North Lincolnshire Council (NLC) is publishing Enhanced Bus Partnership (EP) meeting notes on it's website. The 14th September notes have caught my attention, with a long list of ideas for how to spend Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP) Plus funding.
Firstly the attendance list, to explain some of the abbreviations:
Cllr Tim Mitchell(TM) - North Lincolnshire Council (Chair)
Cllr Carol Ross (CR) - North Lincolnshire Council (Deputy)
Kate Robinson (KR) - North Lincolnshire Council
Heather Barratt (HB) - North Lincolnshire Council
Dave Skepper (DS) - Stagecoach
Karl Robinson (KRob) - Hornsbys
Abigail Burridge (AB) - North Lincolnshire Council
Below are the ideas, published in full. The Saturday services in the Brigg area are happening, more in a future blog post. Otherwise the status of the other proposals are unknown. Two things have struck me here. Firstly the operators are focused on their existing services and are concerned about what happens when Bus Service Improvement Plan Plus funding runs out. From their perspective that is understandable. Secondly there are no improvements to local services in Scunthorpe suggested.
1. Bus Disruption Survey. The proposal is for funding for NLC to undertake an in house disruption survey to identify congestion issues. NLC Highways team would also design the work to be carried out. This would lead to junction improvements and would benefit NLC and Operators. DS asked that the proposal be amended to state that operators and drivers would contribute their time as part of the process. The officers and operators would work together to identify hotspots and then commission the work.
Board Comments – Fully supported to be included in the Scheme. Upper limit £40,000.
Action – NLC to amend proposal.
2. New Saturday Service for South and East of Brigg. To implement a bus service to the villages South & East of Brigg on a Saturday. The service is an extension to the existing Monday to Friday route.
Board Comments - Proposal could be paid by de minimis. Fully supported to be included in the Scheme.
3. Devolution of Bus Infrastructure. North Lincolnshire Council currently maintains 761 bus stops and 205 bus shelters across the authority. The purpose of this project is to support town and parish councils with the devolution/transfer of the following types of assets: bus shelters, poles, flags, timetable cases and timetables.
Board Comments – Fully supported to be included in the Scheme. Upper limit £10,000. NLC inhouse staff to undertake a full survey of assets before transfer to Parish Councils.
4. Additional Evening Journeys on Service 350. To extend service 350 by adding additional evening journeys. This could potentially see the current 30 minute headway maintained until 20:30 hours from Hull and around 20:00 hours from Scunthorpe.
Board Comments - To ask operator to provide more information including timetables and costs.
Action – NLC to ask operator for further information. Updated proposal to be discussed at EP Traffic Working Group.
5. NLC - Ferry Ward – Additional Bus Services To extend Service 260 to Immingham incorporating South Killingholme, North Killingholme and East Halton and therefore provide residents in the villages with increased choice in Public Transport. DS expressed concerns that the route was unlikely to become a commercial route and would probably not continue without funding once BSIP+ money has ceased. DS and KRob agreed it was better not to promise passengers a service which could not be continued. DS believed that raising the frequency on existing routes would be better use of the funding. TM believed that the route was socially necessary but acknowledged operator’s comments.
Board Comments - Happy to be included in Scheme with further discussions to take place.
6. Section 22 Community Transport in North Lincolnshire – 96 and 97 services. The purpose of this project is to continue to provide Section 22 Community Transport on two registered bus routes in North Lincolnshire which operate Monday-Friday. This will require the continued hire of two 16-seater minibuses to provide the current bus services and the maintenance of two ticket machines in order to take payments. The routes are registered with the Traffic Commissioner and are an open service so any member of public can use the services. Board agreed that the modal for rural transport is never going to be commercially viable. More marketing needed around route 97 running to isolated villages whilst not having impact on commercial services. TM confirmed that North and East of Isle need to connect to 399 to Doncaster and more work around the timetable is needed. KRob worried about what would happen when the services are taken off but happy to progress.
Board Comments - Happy to be included in Scheme.
7. Procurement of New Back Office System for DRT. The aim of the project is to apply for a funding for the feasibility study and procurement of a back office system to manage the DRT service in North Lincolnshire. The current software isn’t offering alternative journeys, availability and advance booking and is in need of new software. DS told the Board that other authorities usually tender for the whole service and not a separate service for back office systems with a number of different suppliers available. Some bus operators have commercial agreements with app providers, which can offer a better overall price for DRT tender submissions to local authorities.
Board Comments – Agreed not to implement the proposal into the Scheme
Action - Consider further at EP Traffic Working Group.
8. Extension of 350 service to Hull. 3 x bus services an hour run in and out of Barton Monday to Saturdays, 2 x 350 and 1 x 250 with extra 255 services at Wren Kitchens shift changes running Monday to Friday. The issue is on a Sunday. With the first bus to Hull at 10am this service can be full of passengers having to wait an hour for the 11am service. The next one after that is 2pm. The proposal is to provide an extension to the timetable on a Sunday with an 8:10am Scunthorpe to Hull service to alleviate the pressure of the 10am service. CR showed concerns over why a service would be needed so early. DS told the Board that practical issues are contributing to the oversubscribed routes i.e. £2 fare, busy bank holidays. Colder weather may see a decline in passengers but overall the journeys should bring good value for money.
Board Comments – Happy to be added to the Scheme with further discussions to take place.
9. Reduced Fares for Young People. The proposal is to enhance the provision of reduced fares for the youth market (aged 16 - 24) by introducing a “Scunthorpe Card” – Weekly and day travel within the Scunthorpe Town Area and a “NLC plus Card” – Weekly and day travel around the wider area of North Lincolnshire. Operators gave an overview of the current concessions available to Young people in North Lincolnshire. They agreed a Scunthorpe Card would be preferred to the NLC Plus Card. Actual concept was considered a good idea, flip side is it will use up quite a lot of funding. More work was needed on the level of discount or price of ticket and how the operator would claim the difference. Concerns were raised around when funding started to run out. DS spoke about the scheme currently running in Hull.
Board Comments – Agreed to include in the Scheme but required further discussions.
The 350 changes suggested would potentially lead to wider changes. A round trip takes approximately three hours, so an extension of the half hourly frequency for approximately two hours extra in the evening will probably require additions or reductions in the morning, and/or some later evening services. Likewise on Sundays an 0810 from Scunthorpe to Hull would probably lead to an additional Hull to Scunthorpe service, and if an extra vehicle is used for that, maybe it would do more than one extra round trip?
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4 comments:
Addressing the issues with the 350 such as the need for an earlier first journey from Scunthorpe on Sundays is exactly what I had been hoping for and really hope such a proposal becomes reality. If it did, it would be interesting to see if it would start from Ashby High Street at say 7:55 like the current first one on Sundays starting at 8:55 from there or would simply start straight from the bus station.
Forget the 260 & renumber it 450 & run it between Hull &Immingham serving the existing villages but including East Halton, Norh & South Killingholme. Hourly. Let's not forget how some of these villages was abandoned by the major bus company. Its not everyone who has cars .both council & bus company can afford it . I know I've seen some of the council subscribed routes they run in Hull
Would be nice to seen, even if just two trips or three trips, a day. There is a few dead runs Barton to Grimsby currently
Be good to see the 350 running at a standard frequency on Sundays as a starting point, rather than the current 2-3 hourly. Hourly over the main part of the day with a consistent 2-hourly after 6pm service seven days a week would be a huge step up on current provision, and might actually be viable in the medium term - the 350 certainly seems well used overall - wouldn't surprise me if it is the most profitable route out of Scunthorpe depot.
The Ashby high street extensions should just run as town service "6" trips, and advertise with onward connections. AFAIK there is no mention of the 350 journeys on Sundays anywhere in the Scunthorpe town network guides when these used to be printed, so looking at that, you would assume there was simply no Sunday bus other than the 1A loops.
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