three bids have come in at a difficult time for public transport, indeed perhaps that is why they have come in at this point. Perhaps the bidders have been attracted by the large amount of government money that has been forthcoming over the last couple of years, money likely to dry up. The ‘y’ in my equation relates to the uncertain future for passenger numbers, and so underlying viability, in the aftermath of Covid. The problem is particularly acute on rail. It was interesting to read the views of transport professionals in the last edition of Passenger Transport, views which were calmly realistic, and actually, overall, optimistic. In particular I noted the strong wish for the government to mount a vigorous campaign to get people back on buses and trains. This has been a central push for the Campaign for Better Transport where I contribute part-time as their director of external affairs. We have also picked up, as did the survey, that some passengers, particularly the elderly, www.passengertransport.co.uk
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“I can see a positive future for public transport, but I can also see a bleak one” have not returned due to ill-founded fears about the safety in health terms of public transport. This results from the government’s own exhortations at the start of the pandemic to avoid buses and trains, an impression that has stuck with some and that can only be unstuck by the government. The government has been helpfully proactive through the Great British Rail Sale (I managed to get a return ticket from Lewes to London for £3.50, a far cry from the £66 I was charged for a Travelcard for the same journey last week), but has as yet done nothing for buses in terms of promotion. Recently CBT held its annual parliamentary reception at which the guest speaker was buses minister Charlotte Vere. Her response to the call from the charity’s CEO Paul Tuohy for a government-led campaign to get people back on buses was that this was a matter for the industry. It was not a well-received comment. Yet the Treasury’s emergency support for buses runs out in the autumn at which point we could be facing further sweeping cuts to services, given that passenger numbers remain stubbornly below pre-Covid levels. The situation on rail is, if anything, even more uncertain, with strikes damaging the return of passengers, and the likelihood that commuter traffic will never recover to preCovid levels. People have discovered working from home and like it, not least the extra money this leaves in their pocket. The ‘z’ in my equation relates to the policy directions adopted by the government. In the present, Grant Shapps is right to press for changes to outdated and inefficient practices on rail which, frankly, should have been abolished 50 years ago, and the unions are right to press for a decent pay increase for their members. If the first can be realised, then so can the second. The sooner we get to that deal, the better all round. The transport secretary may not be universally popular, but the reality is he is one of the more competent ministers in the government and does actually seem to care about transport. Much of what has come out of his department during his watch has been welcome. The rumours, however, are that he wants a move and his assured media performances defending what has often been indefensible for the government suggests promotion in any www.passengertransport.co.uk
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Will Boris Johnson’s successor share his enthusiasm for public transport?
reshuffle that occurs. There is no guarantee that any replacement for Shapps would be as effective, as interested in public transport, or as committed to net zero. Don’t have nightmares, but supposed we ended up with another useless minister like Chris Grayling, or heaven forbid someone like Nadine Dorries. Meanwhile the occupant of No. 10, whose grip on power seems to weaken by the day, is plumbing ever new depths of unpopularity, contempt even. But here’s the unpalatable truth: whatever the prime minister’s faults, and they are many, varied and deep, the fact remains that he has been unusually supportive of public transport, and any replacement is likely to be much less so. The front-runner to be his replacement is probably still the chancellor, Rishi Sunak, who has a deep anathema towards rail which he regards as financially out of control and an unwelcome drag on the public finances. As for buses, they barely register on his radar. His transport priority, as far as this can be discerned, is cutting fuel duty for motorists. Johnson is something of a survivor against the odds, but the sands must surely be running
out for him soon. The two by-election losses will have shaken Tory MPs, especially the loss of rock-solid Tiverton and Honiton to the Lib Dems, the biggest ever majority in history to be overturned at any by-election. The resignation of Oliver Dowden, popular in Tory ranks and someone with no leadership ambitions of his own, is the first crack in the cabinet. The revelation that the PM wanted to spend £150,000 of taxpayers’ money on a tree house for his son Wilf will not have helped. And ominously approaching like a black cloud is the inquiry by the Privileges Committee into whether the PM deliberately misled the House, which if it is concluded he did, is a resigning matter. Like the Passenger Transport survey, I can see a positive future for public transport, but I can also see a bleak one. X + Y + Z = what?
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Norman Baker served as transport minister from May 2010 until October 2013. He was Lib Dem MP for Lewes between 1997 and 2015.
1 July 2022 | 23
29/06/2022 18:03
COMMENT DRT
BEATE KUBITZ
It’s time to rethink our regulations
Multi-operator DRT services can makes buses accessible to more people and drive down per-passenger subsidies, but barriers exist Bus economics necessitate difficult questions. Whilst efficient corridor routes have been optimised and finely tuned to ensure profitability, networks which reach into communities at a more granular level, are, almost by definition, impossible to configure as high capacity, high volume services. On this level, demand responsive transport (DRT) offers an efficient way of creating a bus network. However, there’s no evidence of lavish subsidies in the offing, so it too comes with its own set of questions: Where can DRT drive up patronage, so that the per passenger subsidy goes down? How can we reduce vehicle numbers to ensure that the fleet is efficient? And how can we combine operators and services available to ensure that all capacity is utilised? It’s not just a question of subsidy, either. Duplicate vehicles and parallel services are all eating into our limited carbon budget. We need to ensure that services are both financially and emissions efficient. The variables at play here are passenger groups, vehicle numbers and operators. Optimisation ensures they are combined to ensure that people get to their destinations as needed, whilst using the least resources. However, in the UK, when we look at bus services, what we see are not so much networks as fragmented services run by assorted operators (and sometimes different types of operator) with multiple funding 24 | 1 July 2022 PT268p24-25 24
streams - sometimes duplicating each other and which may also be providing their services under differently regulated frameworks. Most visibly, the traditional fixed line bus network comprises an assortment of routes, some of which are run by bus operators ‘for profit’ without local authority intervention, some funded by local authorities, some that are blended versions (for instance with the off-peak subsidised whilst peak services are not). Then, beyond the ‘traditional public transport’ envelope, there are various forms of community transport which exist in a very different space. In some cases, community transport works similarly to commercial bus services but servicing ‘not for profit’ routes DRT in Strasbourg
that would not otherwise exist, and others which are more like community coach trips - booked in advance for a round trip to an attraction, shop or service - with yet more that are more akin to low-cost taxis with volunteer drivers taking individuals to appointments. On top of this we have various different social care transport services, school buses and tailored travel for vulnerable children and adults. Then there are services for NHS patients that often cover very similar catchment areas. A further group of services have emerged serving (largely) out of town business parks - not deemed sufficiently attractive by commercial bus operators - in the form of the modern equivalent of the ‘works bus’: an on-demand shuttle or a taxi sharing app. If we take an honest (and wide-ranging) look across all areas, there are all sorts of duplications even within funded transport. For instance, there are Ring & Ride-type access services being operated in parallel with DRT services because different funding streams procure different resources. This has been a constant frustration for local authorities. Total Transport pilots tried to address some of these duplication issues and optimise vehicle usage, however it proved difficult to execute sophisticated ideas about fleet optimisation or combining use cases. Over the last three years, the capability of the technology has come a long way, addressing some of the execution issues. For instance, the Padam Mobility platform is able to combine multiple operators into a single service and sophisticated software has the potential to merge different use cases with one service. It also offers a paratransit software element in order to handle social service and health care transport, providing the right vehicle for the trips needed and optimising the overall fleet management. In one area DRT is combined with hometo-school transport using the same vehicles reducing the cost of the home-to-school from around £10 per head down to £5. Adding in further deployments to increase utilisation could lower this further. However, if we look at other countries with different regulatory systems, we see more radical combinations. In Strasbourg, Padam Mobility blends www.passengertransport.co.uk
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“The current regulatory framework makes it hard to create simple and pragmatic solutions” door-to-door ‘paratransit’ with bus stop-to-bus stop DRT, using the same fleet. For the Île-de-France Mobilités service which connects people who live on the outer edges of suburbs beyond the Paris metropolitan area Padam Mobility has combined multiple operators onto a single platform. Combining in this way across operators has shown instances where the work of 20 minibuses can now be done by 12, which obviously implies significant savings. In the UK, however, the technology only takes us so far. Legacy regulation - where each type of services has its own regulatory framework - restricts the potential for combining use cases. These differing frameworks affect many of the aspects of the service: the types of vehicles that can be used, timetables and routes (and how changes must be registered), driver licensing and training requirements, conditions of carriage and the fares that can be charged (and whether they attract VAT). See the panel opposite for a short incomplete survey of these regulations in Great Britain.
Why is regulation an issue? The current regulatory framework makes it hard to create simple and pragmatic solutions that enable vehicle use to be maximised and fleets adapted. Once services try to optimise and provide the right size vehicle for the time of day the service could potential segue between regulatory frameworks. A bus service that runs a single decker at peak times, a mini-bus during off-peak and a ‘shared taxi’ to ensure that people working early or late shifts can still get home appears to need more than one type of registration. Adding community services to an on-demand transport platform to help augment off-peak provision would violate the Section 19 registration of a community transport operator (not open to the public) and is a minefield in the case of Section 22 with some operators being challenged over their ‘not for profit’ status in the courts. Some on-demand shared trip services base prices on the number of people riding in order to enable PSV or taxi companies to provide the services and remain profitable - whilst this works in some circumstances it becomes difficult to integrate in the public transport network to augment low density www.passengertransport.co.uk
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scenarios. We’ve also found commuter shuttles organised privately for employers often require subsidies from them - whilst also excluding other people travelling along their routes. This is generally because they’re not registered as public bus routes - one factor in that is the time delay that is built into registering with the traffic commissioner.
Optimise multi-operator services Whilst it’s increasingly worthwhile to look at how DRT platform technologies can host an efficient cross-contract and multi-user services it’s also important to look at the limitations regulation places on these combinations. A sophisticated DRT platform can potentially manage a service supplied by community transport or even taxis at some times of day whilst moving to a bus operator on a fixed time table at others.
It seems that regulation needs a rethink to make this a manageable process. The costs of not doing so are both financial and in under-utilised assets which means wasting our ever-diminishing carbon budget. The opportunity, however, where local authorities, operators, businesses and the third sector all work on networks together, is that together we can drive down per passenger subsidies - whilst still improving services and increasing the number of people who have the option to take the bus.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Beate Kubitz specialise in analysing new technology, agendas and behaviours and articulating their potential future impact. www.beatekubitz.com
A SHORT INCOMPLETE SURVEY OF REGULATION Public bus services are registered with the Office of the Traffic Commissioner and must meet certain standards. Following the introduction of the Bus Open Data regulations in 2021, ticket prices for public transport buses must be notified to the secretary of state - in practice this means uploading them through the Department for Transport’s Open Data portal. All public service vehicles (over eight people) need to be fully accessible, regardless of size. The situation becomes more complex for flexible bus services. Whilst they must register with the Traffic Commissioner they must comply with additional criteria (e.g. “fare information must be clearly displayed”). Flexible services that cover locations more than 15 miles apart (in a straight line) do not qualify for BSOG (Bus Service Operators Grant). There is also a requirement that fares per passenger must be fixed, rather than reducing as more passengers board (in the case that fares reduce if more people share a vehicle that vehicle would be classed as a PHV). Passengers should pre-book but there is no minimum booking time. Passengers who haven’t pre-booked can be carried but the route cannot be altered to accommodate them (because this would then be classed as a taxi service). Whilst bus tickets do not attract VAT, taxi fares do.
Community transport services which are open to the public (Section 22) must register with the Traffic Commissioner. They cannot make a profit unless offering hire services which do not compete with public bus services. In addition, Section 19 Permits can be issued by Local Authorities to organisations operating services for education, religious or community transport purposes for small vehicles such as up to 17 seater minibuses. Larger vehicles must be registered with the Traffic Commissioner. They cannot be open to the public. Taxi services are registered with local authorities and registration includes agreement on the fares set whilst private hire services are registered with local authorities, which can impose conditions on the type and age of vehicle but has no power to set fares. A maximum of eight passengers can be carried. VAT is payable on fares (although small businesses don’t meet the threshold, private hire apps like Uber do). Whilst bus services have to be fully accessible, a limited number taxi and private hire services are. As an aside, these conditions vary where services are registered in London, in particular there is usually an additional requirement to register with Transport for London.
1 July 2022 | 25
29/06/2022 17:01
COMMENT
ALEX WARNER
Can we really blame lapsed commuters?
Let’s be honest, commuting by train was gruelling and expensive - and a belligerent ‘take it or leave it’ railway made things worse Grant Shapps called it right when he indicated that the railway’s relevance had diminished such that strike action didn’t have the impact it would have had pre-Covid, as many customers now have an alternative choice. Indeed, as I conducted a Teams call whilst sucking on a Calipo in the lovely summer weather in my pagola last week, I reflected on the folly of commuting and wondered how we ever did it in the first place! It’s difficult for today’s youth to comprehend the difference between working patterns today and when I was growing up in the ‘70s and ‘80s. For those of you old enough, cast your mind back to one of those quaint but antiquated canned tins that were VEPs or EPBs on Southern Region. Commuters were herded into cold, smelly, noisy compartments to sit in hushed, ‘stiff upper lip’ silence, all dark suited and booted, funereal style, with the impending doom and gloom of rigid working life ahead in the City. At most people read the morning paper on the way in and everyone read either the Evening Standard or Evening News on their way home. Those grim commutes - same train, same day for years on end, the sound of slamming doors in unison, audible from far away as trains arrived and departed. Commuting ensued against a background of negativity, of frequent rail strikes, the spectre of safety mishaps and tragedies, of IRA threats and bombings and none of the entertainment of phones, iPads, music and films to keep us occupied and no 26 | 1 July 2022 PT268p26-27 26
folk dressed in more relaxed tieless ‘mufti’ attire. There’d also be none of the convivial chitter chatter you hear on trains now. My Dad commuted on the same train the 08:05 from Orpington to Cannon Street and 18:03 return for 25 years and likewise the same service from Lower Sydenham for the previous decade in his career. He was no different to others with his set routines and my earliest memories were of Mum and I meeting him at Orpington station. Of course, there were no mobile phones to tell us if he wasn’t on the train, but we just knew he would be in any case. Routine ruled okay back then, he stayed in one company for 25 years!
Commuting was like a daily endurance test
As ‘recently’ as 1990, when I started travelling to University College London, the rigidity and somberness of commuting life prevailed. I remember vividly feeling down leaving my house on the morning of the Cannon Street rail crash in 1991 - my first day back to commuting after the Christmas break. I boarded in the middle of the train because I believed that it would be the safest if there were an incident. I didn’t realise till I saw the newspaper billboard that evening at Leicester Square that there had been a train crash and that it had been the train I’d boarded that morning and got off at London Bridge, with the fatalities and injuries in my carriage. I knew people so traumatised they never travelled to Cannon Street again and others couldn’t leave their bedrooms for years. Dad was involved in a derailment at Cannon Street years earlier, with two carriages overhanging the Thames. Onto today and I believe that commuting became so gruelling and expensive that it just imploded. In many respects, it has been a ticking time-bomb. Young parents who both work and have no family nearby were always going to struggle in a world of commuting long distances. In fairness, the likes of Connex with their nurseries at Victoria and Brighton were an optimistic and ambitious effort to pre-empt this gradual disinclination for working parents to commute. However, no transport or social think-tank has properly come up with a better solution. Covid blew up that time bomb. Looking back, with the benefit of post pandemic perspective and hindsight, it’s unfathomable how we ever commuted en masse. Did we ever think it palatable to part with such a whopping percentage of our net salary - often up to a third, including exorbitant car parking costs - just for the privilege of getting to and from the office, and it taking sometimes three or four hours out of our day, herded like cattle in overcrowded conditions too? Remember also, the inconvenience of buying tickets the humongous queues at tickets offices and then the indignity foisted on you by heavy handed revenue protection techniques which treated bona fide customers who’d shelled out thousands on season tickets as criminals if they accidentally lost their ticket, left it at home or fell asleep one stop beyond their destination. If staff were a problem, fellow commuters weren’t much better either - the bossy shrills www.passengertransport.co.uk
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“The industry has been dealt the all-time wake-up call and to an extent, deservedly so” of “can you move down the train!” or the foul smells and the boozed up hoodlums boarding slow trains home if you were working late. The belligerence of the industry too, for so long, selling season tickets with no real flexibility, where weeklies were the lowest denomination; this came back to bite big time. As life moved on, the benefit of being able to use your season ticket to travel for leisure at weekends lessened - people became more discerning, travelling all week was bad enough, was it really a benefit to head into London at weekends, particularly if the internet brought with it home entertainment and e-commerce? So too, the upmarket café and restaurant culture, with such a range of eateries from all parts of the world, wasn’t confined to the capital but spread into the suburbs. The attitude of the railway in terms of the service specification seemed similarly designed to deliberately wind up commuters. Dad’s commuting years, saw a 10-minute frequency of services to London from Orpington, nonstop too, three times an hour, but then some Clever Dick around the late-1980s, decided to cease all fast services in the peak period, unless you lived one stop away in little-used Chelsfield. So, it was pretty well ‘all stations only’, doubling the journey times, yet off-peak, when less folk wanted to travel and even less had time pressures, we enjoyed a great fast service. It seemed a textbook case study of how to willingly antagonise the most loyal, high-yield customers, quite possibly because the Sevenoaks or Tunbridge Wells toffs hated us chavs ruining their serenity when the train stopped at Orpington. More probably some quirky rail enthusiast, promotion-seeking train planner thought that efficiencies could be achieved by us lot missing out. This practice was commonplace all over commuter land. Unsurprisingly, borne of accumulated dissatisfaction, local commuter action groups and associations were formed to pressure management into making changes. Each year, however, calls to alter the timetable, for it to be, not unreasonably, more customerfocused, were met with a triumphant rebuttal or at best some feeble concession, like one extra train, a minor retiming or a stop somewhere new and a disdainful sense that we should all be so grateful. ‘Dr No’ was the nickname coined by user groups for one such planner, wheeled out at meetings by BR and then the TOC he joined. www.passengertransport.co.uk
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In this kind of environment, beleaguered or turned-up-nose railway managers sat on the front tables at parish halls at user group meetings, deflecting criticism from the audience, often poorly so and sometimes in an inflammatory way (the first one I went to in the 1980s saw the general manager furiously threaten to walk out when challenged). The whole set-up just propagated the ‘them and us’ attitude that had gestated between the railway and its commuters - those who should have been its most valued customers. I genuinely believe that the backlash against commuting is because previously it has played the role of the enemy, for the reasons I’ve listed above, all of which are spawned by an arrogant, almost aggressive, contemptuous and dare I say, provocative, approach towards core ‘bread and butter’ customers. If I hadn’t been a trainspotter but someone with an ambivalence towards train travel, I think I would have hated the rail industry and celebrated it now getting its comeuppance. Had your average commuter seen some of the arrogant, egocentric aloof rail industry managers that I witnessed as an ‘insider’ (a not insignificant minority, I might add), their dislike towards the sector would have intensified. And on the coalface, as Dad regales, BR staff were ‘bolshie’ towards commuters - something I can testify through many ‘incidents’ on my daily travels, including three times being physically threatened by railway employees. There was a time, though, when working from home seemed bizarre. I recall in 2005, when I was at South Eastern Trains, someone in Network Rail thought it acceptable to allow an agency to hand out leaflets on Cannon Street station extolling the benefits of ‘homeworking’. I was as much surprised as angry - I honestly didn’t think this was a concept that genuinely existed. Working from home was something you might do only once in a while. I remember my boss at London Underground in 1997 allowing me to do so for one day only and then untrustingly rollocking me for not proactively showing him the fruits of my labour. Back to last week’s strikes and I think the discomfort for customers wasn’t as intolerable as some in rail might kid themselves. Many customers would have welcomed it. Their employer would have given them a free pass to work from home and recharge the batteries. It was warm weather, but no need to face the
broken air conditioning or the inevitable heatinduced points or signal failures. Some probably did Teams calls in the garden, others bunked off. For me, my biggest irritation was missing out on two evening cricket matches - but I was able to watch for free online on a Livestream, with a cold drink in hand on a deckchair in the garden. There’s no easy solution but for starters the railway needs to present itself as a friend. Deliberately or ham-fistedly so, the adversarial approach that has been part and parcel of the way in which it has managed relationships with commuters for generations needs to be obliterated. The industry has been dealt the all-time wake-up call and to an extent, deservedly so. A reset is required and a blank sheet of paper approach should be taken, creating a product specification from scratch as though commuting is an entirely new concept that never existed before. From fixing the fares (and not just talking about doing so) and improving the on-board comfort and all-round experience, everything is on the ‘must do’ list. Marketing through to signage, information - indeed, all customer messaging should be softer, more conciliatory and less ‘taking it for granted’. It should resonate with the public whilst extolling the benefits of travelling to and from work as an overall wider lifestyle package and be sympathetic in approach, as should the whole way in which staff and managers interact with customers. Radical timetable changes are necessary. Most of all, though, the proposition should appeal. In Dad’s day, the daily commute was dismal, even if he probably didn’t realise it at the time, nor looking back. The genial old buffer still regales it affectionately, but maybe through rose tinted specs. His uncomplaining generation lived through the war and anything was tolerable after that! Today, customer service is King and commuters have higher expectations in return for the thousands they shell out each year. They also now have a choice and the era when the railway could take a ‘like it or lump it’ attitude and get away with it is over. Forever more.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Alex Warner has over 29 years’ experience in the transport sector, having held senior roles on a multi-modal basis across the sector
1 July 2022 | 27
29/06/2022 17:11
COMMENT
ALEX HORNBY
Mexico City - a mass transit Mecca The capital of Mexico is one of the world’s largest cities. Its massive public transport offer is visibly and culturally a priority
When you have a city region boasting a population of more than 23 million people, you are forced to approach the problem of moving people in creative and innovative ways. This reflects the overall approach of Mexicans and how they feel they progress through life in the metropolis of Mexico City - a place of incredible mass transit insanity and ingenuity. I was persuaded by my soon to be former bus industry colleague Martijn Gilbert to explore this home of intermodal and integrated public transport on a grand scale. Here, the local government is really putting its money where its mouth is, and willing to sacrifice the car and road space to inventive bus solutions alongside other modes too. The first mode to catch our attention was the trolleybus network; notably so as it was going the other way against the flow of four lanes of ordinary traffic, cutting north-south through the heart of the city. On its own dedicated lanes, the high profile T1 is now in the care of Yutong battery-powered trolleybuses, with an interesting mix of rigid and articulated buses. A grand total of 193 Yutongs are in service across the system, with 120 older New Flyer models still evident and many being up to 40 years young. Notably, management control of the routes is ‘manual’ with inspectors at strategic stops, although real time information is available to customers. Frequency is every two minutes or better, all on dedicated lanes and - at times - dedicated flyovers. Obviously, it is a fully zero emission network, with the 28 | 1 July 2022 PT268p28-29 28
city’s mayor committed to a new fleet of 500 trolleybuses, plus a new, elevated BRT trolleybus line nearing completion and two new interurban routes in the south east of the city. The remaining tram line (to the south of the conurbation between Xochimilco and an outer Metro terminus at Tasqueña) forms part of the blue branded ‘T’ family; much of the tram network became trolleybus or BRT following the 1985 earthquake which tore through the city. All of the network is specified and operated by the local transport authority. Meanwhile, the Metrobus BRT system with a red fleet of around 600 vehicles - takes priority and superiority of the bus to another level. Inspired by the Curitiba approach, under Jaime Lerner, the system sought to capitalise by using cheaper, non-low floor vehicles (all are either articulated or bi-articulated, with multiple doors at platform height) alongside infrastructure that does the hard work. Road space has again been handed to bus with fully dedicated lanes throughout the full length of the seven routes, with train-like, enclosed stations instead of humble bus stops and shelters. Many come with ticket machines, gate-lines with barriers, toilets and level boarding. Speed of boarding and low stop
“It’s British-built buses that take centre stage on the boulevard”
dwell time on the six oldest lines is maintained by a strict five-second automated opening system; when those seconds are up, an alarm sounds, the doors slam and off we go! The newest line 7 is in the care of 90 Alexander Dennis tri-axle Enviro 500s. Red double deckers may sound ordinary by UK standards, but this fleet really cuts a dash in Mexico (they’re the first new double deckers in Latin America and the only BRT buses with air-con), particularly so as the route cuts down what locals call their ‘Champs-Elysees’ - Avenue Paseo de la Reforma - where skyscrapers, shopping malls, museums, concert halls, expensive apartments and hotels emphasise this as the developed (or more ‘western’) heart of the city. And it’s British-built buses that take centre stage on the boulevard, again with dedicated BRT lanes for the full length of the route. 35% of users are said to have access to the car, with many lines seeing year-on-year growth of over 10%. As you can imagine, congestion is commonplace, and parking is not easy. Whilst motorists are being attracted, don’t expect high-spec interiors and sexy marketing to be playing the kind of role it would do in the UK. Interiors across BRT (and most modes) are typically grey, harsh and plastic - but the key demand of reliability is more than adequately dealt with through delivery of these highcapacity beasts all on their own track. There are a total of 22 different operators across the seven BRT lines, all under contract to the transport authority. Many share depots, although the full ADL fleet is maintained on a site in the corner of the ‘OL7’ company depot (literally ‘Operator of Line 7’) to a strict contract maintenance programme, with proactive servicing supporting an admirable 92%-plus vehicle availability. The operators are descendants of the huge Microbus operator community. Line 7, with its PVR of 82-84, is said to have eliminated over 400 Microbuses from the network, such is its capacity, organisation and the impact of bus priority. Speaking of which, if you like your minibuses with a fairly consistent and slight suggestion of poor roadworthiness, the Microbus system is for you: not that you can find out much official information about it. Thousands still flood the system, using ordinary roads, what looks to be ‘unofficial’ infrastructure and are not part of the integrated ticketing scheme, yet - somehow - they do form part of the overall offer, being www.passengertransport.co.uk
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“The local government is willing to sacrifice the car and road space to inventive bus solutions” Microbuses in Xochimilco
Level boarding of Metrobus BRT at the terminus station at Indios Verdes
Trolebus T1 cuts north-south through the city, with bus priority lanes going against the main flow of traffic
Metrobus BRT Line 7 has 90 Alexander Dennis Enviro 500 buses
omnipresent and very well used, particularly at key interchanges, clearly fulfilling the parts of the network that other modes cannot reach. A dense Metro (mostly underground) network, the tenth busiest in the world with some 1.6 billion passengers a year, has been in operation for over 50 years. There are 12 lines, the most recent being completed in 2012. The well-trained eye may note a Parisian flavour in parts; a number of lines are operated with rubber tyre and guidewheel fitted trains and Belles Artes station even has an ornate, Guimard-style Métropolitain entranceway as a gift from Jacques Chirac in 1998, in exchange for a mural that now sits in the Palais RoyalLouvre metro station. The management of crowds makes the infamous Japanese stewards seem over-polite: ironically, even with the still mandatory facemask rules in place, transport police ram-raid everyone on board in a decidedly non-social distancing feat of enforced crush capacity I’ve never before witnessed. The remainder of the integrated network is rounded off with a cycle hire system, an www.passengertransport.co.uk
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RTIP-branded ‘outer’ bus network, a series of comparatively regular CDMX buses, a one-line suburban railway line interestingly both operated and maintained by CAF and a ‘Cablebus’ system of highly frequent cable cars performing a mass transit role in selected northern and southern communities. A well organised brand hierarchy and smartcard stored value scheme brings payments of these modes together, although contactless is not yet an option and many still pay using coins, notably so on the bus systems. Cultural differences are there in plain sight across the transport network. Fares are deliberately cheap at around 20p per journey, CCTV is vital and omnipresent to maintain personal security, and most metro stations and BRT stops have symbols, designed by 1968 Mexico Olympics logo designer Lance Wyman, as well as names to help both tourists and those with illiteracy issues. All modes have women-only areas on board (and at certain bus and metro stations), usually with bright pink seating and - rather soberly and disturbingly
- with signs literally translating as ‘sexual harassment free zones’. That is not to end our tale of experiences in Mexico City on a sour note. It is a city with a degree of self-awareness and one evolving for the better. It sees public transport as key to serving its overall aims. More investment and innovative schemes are still to come, including development of the suburban rail network and hundreds more new trolleybuses including some focused on a BRT-style system with new flyovers and new, dedicated roadways. Either way, if you are short of ambition or feel you have asked for everything you possibly could in your Bus Service Improvement Plan, read up further on the public transport Mecca of Mexico City - where public transport is visibly and culturally a priority.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Alex Hornby is Chief Executive Officer at Transdev Blazefield.
1 July 2022 | 29
29/06/2022 17:02
COMMENT
NICK RICHARDSON
An Elizabethan transformation
Despite being late and over budget, trains are now running on the Elizabeth line. What can we learn from Crossrail? Long-awaited, the Elizabeth line - formerly known as Crossrail - is now available for use. A television documentary series has provided insight into how this has been achieved and the setbacks that occurred along the way. At last an intelligent documentary about transport has been produced, comparing favourably with others that are repetitive and superficial. However, the emphasis has been on the engineering aspects of the project with nothing about how the infrastructure and services were planned; this was disappointing to say the least.
Transport planning pre-requisite As transport planners, we are used to being overlooked, not least because the fruits of our labours are often invisible. In fact, this invisibility is often a good thing because it shows everything works as intended, intuitively directing people to where they need to be. Given the absence of any acknowledgement by the programme-makers, it is pertinent to explore some of the issues raised long before any construction started. Crossrail has been decades in the making. While now publicised as a Transport for London project, it was conceived as a joint venture with the then British Rail, predating the existence of TfL, Network Rail and private train operators. The concept was to provide both relief for overcrowded Tube lines and to create east-west connections that relieved London termini. 30 | 1 July 2022 PT268p30-31 30
Pre-Crossrail, journeys across or around London could be painful. The North London Line has limited capacity but briefly hosted a regular train from East Anglia to Basingstoke but it never proved popular. Now several significant improvements are in place, the first of these being London Overground. From the beginning this proved to be what was needed and longer trains were soon necessary. Many of its trains have limited seating capacity to make space for standing passengers. By joining together various lines and stations, Overground has made orbital journeys possible. However, creating extra capacity has shown how expanding the rail network is not just about redistributing users but generating new
Crossrail has been decades in the making
demand. The second large jigsaw piece was the Thameslink upgrade. This too is high capacity and links the Southern third rail system with the overhead power lines of the Great Northern routes and beyond. Again, many journeys have been made easier and avoided the need to transfer from one terminus to another. The Thameslink trains are long and frequent, a huge success. Then comes Crossrail, interchanging with Thameslink at Farringdon, now a major hub. Here overground trains and underground trains mingle with people making all sorts of journeys to work, across the city and well beyond. The railway map of London has got busier but has taken decades to implement; many of the dots are now joined up at last.
Big decisions The planning stages have been crucial, without which none of the engineering would be possible. Drawing lines on a map is one thing but the planning process was as huge as the project. At the route option stage, an idea has to be generated about the number of potential users because this will scope not only the design but the costs and potential revenue. For this scale of project, demand forecasting is a complex activity and one that is becoming less certain over time because, as we have learned, circumstances change. Basically, the number of users at each station and the loadings of the trains need to be estimated which is informed by demand modelling with a substantial and complex process if its own. This then determines where stations are located, their scale and how many trains are needed to accommodate the expected demand. Once this has been agreed, there is a long process of creating a satisfactory business case to demonstrate the return on investment. As the engineering designs emerge, there is more confidence in cost estimates but even then they can go awry, particularly when construction cost inflation bites. Allowance is made for material cost increases but there are also labour costs to consider which can be crucial when a project has thousands of workers spread across a large area. Other considerations become major issues in their own right such as environmental impact assessment and archaeology. When the business case is established, funding needs to be sought. Government and www.passengertransport.co.uk
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IN ASSOCIATION WITH: www.ciltuk.org.uk Tel: 01536 740100 @ciltuk
TfL have their own processes for establishing value for money and assessing business cases. If this step is achieved and funding is lined up, then the many permissions can be sought. Every station requires planning consent and for Crossrail this will have involved many local authorities and stakeholders, all of which need to be satisfied that there is no detriment - or if there is, what will be done to mitigate it. Add in land acquisition, road closures, utility searches and diversions, public consultation, construction planning and so on then it becomes clearer why it isn’t possible to turn up with a digger to get on with the job straight away. Risks that influence the infrastructure design and construction programme need to be identified and overcome. On top of this there is the procurement process and contractual arrangements to sort out plus progressive stages of design. In parallel, trains need to be designed, built and tested and the particularly complex issue of signalling interfaces needs to be thought through. The documentary makers spent a lot of effort describing the magnitude of the Crossrail build. It took years of endeavour to drill the tunnels in between, around and over or under everything else that lies beneath the streets. Then track was laid and systems installed alongside massive new stations. It was only then that problems emerged. Despite these, Crossrail is a tremendous achievement.
Cost-effectiveness Much has been said about over-running costs. Looking back, the original budget was scaled back by value engineering but this was soon overshadowed by other cost increases. In one respect, the cost is simply what it is given that a nearly-finished asset isn’t much use to anyone. A lack of critical skills also needed to be addressed with the added hit of the pandemic. Much of this appeared to be due to the signalling challenges of marrying up different systems and making sure the trains understood them all. Clearly this is safety-critical and it is better to get it to work as it should rather than compromise in any way. Spiralling costs often afflict projects and the larger they are, the more costly they become. However, government is of the view that creating infrastructure is good for the economy and given the vast sums of www.passengertransport.co.uk
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It took years of endeavour to drill the tunnels in between, around and over or under everything else that lies beneath the streets
“Given the vast sums of money being thrown around in the past few years, perhaps Crossrail was a bargain after all” money being thrown around in the past few years, perhaps Crossrail was a bargain after all. Compare this with the Northern line extension to Battersea Power Station (£1.1bn) or High Speed Two (£100bn committed so far). Apart from the inconvenience of delayed opening, the loss of anticipated revenue has been a big problem for TfL. With passenger numbers across its services having nosedived during Covid-19, losing a big amount of revenue has come at a bad time. In this respect, the aspirations of the business case have become rather irrelevant. Allowance has been made for the station designs to accommodate longer trains in future, a
sensible precaution given experience of many urban rail systems. A few years ago I predicted that Crossrail trains would be busy on their day of opening and the crowds waiting to board the first trains reflected this. It could be hoped that the Elizabeth line does indeed relieve other stations and routes but is also likely that, over time, demand will grow simply because the new journey opportunities will attract many more users. If some of these replace car journeys, then there are further benefits. Hopefully lessons will have been learned from the project and the cost and delay problems will no longer cloud the success of the scheme.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Nick Richardson is Technical Principal at transport consultancy Mott MacDonald, chair of CILT’s Bus and Coach Policy Group and a former chair of the Transport Planning Society. In addition, he has held a PCV licence for over 30 years.
1 July 2022 | 31
29/06/2022 17:03
COMMENT
WANT TO KNOW MORE? Visit Portland’s fuel forum page: portland-analytics.co.uk/fuel-forum
OIL MARKET REPORT
£
PORTLAND FUEL ANALYTICS - JULY 2022
No-one is controlling this rollercoaster The less-understood market drivers that are having an impact on the price of fuel include refining capacity and the exchange rate
We’ve hit the half-way point of the year and what a six months it’s been. Memorable…but for all the wrong reasons. Oil James Spencer and energy markets at the Portland beginning of the year were already high, getting higher and in fact, were already showing the early signs of overheating. And that was before the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Since that event, pretty well every commodity market has experienced spectacular price rises and unprecedented volatility. Wholesale gas prices went up to the equivalent of $500 per barrel in March, whilst crude oil prices struck $140 per barrel in one morning, before falling back to $115 by the afternoon of the same day! On top of this, non-energy commodities such as finished metals (up 20%), wheat (40%) and fertilisers (over 75%) have also experienced economyshifting price movements since March 1. We’ve covered these headlines already this year, so it might be more interesting to look at the less-understood market drivers. The first factor is the complete dislocation of refined petroleum prices from the crude oil price. Traditionally there is of course a correlation between (say) petrol prices and crude, but they are still individual markets, each with their own separate supply and demand dynamics. The “crude market” is made up of oil producers (the suppliers) selling their product to refiners (the demand). This is a 32 | 1 July 2022 PT268p32-33 32
very different set-up to the “products market”, which sees refineries making usable products (petrol, diesel) which are then supplied to the end-user (consumer demand). As Middle-Eastern and US producers increase their oil production to fill the gap left by Russian sanctioned oil, the pressure is beginning to come off the crude market. This is why Brent seems to have topped out at the $115-$120 per barrel mark. At the same time, the story couldn’t be more different on the product side of the equation. Here, there are huge gaps in production capacity because so much refined product was coming from Russia pre-invasion. For example, around 40% of European diesel in 2021 was of Russian origin and that product-flow has now either ceased or has significantly slowed. Simply increasing European refining capacity to produce more diesel (using manufacturing kit that is typically over 50 years old) is no easy task and as a result, an entirely predictable chasm between supply and demand has opened up. For the moment, Europe is massively reliant on diesel from the likes of India, whose refineries are making both a fortune and a mockery of the western sanctions regime. This is because they are buying heavily discounted crude from Russia
“The decrease in value of the Pound has added 11 ppl to the price of UK fuel”
and then selling it at record refined prices to the European countries, that are sanctioning the very same product from Russia… In the UK, we also have the problem of the exchange rate, which is another little understood issue driving the fuel price in the wrong direction. In January, £1 was worth $1.37 and diesel was trading at circa $750 per tonne. Divide $750 by 1.37 and you have January’s £GBP price for diesel (£547 per tonne). Diesel is now trading at around double January’s price ($1,450), but the exchange rate in the same period has plummeted to $1.21 to the Pound. Do the same maths (1,450 / 1.21) and you now get a £GBP price for diesel of £1,198, which is significantly above the doubling of price seen in the actual value of diesel itself. If you prefer your numbers in pence per litre (ppl), the decrease in value of the Pound from $1.37 to $1.21, has added 11 ppl to the price of UK fuel. Such is the pressure that consumers are now under with regard inflation, it is no wonder that the UK Government is looking for scapegoats and the first step has been to order the Competition & Markets Authority to look into the actions of the petrol retailers. The specific brief is to investigate whether April’s 5ppl duty rate cut has been applied, but in reality, it is as much about addressing the accusations of profiteering now commonplace in both mainstream and social media. The definition of profiteering is “withholding product in an attempt to push prices up”, so that should be relatively easy to deal with. Petrol retailers are more focussed on where their next load is coming from and besides, why would anyone withhold product when sanctions are already doing the same thing?! The duty cut is a more complicated situation. Historically, changes to the duty rate have always been applied from midnight on the day of the chancellor’s budget announcement and that did not happen. Then again, on the day of the budget itself, the market shot up by 4ppl and since then, prices have risen so much (see above factors) that the cut has now been totally lost in the “white noise” of the current market situation. It is understandable that a government desperately looking for ways to “take back control” might be keen on this type of market investigation, but they will soon discover the unpalatable truth that no-one (in the UK at least) is in control of this particular roller-coaster ride. www.passengertransport.co.uk
29/06/2022 16:59
“I confess to some surprise there’s this degree of interest in the UK bus and rail market”
GREAT MINSTER GRUMBLES
All change please, all change!
Our Whitehall insider imagines what’s going on inside the minds of the mandarins at Great Minster House, home of the DfT
When Stagecoach got snapped up by DWS Infrastructure I said it was the end of an era. Now that Go-Ahead has been acquired by Kinetic and Globalvia, and First Group is being eyed-up by the US equity company I Squared Capital, it really is the end of an era. FirstGroup rejected the offer from I Squared Capital of course, but it still suggests that there is international interest in getting into the UK bus and rail market and it wouldn’t surprise me if FirstGroup was snapped up by somebody soon. I confess to some surprise there’s this degree of interest in the UK bus and rail market. Patronage is depressed and not showing signs of growing much beyond current levels, at least for some considerable time. In the bus market all the talk is of service cuts come October when Covid support runs out, while on rail the new Passenger Service Contracts will limit the profit that train operators can make to a miserly 1%, or 1.5% for good performance. So why on earth these infrastructure and private equity companies are so attracted to the UK market is baffling me. Normally these companies want at least double-digit profit margins - and I’m not just talking about a 10% or 12% profit margin, much nearer the 20%-plus mark - and that simply isn’t going to happen in the UK market so far as I can see. Not ever. Still, I’m no City whizzkid so I’ve spoken to a few friends who understand these acquisitions and financial deals better than I do - and none of them get it either! Will anything be different just because the name and logo on www.passengertransport.co.uk
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a bus has changed? I doubt it. I hear that the management team at Go-Ahead will stay in place despite the acquisition. So what will they do differently now they are under new management that they have failed to do before? Nonetheless, the household names of Stagecoach, FirstGroup and Go-Ahead will soon disappear from our high streets. It’s the public transport equivalent of the shake-up in the retail market, with the likes of Woolworths, BHS and Top Shop all vanishing from the high street. Definitely the end of an era. All change please, all change!
COMMENT
Rail strikes - what happens now? Meanwhile, ministerial attention is all focused on the rail strike. Goodness knows how long this is going to go on for, but as I write the signs are that this could be quite a protracted dispute. I’m not close enough to the issues but it would strike me as odd if ministers weren’t involved in the negotiations behind the scenes. Strange, is it not, that train operators are so tightly managed by this department that they can barely breathe without our permission, yet a strike comes along and suddenly the TOCs are left out in the cold and left entirely alone to do the negotiations, apparently. And Network Rail is a fully nationalised body answerable to this department for everything it does. So our secretary of state’s claim that he’s not involved in any shape or form in the negotiations doesn’t seem to me to stack up to detailed scrutiny. If Grant Shapps isn’t involved then why isn’t he, as he is the guardian of the taxpayer interest in the railways? And as we all know, the railways are entirely dependent on taxpayer funding. Something is going to have to give at some point, and while I don’t think the rail strike has a great deal of public support, the reality is that the public’s patience won’t last long so the government will come under increasing pressure to resolve it. If the hands of Network Rail and the TOCs are in some way tied - as surely they must be since they are entirely dependant on taxpayers’ money - then the government at some point is going to have to untie them. That said, one thing is certain. The railways have to modernise. Some of the old-fashioned working practice that have been highlighted in recent days by Network Rail’s chief executive, Andrew Haines, do leave one scratching one’s head at just how old fashioned the railways still are. It’s beyond comprehension. It seems to me there needs to be a great deal more publicity around all of this as surely no reasonable person would see these working practices as acceptable in today’s world. And the issue of ticket office closures is just mind-numbing. With the sale of paper tickets being bought at ticket offices falling through the floor, why on earth would any sensible organisation not want to close them? I can’t recall when I last used one. It seems pretty obvious that modernisation, and on a pretty major scale, is absolutely critical regardless of the award that is finally agreed to. 1 July 2022 | 33
29/06/2022 16:59
CAREERS
Go-Ahead scheme is top Department for Education says group is top apprenticeship employer in transport sector Go-Ahead Group has been named as Britain’s top provider of transport apprenticeships in a ranking developed by the Department for Education. The ‘Top 100 Apprenticeship Employers’ list is intended to help future apprentices, parents and careers advisers to identify apprenticeship opportunities at the country’s leading employers. Go-Ahead ranks 13th overall on the list, and is top in the transport industry - ahead of Network Rail, Stagecoach, Abellio and Southeastern. The company takes on 1,100 apprentices annually - making it the biggest employer of apprentices in the public transport industry. More than 700 apprentices are presently training to be London bus drivers at Go-Ahead London’s academy in Camberwell. Go-Ahead London was named Macro Employer of the Year for London in the 2021 National Apprenticeship Awards. A further 450 apprentices are in training at Govia Thameslink Railway, the UK’s largest railway network, working across engineering, driving and customer service roles. The group says its program is highly diverse. Nearly a third of recruits are over 50 years old. Women account for 37% of rail apprentices and 17% of bus apprentices - a significantly higher proportion than can be found across the transport industry as a whole. And two thirds of 34 | 1 July 2022 PT268p34-35 34
Go-Ahead London’s apprentices are from ethnic minority backgrounds. “Apprenticeships are a great way to begin a career in transport, whether it may be driving a bus, training to be an engineer, working in customer services or driving a train,” said Scott Maynard, the group’s HR director. “Our apprenticeship program is preparing a new generation of people to operate public transport across Britain and we view it as a crucial investment in the longterm success of our company. We’re very proud that Go-Ahead has been named as one of the country’s top apprenticeship employers.” The ‘Top 100 Apprenticeship Employers’ list is published by the Department for Education in partnership with High Fliers Research, which independently assesses and ranks the nation’s top apprenticeship employers.
Go-Ahead takes on 1,100 apprentices annually
APPOINTMENTS RSSB Mike Brown has been appointed as chair of the Rail Safety and Standards Board (RSSB). Brown (pictured) was formerly London transport commissioner with Transport for London. While at TfL, he was responsible for the successful delivery of Tube and mainline rail for the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2012. Brown also delivered a multi-billion pound investment programme on London’s roads, rail, Underground and cycling network, including the world’s first Ultra Low Emission Zone. Since he left TfL in 2020, Brown has been chair of the Delivery Authority for the restoration and renewal of the Houses of Parliament. He is a former chair of the National Skills Academy for Rail, and the Strategic Transport Apprenticeship Taskforce. Brown is also a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, and of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport. He has an honorary doctorate from the Queen’s University of Belfast. STAGECOACH MANCHESTER David Heptinstall has been promoted to engineering director at Stagecoach’s bus operation in Greater Manchester from the same role at Stagecoach Yorkshire. Heptinstall (pictured) joined the Perth-based group in 2012 as engineering director at Stagecoach Midlands. He moved Stagecoach Yorkshire in 2016. Commenting in his new role, Heptinstall said: “I am looking forward to leading our talented and dedicated engineering teams.”
WRIGHTBUS Ben Werth has been appointed chief commercial officer at Ballymena-based bus manufacturer Wrightbus. Werth (pictured) will take up the role alongside his current position as managing director of Wrightbus’s sister company Fuze Finance. A former director in charge of asset finance at bus and coach rental firm Mistral Group with more than 26 years experience in the bus industry, Werth will oversee all sales and commercial activity for the firm. He will work alongside managing director Neil Collins to ensure a focus on both internal sales operations and external customer requirements. In his role with Fuze Finance, Werth has already been working alongside John McLeister, Wrightbus sales and business development director. CPT (UK) The Confederation of Passenger Transport has announced the appointment of Leanne Clowting as membership director. Clowting joined CPT earlier this month and following a short transition period will take over from Peter Gomersall who retires at the end of July. In her new role she will have responsibility for enhancing CPT’s relationships with its members, prospective members and commercial partners. Clowting gained extensive experience in marketing, business development and member relations, most recently as executive director for membership and marketing services at Construction Industry Research and Information Association.
www.passengertransport.co.uk
29/06/2022 17:58
CALL NOW TO ADVERTISE 020 3950 8000 or email sales@passengertransport.co.uk
Managing Director, Stagecoach London Like the idea of being at the forefront of public transport in London - operating our iconic red buses in a city with the reputation of having one of the best transport networks in the world? So how about taking on one of the most challenging roles you’re likely to come across? This is one of the biggest jobs in our business. There is no doubt about it - this job is going to be challenging and everything you’d expect from a role of this magnitude. That also means it’s going to be hugely rewarding, and will continually give you a sense of achievement - after all, this is a high profile role within the overall Stagecoach business. Speaking of the Stagecoach business, let’s tell you about it… Operating contracts on behalf of Transport for London, Stagecoach London provides millions of passenger journeys every year, employs over 4,000 colleagues and operates over 1,300 vehicles across east and south east London. Performance driven by the demanding TfL contracting and tendering partnership model means that the focus in our business is remaining competitive in a challenging operating market, as well as exploring opportunities in relation to business growth.
What we need from you: To develop the medium to long-term strategy for Stagecoach London, focusing on improving commercial viability through the London tendering market, creating new business opportunities by taking the initiative, setting stretching targets, and providing support, financial expertise and challenge to your leadership team; Drive the cultural change and performance improvement agenda across the business with the goal of improving the quality of support delivered in terms of strategic development, business plan delivery and cost efficiency; Proactively network, lobby and manage key stakeholders in the public transport sector, in the bus industry, in Transport for London and the local authorities, in government and elsewhere to ensure that our interests are heard and that we lead the way on setting the future transport agenda. For further information, please contact Lewis Schrier, Resourcing Lead on lewis.schrier@stagecoachbus.com, or to apply now, please visit www.stagecoachbus.com/careers
We also have a commercial element to our business, including running a London sightseeing joint venture. Not only are we a highly successful business, we’re also an integral part of the communities we serve, connecting people through our operations to each other, and all the activities they do.
www.passengertransport.co.uk
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1 July 2022 | 35
29/06/2022 17:58
DIVERSIONS
Muhammad Ali’s bus is back on the road
After decades in service in Tyneside, during which time it became an open top bus after a low bridge incident in Wallsend, KBB118D was sold in around 2000 by Stagecoach North East, the
successor to original owner Newcastle Corporation Transport, to a sightseeing bus operator in Ireland. Eventually it was picked up by Steve and his friends. “Initially we were unaware that it was the Muhammad Ali bus,” he says. “It was only when we had two similar buses and had to decide which one to restore that I did a bit of digging. I knew that model had been used to drive Ali around the North East and research showed it was this bus. It was at that point that we knew we had to restore it.” Now it’s fully restored and back on the road. To paraphrase Muhammad Ali, now it can float like a butterfly...
to announce the government is considering legal changes that would allow agency workers to fill in for striking staff. It’s a promise that also appeared in the 2015 Tory manifesto. It was billed as a move that would “provide essential cover during strikes”. Of course, this strike is all about pay and the government and the Department for Transport have been rather happy to point out just how much some railway staff like train drivers are paid. Much of this wage inflation has come about as a result of the
time-consuming training regime that goes hand-in-hand with the role. It’s also not been helped by the intense competition between freight and passenger operators for trained driving staff. So if the government did pass a law allowing the use of agency staff - and discounting the route training they would need anyway would this not just further inflate wages as demand intensifies amongst an already small pool of qualified train drivers? And this at a time when the government is keen to cut rail industry costs!
Friends restore famous open top bus The open top bus that Muhammad Ali rode on during his visit to Tyneside in 1977 has been restored to its former glory thanks to a Nexus worker’s labour of love. Steve Griffin, a Metro maintenance technician, was part of a team of public transport enthusiasts who saved the vintage bus from the scrapyard in 2016. And six years later their hard work has finally paid off with the bus back in tip-top condition.
xxx
IS HE CAUGHT IN A SPIN?
The RMT brought Britain’s railways to a virtual standstill last week and in response, transport secretary Grant Shapps took to the TV studios and newspapers
Pride and joy
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Bus seat inspiration
DUBLIN BUS IS ONSIDE Dublin Bus and Irish association football team Bohemian FC have joined forces to launch a unique one-off jersey, which will be worn by the team at the FAI Cup on July 29. The kit takes inspiration from the bus operator’s now almost iconic seat moquette design, which has featured on its bus fleet since the late 1990s. “As a lifelong football fan and regular attendee at Dalymount Park with my family, I couldn’t be more thrilled to share this,” said Dublin Bus chief executive Ray Coyne. “It is a club which is at the heart of its community, just as Dublin Bus is.” SEEN SOMETHING QUIRKY? Why not drop us a line at editorial@passengertransport.co.uk
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www.passengertransport.co.uk
29/06/2022 16:56