Bringing better buses to all

With the new government outlining the intention to transform bus services for all, Dave Pearson, now a managing consultant at AtkinsRéalis, following a career in local government, considers the opportunities and implications for the sector

Passengers need better bus services, and all of us in the sector will need to grasp the opportunities that could come from the forthcoming Better Buses Bill, announced by the new Government as part of the King’s speech to parliament.

Undoubtedly, the new legislation will result in many Local Transport Authorities (LTAs) reviewing their Bus Service Improvement Plans (BSIPs) and the effectiveness of their Enhanced Partnerships EPs, and in this article, we offer thoughts on how LTAs and their partners can prepare the expected changes.

---

We look forward to discussing these questions and other challenges and opportunities at the forthcoming Quality Bus Conference, 23-24 September. Register now

---

In acting as a critical friend to many LTAs, we have observed that while some Enhanced Partnership (EP) meetings are highly effective in taking collective decisions, setting standards, and developing plans and programmes, but many are simply briefing sessions.

Most EPs have been in place for several years, so it is an opportune time to review their effectiveness objectively, ideally from the outside looking in. LTAs should incorporate the EP Board as a decision-making body into their processes if they have not already done so and bus operators must adapt to their business being discussed in a public meeting. 

There are elements of the EP Plus proposals that have recently been presented as an alternative to franchising, which could improve the impact and effectiveness of many established Partnerships.

These include adopting a collective approach to incremental network changes, informed by a plan to grow patronage. Another option is taking a “single network” approach to the customer-facing aspects of the service, including ticketing and information.

All EP partners can influence the performance of buses, and a collaborative approach to data collection and analysis is crucial.

“Better” to the passenger means buses that are punctual and reliable. But do EP Boards know enough about how well their bus network is currently performing from the passenger’s perspective? Monitoring has traditionally supported key business obligations, such as revenue management and registration compliance.

However, many rarely measure passenger sentiment on a granular route or locality basis, as analysis is often limited to informing business case development.

There are opportunities to analyse Bus Open Data to give the EP Board a much more holistic view of punctuality and reliability, along with the ability to identify the problem locations and times of the day. It could help “sweat the small stuff” by identifying contributing factors like TRO enforcement, roadworks, scheduling anomalies, and poor operational practice. 

The latest BSIP update encouraged LTAs and EPs to consider the bus service post-2025 and what they might need to enable delivery. The new Government is focussing on economic growth and, in particular, new housing.

LTAs will need to develop a deeper understanding of their bus networks on a granular route-by-route basis to enable them to articulate their contribution to the growth agenda. Analysis and forecasting will be a key part of this, and we will expand on how LTAs can do this successfully in a separate article.

Through the EP, LTAs and their advisors need data from operators on who is currently using buses and when they are travelling. 

It’s a great step forward that each local authority now has a plan to improve buses. However, the DfT prescribed their format and content, so the resultant BSIPs may require further adaptation to better reflect and prioritise them to meet local needs.

In whatever form the new Government funds bus improvements beyond 2025, we know that a more devolved model is likely. The new legislation and the reformed funding mechanism will firmly place responsibility for local buses with the LTA. 

The process of updating the Local Transport Plan is an opportunity to ensure the alignment of bus improvement with the Council’s wider strategic position and how its highway space is to be managed in the future.

Now is also the time to develop a plan for a zero-carbon bus service. The Zebra competitive funding model has probably had its time, and operators will need a more stable public/private approach to vehicle financing. Lessons may need to be learnt from elsewhere, such as Mexico, where innovative finance models, taking a whole-life cycle view of cost and carbon and recycling subsidies are helping accelerate the transition to zero-emission buses.

This leads to the powers we can expect the Better Buses Act to confer on LTAs and, specifically, the option to develop a franchising scheme. The Mayoral Combined Authorities that have progressed franchising to date have economies of scale and concentrations of travel demand not seen in many other areas.

There is, however, scope for innovation in bespoke franchising to ensure we meet the needs of varying local markets and geographies. Many LTAs are hopeful that the Government will create the space for such innovation.

While we await details of the new franchising process, there is time for LTAs to define the problem to which franchising may or may not be the solution. In this article, we have set out several questions that LTAs and their partners may wish to address as they prepare for this key decision:

• How could your Enhanced Partnership be more effective?

• Is your current bus network really performing for passengers?

• How can the bus network support the growth agenda?

• How can the LTP facilitate better, zero-carbon buses?

We look forward to discussing these questions and other challenges and opportunities at the forthcoming Quality Bus Conference, 23-24 September.

In our next article, we will explore the issues around franchising further.