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NEWSIssue 154 - Summer 2015

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Welcome from the Chair

Welcome to the summer edition of ATCO News. Although we are now well into the holiday season, there is little let up in work activities and demands. And the same is true of ATCO activities and the calls on ATCO to participate in various initiatives, or contribute to policy developments and wider thinking.

Summer training eventIn June, we had a truly excellent training event in Ipswich,

a report on which is contained elsewhere in this issue

of ATCO News. There was high praise from those who

attended. I would like to take this opportunity of thanking

everyone involved from the Eastern Region in organising

and managing the event, particularly to Niki Park for sorting

out the programme and Chris Pettifer for overseeing the

event planning and delivery. Thanks too to the event sponsor,

Truform, who have also sponsored this edition of ATCO News.

Winter eventPlanning is well underway for our next main event – our

winter training event and AGM on Wednesday 18 November,

which will again be held at the London Transport Museum.

The aim is to cover a mix of interesting topics that will

appeal to the broad range of members’ (and non-members’)

interests. Do look out for further details of this event in the

coming weeks and come along.

Coach & Bus LiveBefore then, we will be taking part in Coach & Bus Live at

the NEC. Many of you will have seen the first notifications

of this event in recent days. As in previous years, ATCO has

been provided with the opportunity to present a masterclass

session. This will be on the afternoon of Thursday 1 October.

We have chosen to focus on Total Transport, and a number of

speakers will highlight the work being undertaken to achieve

greater integration of different transport activities. The

session will also provide the opportunity for questions and a

panel discussion. Again, do make a note of the date and come

and join us. It is completely free to come along, and alongside

the masterclass you can wander around the rest of the Coach

& Bus Live exhibition and show, finding out about the latest

industry developments, products and vehicles. And, if you

book to attend the masterclass, you can join us for a buffet

lunch, arranged for us by Rescroft Ltd.

Working with governmentsOver recent months, we have further developed our

relationship with DfT. We have been asked to contribute to a

number of consultations and thoughts for the forthcoming

Buses Bill. Our Bus Executive has been busy collating thoughts

from our members to feedback to the DfT. Alongside this,

we have been co-ordinating activities associated with the

Total Transport initiative. Peter Hardy has been leading this

for us. This initiative really seems to be moving apace, and

we look forward to seeing some interesting outcomes from

the projects being funded. The newly-established ATCO Total

Transport National Executive will have its first meeting in

September, hosted by the DfT.

In Scotland, ATCO has contributed to work undertaken by JMP

for Transport Scotland, which is looking at potential changes

to the bus registration process to increase the level of

partnership working between operators and local authorities.

ATCOAmongst all the activity, the ATCO Board continues to

consider how the organisation can most efficiently and

effectively operate in the future. This may lead to some

changes in the coming year, but our aim is to maintain the core

principles of ATCO that have served us well for many years.

Finally, it is good to see our membership growing. Recently,

we have seen 20 new members join ATCO. Welcome to you –

please join in with ATCO’s activities as much as possible. It is by

contributing that members really gain so much from ATCO.

In these busy and changing times, I am keen to know

what people think of ATCO and what they want from the

organisation. Do feel free to contact me with any thoughts,

questions or ideas.

Enjoy the rest of the summer.

Chris WhiteATCO Chair

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ATCO News Any views expressed in ATCO News are those of the individual contributors and do not necessarily reflect the views of either their employing authority or of the Association of Transport Co-ordinating Officers.

Contributions to ATCO News are welcome from anyone with a Local Government transport interest. All material in ATCO News is the copyright of the individual author. No part of any material may be reproduced in whole or in part without the written permission of the author.

Enquiries about ATCO membership should be addressed to: ATCO, Hermes House, St Johns Road, Tunbridge Wells, Kent TN4 9UZ T: 0844 209 6556 F: 0844 209 6557 E: info@atco-membership.co.uk

ATCO has a Web site, which includes recent back copies of ATCO News, at: www.atco.org.uk

Contents

Welcome from the Chair .................................. iiChris White

The Loop: Connecting The Kelpies and the Falkirk Wheel ...................................................... 4Christopher Cox

Queens Drive Eco Hub - turning a vision into reality .......................................................... 8Gina Clark

‘Making Buses Better’ ....................................10Alan Hill

Ellie the electric bus – reaching a younger generation ........................................................12Laraine Reckless

Halton Borough Council Independent Travel Training ...............................................................14Derek Donoghue

Traveline update ..............................................16

Challenges for Socially Necessary Bus Services Intensify Despite Falling Costs .19Robin Riley

‘Cuts on cuts – can we deliver safe, smart and sustainable transport?’ ..........................20Peter Hardy

Transport Service Solutions .........................26Sarah Tunstall

Editor’s note .....................................................29Peter Hardy

New Atco Members .........................................29

Contacts

BoardChair: Chris White T: 01273 481270 E: chris.white@eastsussex.gov.uk

Vice-Chair: Paul Robson T: 01429 284163 E: pr@pkrassociates.co.uk

ATCO Scotland: David Summers T: 01463 252956 E: david.summers@highland.gov.uk

ATCO Cymru: Richard Cope T: 01291 691313 E: richardcope@monmouthshire.gov.uk

Non Voting Member: Peter Stoner T: 07917 525679 E: peter.stoner@itoworld.com

Voting Member: Chris Pettifer T: 01234 228881 E: chris.pettifer@bedford.gov.uk

Voting Member: Karen Giles T: 01225 394371 E: karen_giles@bathnes.gov.uk

Voting member: Steve Doel T: 01635 519106 E: sdoel@westberks.gov.uk

Past Chair: David Blainey T: 0151 3301344 E: david.blainey@merseytravel.gov.uk

ExecutivesBus: John Pope E: john.pope@essex.gov.uk

Performance Group: John Carr T: 01484 860101 E: john@carruk.net

Publicity, Info & Ticketing: Andrew Varley T: 01772 533336 E: andrew.varley@lancashire.gov.uk

Total Transport: Peter Hardy T: 07977 268250 E: peter.hardy@jmp.co.uk

School Travel: Ian Gwenlan T: 01243 753535 E: ian.gwenlan@westsussex.gov.uk

Rail: Tony Francis T: 0208 460 0576 E: anthony.francis185@btopenworld.com

Regional RepresentativesEast Midlands: Anita Ruffle E: anita.ruffle@lincolnshire.gov.uk

Eastern: Chris Pettifer (see ATCO Board above)

North East: Paul Robson (see ATCO Board above)

North West: David Blainey (see ATCO Board above)

Scotland: David Summers (see ATCO Board above)

South East: Andy Clarke T: 01296 383468 E: aclarke@buckscc.gov.uk

South West: Bruce Thompson T: 01392 383244 E: bruce.thompson@devon.gov.uk

Wales: Richard Cope (see ATCO Board above)

West Midlands: Nigel Whyte T: 01926 735674 E: nigelwhyte@warwickshire.gov.uk

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The Loop: Connecting The Kelpies and the Falkirk Wheel

Christopher Cox of Falkirk Council explains the evolution of a new tourist bus service

IntroductionFalkirk is situated in the heart of central Scotland almost

midway between Edinburgh and Glasgow and the Falkirk

Council area includes the towns of Denny, Grangemouth and

Bo’ness.

Falkirk lies at the junction of the Union Canal and the Forth

and Clyde Canal. The area’s industrial heritage centred on the

iron and steel industries, with the Carron Company famous

worldwide for its Carronades and many other foundries,

including Machan Engineering, which are famous for

manufacturing post boxes. Like many other former industrial

towns, Falkirk is now primarily a service based economy,

but the nearby town of Grangemouth is a major industrial

centre and is the location of Scotland’s only oil refinery, a vast

petrochemical plant and the landfall of the Forties pipelines

from the North Sea.

Falkirk has lagged behind much of Scotland in terms of

tourism, but has historic attractions including the Antonine

Wall, Callander House (a mansion in the style of a French

Renaissance château set in mature woodland), Kinneil House

(built in 1677) and the Bo’ness and Kinneil heritage railway.

Falkirk arrived on the national and global tourist map in 2002

with the opening of the Falkirk Wheel, constructed as part of

the Millennium Link project which joined the historic Union

and Forth and Clyde Canals with a rotating boat lift—the

only one of its kind in the world. The lift raises vessels by 24

metres, replacing a flight of locks.

The Falkirk wheel had attracted 5.5 million visitors by summer

2014 and 514,000 people visited in 2014 alone, making it the

13th most popular attraction in Scotland, ahead of Stirling

Castle and New Lanark amongst others.

The success of the Falkirk Wheel has been dwarfed by the

new attraction at the River Forth end of the Forth and

Clyde Canal—the Helix Park, a £43m Big Lottery Fund Living

Landmarks project which regenerated a vast area between

northern Falkirk and Grangemouth and includes 27km of

off-road cycle-footways, a lagoon, a visitor centre (opening

October 2015), a canal extension with a lifting bridge, splay

and adventure play zones and an outdoor arena. The jewels

in the crown, however, are The Kelpies, the world’s largest

equine sculptures, which are over 30m high and stand guard

over the entrance to the Forth and Clyde Canal. The Kelpies

attracted over 1 million visitors in their first year, making them

the 7th most popular tourist attraction in Scotland.

With Success Came a ProblemThe Helix Park was designed as a sustainable community links

project and nobody could have predicted the sheer volume of

visitors who would come to see The Kelpies from all over the

world. The miniature Kelpie maquettes are in such demand

worldwide that an additional set had to be made and the

infrastructure in the surrounding area and within the Helix

Park itself simply cannot not cope with the number of visitors,

most of which arrive by car. There are only 250 car parking

spaces in the Helix Park, but an average of 2700 visitors per

day - so the nearby Falkirk Stadium hosts an overflow car park.

Following discussions between the stakeholders, who include

Scottish Canals, Falkirk Community Trust, Falkirk Council and

Visit Falkirk, discussions were held with First Scotland East

about the possibility of a tourist bus service to the Helix,

which evolved into an outline proposal for a bus to link The

Falkirk Wheel and the Helix Park to both main railway stations

in Falkirk. This proposal was developed into a draft timetable

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for a bus service operating from The Falkirk Wheel via Falkirk

High Station, Falkirk Town Centre, Falkirk Grahamston Station,

The Kelpies, The Helix Park and Callander House. The Helix

Park is a community facility and does not charge for entry and

so there was no funding available to operate a bus service.

Therefore, Falkirk Council’s Transport Planning Unit took a

lead in the project, with a view to making a bid to Transport

Scotland’s Bus Investment Fund 2014/15.

The BidWith deadlines for submissions approaching fast, an outline

bid was drafted which included three elements - the bus

service, infrastructure improvements and marketing.

The bus service comprises two vehicles operating hourly from

each end with the idea being that passengers would buy a

day ticket and hop-on/hop-off the bus as required. Family and

concessionary tickets would also be available.

Some stakeholders initially proposed bespoke bus shelters,

but the Transport Planning Unit was keen that any new

bus shelters were easy to maintain in the long term but

would be distinctive so that tourists would be able to use

the bus service easily. Ultimately, Falkirk Council’s standard

Commutaports specification was used with the addition of

a solar tray and in ‘Visit Falkirk’ colours—this raised some

eyebrows in the office when the idea of pink bus shelters was

mentioned!

Marketing would be the responsibility of Visit Falkirk and

would concentrate on Edinburgh, Glasgow, Stirling and Perth.

It was aimed at encouraging visitors from further afield to use

the train to get to Falkirk and then change onto the “Loop” to

get to either Helix Park or Falkirk Wheel.

Following some discussions with Transport Scotland, the bid

was accepted with a soft launch on 3 April 2015 ahead of the

Easter Weekend. Funding was provided for a 6 month trial

service to assess demand.

Preparation and LaunchThe bid included £41,000 for the provision of new bus shelters

and bus stop flags, £22,500 for branding of the “Loop”

vehicles and additionally the branding of 9 new First Scotland

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East micro-hybrid vehicles used on Service 3 and 4, which

provide connections to The Helix from other areas of Falkirk

and £22,500 for marketing. Operational costs of the service

of £135,000 were also included. The operation of the service

was let on a minimum cost basis and the intention is to use the

revenue to extend the operation at the end of the trial period.

Despite tight timescales, the new bus shelters were installed

the week before the service was due to start, all bus stops

served on the route were given new flags incorporating

the Visit Falkirk logo and the two vehicles to be used on the

service were liveried in full Visit Falkirk branding. The idea was

to make the service as simple as possible for tourists to use. So

far, we have received very positive reaction to the service and

branding.

Marketing included local press adverts and advertorial,

leaflets, online adverts, adverts on trains and radio coverage.

During the month of August, promotion will see holders of

valid train tickets receive a discount on a “Loop” day ticket,

to encourage visitors to make their entire journey by public

transport.

The branding includes a

frieze comprising The

Falkirk Wheel, The

Kelpies, Falkirk

Steeple, The Canals,

Callander House,

Blackness Castle

and the Hippodrome

cinema and is included

on the sides and rear of

the buses, the leaflets, all

advertising and within the bus shelters as part of the on-stop

publicity.

So FarAfter a soft launch before Easter, the service was formally

launched at the Falkirk Wheel at the end of May, alongside

one of the Kelpie maquettes. The service had carried over

10,000 passengers by the end of June despite the dismal

weather; patronage has increased steadily throughout July.

Funding for an on-going service, including the possibility of

an electric vehicle, is currently being discussed and we are

investigating possible sources of funding.

In terms of monitoring, on-bus surveys will be undertaken

during August to find out where passengers are coming from

and what their thoughts on the service are—this information

will be used to determine future advertising campaigns and

shape any extension of the service,

if funding can be secured. 

Christopher Cox

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Queens Drive Eco Hub - turning a vision into reality

Gina Clark of Nottingham City Council shows how one of Nottingham’s Park & Ride sites is more than just somewhere to catch a bus.

Taking the standard park and ride site and turning it into

something new and exciting has long been an ambition of

Nottingham City Council’s Public Transport team. It has now

become a reality with the creation of the Eco Hub at Queens

Drive Park & Ride.

The site has over 1,000 parking spaces, is open Monday to

Saturday and is serviced by two bus services, the Electric

Medilink service and the Citylink 1. But that’s not all; over

the past two years it has developed as a base to host lots of

activities and has infrastructure improvements to meet the

demands of Nottingham’s residents and visitors.

Creating a buzz Using electricity as a clean energy source to help deliver a

sustainable transport infrastructure is a key feature of the

Eco Hub. It has three electric vehicle charging points to serve

privately-owned vehicles with five dedicated charging bays -

one of which is used by Nottingham’s first fully electric City

Car Club car, part of the nationwide car hire scheme.

Alongside this are 27 trickle and 3 fast electric bus charging

points, to power the Council’s 45 strong electric Linkbus fleet.

These vehicles operate on 18 routes across Nottingham. It

is the UK’s largest electric bus fleet and one of the largest

in Europe, with a further 13 buses on order to be used on

park and ride services in 2016. And it doesn’t end there; solar

panels are used to illuminate signage on to ensure that no

opportunity for sustainability is missed.

Cycle City AmbitionsIn 2015, Nottingham received £6.1 million from the D2N2

Local Enterprise Partnership to kick start an overhaul of

Nottingham’s cycle facilities, with the aim of realising

Nottingham’s cycling ambitions to turn itself into a Cycle City.

Reflecting the city’s ambitions, Queens’s Drive offers a variety

of cycling opportunities for local residents and visitors. With

its links to Nottingham’s Big Track (a 10 mile round cycle

route), Queen’s Drive is a great site for anyone who wishes to

come and ride the track alongside the picturesque River Trent.

The site also offers Citycard Cycles hire, the council’s bike hire

scheme (currently free during Summer 2015), which allows

individuals to hire bikes from one of over 25 cycle stands

across the city for as little as a minute to an entire day. There

is also a Pump and Skills Track, launched in July 2015, offering

a multi terrain track for residents and visitors to use to train

and develop their cycling skills. The track, built by Clixby’s, has

been used by local BMX groups across Nottinghamshire and

Derbyshire, with a view to hold more formal races and group

activities throughout the summer months.

A Citycard Cycle hub is also available on site for secure parking

for either their own bike or Citycard cycle. The hub is fitted

with CCTV and a Citycard smartcard accessible locking system,

accommodating those that cycle a distance to the site and

then get the bus into the city centre.

On one Sunday per month during the spring and summer, the

site hosts Cycling for All events run by local cycling charity,

Ridewise. At the events, cyclists of all abilities are able to take

advantage of free cycle instruction and bike maintenance, part

funded by Local Sustainable Transport Funding.

Encouraging safer drivingAs well as opening the space up to cyclists, the site also offers

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a brilliant space for Admiral Young driver training lessons, so

young drivers can learn the driving basics before they reach

test age, giving them the ability and knowledge for safer

driving.

A walk on the wild sideTaking advantage of the natural surroundings, a woodland

walk and wildflower meadow has been created to provide a

place to enjoy a scenic short walk, exploring the plants and

insects near the river. Idyllic fishing spots are also available just

beyond the site, further along the River Trent.

Improving information servicesAt the centre of the park and ride site is the Eco Cabin.

Staffed during operational hours 6 days a week, it provides

information and advice to visitors about the services available.

The Cabin also has electronic real time information totems

and toilet facilities.

For more information on the Eco Hub visit

www.nottinghamcity.gov.uk/queensdrive

Gina ClarkProjects Officer with Nottingham City Council. Further information about the project can be obtained from Gina at gina.clark@nottinghamcity.gov.uk

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‘Making Buses Better’

It’s rather obvious really; surely everyone wants everything to be better so what’s so special about buses? Perhaps we should look from the other end of the telescope; what would life be like without buses? We often hear tales of woe when there’s a problem on the railways making people late to work and, of course, this is an issue. However, only 1½ billion journeys are made by train annually whilst buses account for well over five billion journeys. Almost four times as many people travel by bus. Imagine our towns and cities, our suburbs, our rural areas without buses. Imagine the congestion; imagine the economic cost; imagine the social exclusion. Buses already contribute significantly towards local and national objectives but they could do more.

A new report, ‘Making Buses Better’1, launched at the ATCO

Summer Training Event, puts forward an agenda for change,

showing how buses can contribute more to economic, social

and environmental well-being and deliver financial and

market objectives. The report was produced by the TAS Policy

Exchange2, which was established by the late Peter Huntley to

identify areas where research might benefit the development

of public transport policy. It comprises individual independent

professionals with substantial experience of the transport

sector in both the public and private sectors, three of whom

are retired ATCO members including two former Chairmen.

As well as local transport authority officers and bus company

managers, the report is aimed at politicians and members of

LEPs and combined authorities and their policy advisors. The

aim is to show what buses can do for local and national policy

objectives whilst maintaining, as far as possible, commercial

viability.

Preparation of the report involved reviewing empirical

evidence to understand what constitutes success and

exploring issues that can be replicated elsewhere to help

buses contribute towards society’s goals and, in particular,

the improvement of local economic conditions. We set out a

series of measures by which bus network performance can be

judged, including trips per head of the population, customer

satisfaction and punctuality scores, patronage growth and

movements in the ‘Time Cost’ of bus journeys in relation to

local economic and demographic conditions.

The key issue is journey time and we focus on this in particular.

People value their time; it features in various studies and

modelling can demonstrate how time can be a significant

modal choice factor. We explain the concept of Generalised

Costs modelling in terms of the ‘Time Costs’ of bus and car

journeys. We also demonstrate the impact of journey times

on the economics of operating a bus service. Quite simply,

if a bus cannot do its journey efficiently, more resources are

1 Published by TAS Publications & Events Limited on behalf of the TAS Policy Exchange Limited, 2015.

2 See TAS Policy Exchange website (http://www.taspolicyexchange.co.uk)

needed to maintain frequencies and operating costs rise,

jeopardising service viability unless fares rise. And, if fares rise,

the bus becomes less attractive as well as taking longer.

With regard to this, it is interesting to note the impact of

the removal of bus lanes in Liverpool3. It is reported that

journey times have increased such that nine extra buses have

3 See ‘Bus lane cuts cost revealed’, routeone, 8th July 2015 ATC

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been needed in order to maintain Arriva’s city network, with

unpredictability also being a difficult issue.

We recognise the value of partnership and especially how

neither local authorities nor bus operators individually can

achieve success to match that gained through working

together. Seminars with two representative panels of bus

operators and local authority officers revealed more areas

of mutual agreement than issues that might divide the two

‘sides’.

On the issue of re-regulation or franchising, we found no

evidence to support the oft-quoted ‘solution’ that public

control would provide better bus services. In particular,

nothing suggests that the question of control provides any

answers to the key issue of journey times. The only caveat to

this is where a bus market is demonstrably failing and, here,

we recognise the potential benefits of ATCO’s Tendered

Network Zones model4 which seeks to integrate private and

public sector inputs.

We explored bus company profits, finding that profit levels

are generally barely adequate for the constant reinvestment

needed to meet increasing customer expectations. We also

demonstrate that use of public funds is rarely a subsidy to

the bus operator (as critics claim) but, instead, involves the

purchase of specific services or a subsidy to specific groups of

passengers.

Conversely, it has been estimated that the bus industry is

worth £45 billion annually to the national economy. Bus

companies are significant local employers, offering training

opportunities in driving, engineering and other transferable

skills. Additionally, investment in new vehicles and other

equipment supports UK manufacturing jobs. Also, bus

passengers contribute to local economies when they reach

their destinations (estimated at some £27 billion of retail and

leisure expenditure)5.

It may be superficially easy for decision-makers and their

advisors to accept the dominance of cars and thus question

why buses should be afforded any special consideration or

priority. Instead, the basic facts need consideration; how

buses provide an alternative to car journeys; how it’s rarely

possible to build our way out of congestion; how more cars

4 The Local Transport Act 2008 Quality partnership schemes: Statutory guidance to English local transport authorities and metropolitan district councils, March 2009, paragraph 7.

5 See Greener Journeys (www.greenerjourneys.com/benefits/growing-the-economy)

usually equals more congestion; how congestion stifles local

economic prospects.

In summary, our towns and cities need to accommodate

business traffic that supports jobs and delivers goods to our

shops; more bus journeys instead of more car journeys will

help. Better bus services that attract more passengers will

help in the battle against congestion. They will also enable

more people who do not have a car to gain access to 16+

education, training and jobs to help provide a wider pool of

labour to support the local economy.

We recommend that policy formulation should recognise

the importance and measurement of the ‘Time Costs’ of a

bus journey. Comparing this with the ‘Time Costs’ of a similar

car journey can show where interventions are best focused.

We believe that a detailed focus on a process of continuous

improvement in journey times can deliver a virtuous circle of

growth, quality and investment. Our recommendations are

based on an examination of the economics of bus operation as

well as a review of what is working well in places where buses

experience high levels of patronage and satisfaction.

We make a variety of recommendations mostly based on

better partnership working and greater communications

between all interested parties which should lead to a better

understanding by authorities and operators of each other’s

issues and priorities.

The above paragraphs are a taster of what the report covers.

Do read it. It can be downloaded from www.taspublications.

co.uk. It may help inform the debate in your area about how

to improve the local economy by building on the existing

resource that your local bus services offer.

Alan HillSecretary, TAS Policy Exchange andformer Chairman, ATCO Bus Executive

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Ellie the electric bus – reaching a younger generation

With its push for electric buses, Nottingham City Council’s Laraine Reckless tells us all about Ellie

Reaching a new audience is difficult, especially in the

transport field. So, Nottingham City Council’s Public Transport

team has created a series of children’s story books aimed at

3-6 year olds.

Ellie was first introduced as a concept to our twitter and

facebook users as a teaser campaign a few weeks prior to

the launch. It generated keen interest and managed to reach

over 155,000 individuals through Transport Nottingham and

MyNottingham accounts, with many comments received

about how the new idea might unfold.

To help reach our future public transport users through

storytelling, we created the first book in the series in March

2015 – Ellie the electric bus was born at the electric network

event in Nottingham’s Market Square.

To keep the imagination of the readers alive, Ellie (a real

locallink electric bus) was kitted out with a smile, eye lashes

and her own bus stop! The Market Square event was a great

success, with primary schools and families coming to visit Ellie

for a story time and sing along onboard,

and to find out all about

electricity and safer travel.

Ellie has visited schools and

events around Nottingham,

to help spread the word about

electricity as a fuel and how

to travel safely on the bus,

particularly in the Bulwell area

of the city where the story is

based. Our sustainability and

environment team also joined

our partnership with their schools’ energy officer, reading the

Ellie story to all City primary school year 6s to help explain

about energy saving and protecting the environment for the

future.

Our library services partners were able to have books for

distribution at the 16 City libraries - a fantastic outlet for

the book that also gives the library services an opportunity

to introduce new parents to the many services offered

for toddlers at the libraries. Plus our partners Nottingham

Community Transport, who operate Ellie on our behalf,

handed out little cards to collect a free Ellie book from the

library.

We’ve given out over 4,500 books to young future public

transport users and hope to sway their future travel choices to

a more environmental option of bus or tram.

We have just finished the next book in the series - Kevin the

kangaroo goes to the beach. This story is based in Clifton

where the new tram line will open soon. Our multi-operator

ticket – the Kangaroo - has come to life in the form of Kevin

the kangaroo.

Kevin and his class mates are going on a school trip to

Nottingham’s annual beach installation in the Market Square,

catching an electric bus, then hopping onto a tram. The book

explains how to ‘beep’ your pass before boarding the tram,

and how both the tram and bus run on electricity, a clean and

environmentally friendly energy.

For more information, or to download your own copy of the

books, visit www.nottinghamcity.gov.uk/ptbooks

Laraine Reckless

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Halton Borough Council Independent Travel Training

‘Train the Trainer’ course

Independent Travel Training is an in-depth process which

enables people, usually with additional needs, to be able to

travel independently, rather than relying on assisted transport

or support from another person. A range of topics are covered

with the service user to ensure that they have the correct

skills, knowledge and confidence to undertake journeys

themselves. In Halton we deliver training on walking, cycle,

bus and train journeys to ensure that our service users have

the greatest opportunities to achieve as much independence

as possible.

Independent Travel Training is an extremely worthwhile

project which has far reaching benefits for not only the

service users, but also their parents / carers, family and

friends, schools, colleges, employers, day centres, the wider

community and also for local authorities. The individual gains

positive outcomes from undertaking the training, which

they can then utilise as they continue to travel on their own.

Education, employment and social opportunities are easier

to access when an individual feels more confident and has

the ability to engage in those opportunities under their own

steam. Local authorities benefit financially from service users

no longer requiring assisted transport to attend schools,

colleges, employment or day centres. These financial benefits

can add up to significant year-on-year savings for authorities.

Halton Borough Council’s Independent Travel Training project

was set up in 2005. Since then in excess of 400 individuals

have accessed the service, with over 300 of those achieving

independent travel. This has led to over £2.2m of transport

costs being saved for the authority. Halton is only a small

borough, with about 126,000 residents, with only one

Independent Travel Trainer and the project delivered to 11-19

year olds; therefore larger authorities with more trainers and

delivering to a wider age range would see greater financial

savings.

At Halton, we are delivering an accredited training course to

equip people with the skills, knowledge and confidence to be

able to deliver Independent Travel Training to service users.

The accreditation is for a Level 2 certificate in an ‘Introduction

to Training for Travel Trainers’ and is awarded through

Open Awards. This training is aimed at anybody who may

deliver Independent Travel Training as part of their working /

volunteer or parental / carers role, such as- support staff, key

workers, parents, carers, local authority staff, and potential

Independent Travel Trainers.

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The ‘Train the Trainer’ course follows a structured plan which

equips delegates with the skills and knowledge they need

to start delivering Independent Travel Training. Courses

are delivered through two days of theory-based training

and then delegates are allocated a case study to return to

their workplace to complete. The two days theory training

covers all aspects of delivering Independent Travel Training,

including:

• Referrals

• Individual Assessments

• Home Visits

• Risk Assessments

• Journey Planning

• Delivery of Practical Training

• Monitoring Forms

• Shadowing

• Final Reports

• Road Safety

• Personal Safety

• Communication Skills

• Preparing for a Journey

• Planning a Journey

Delegates are given practical activities to carry out during

the two training room based days, providing an opportunity

to put some of the theory into practice. Those who have

attended previous courses have given great feedback about

the practical activities, as it gives a good, albeit brief, insight

into some of the work they will be expected to undertake

as an Independent Travel Trainer. Each delegate receives a

copy of the Halton Independent Travel Training Toolkit, which

gives advice and guidance regarding delivering Independent

Travel Training (Toolkits normally retail at £100). Delegates

also receive a copy of Halton’s Independent Travel Training

DVD, which demonstrates how our project is delivered, shows

case studies and has interviews with parents, school staff and

employers. Unlimited support is given to delegates when they

return to their workplace to complete their case studies. One

month is given to complete a case study of a trainee that has

been trained, is currently being trained or will be trained in

the future.

To date we have delivered this ‘Train the Trainer’ course to

staff in Halton Borough Council, St Helens, Southampton,

Liverpool, Cheshire West and Chester and Solihull Councils.

Courses are delivered either in Halton or Derek can travel to

your authority to deliver the training.

For more information please contact:

Derek DonoghueIndependent Travel Training Co-OrdinatorHalton Borough Councilitt@halton.gov.ukT: 0151 511 7568 M: 07769 927 815

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Traveline update

Traveline is changing. And changing fast. If you haven’t already seen our new look and feel, or tried our multi-modal GB wide journey planner, take a visit to traveline.info or download one of our Traveline GB apps.

Our core objective is to promote public transport passenger

growth and enable the delivery of high quality mobility

information across a mix of channels in a way that represents

best value to our stakeholders. We do this by listening to

our customers and stakeholders and continually improving

our services. We want to do more by offering free journey

planning tools to our stakeholders as we move into the second

half of 2015.

We already receive over a million journey plan requests per

month from our Traveline GB journey planning services and

provide over 4 million journey plan and timetable responses.

We provide information about next departures from all GB

stops via our NextBuses interface at a rate of 22 million

responses per month. We haven’t begun promoting our

services yet and we’re still growing. Customer demand is

certainly there.

In October 2014 we re-designed our Traveline GB website to

add a GB journey planner and move to a clean uncluttered

design. We added a GB journey planning app for iOS to our

services in January this year, and followed that closely with

one for Android in April. Next departures, including live data

from 42 Local Authority real time systems and our most

recent from First Manchester, and timetable look up for all

bus services in GB were added in July. This is a significant first.

And there is always room for improvement.

Our apps include the ability to track where you are en route

and to have audio stop announcements from your phone

either in journey or for the next buses at the stop you’re at.

Our Apple watch app went live in May.

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First Group is already using our journey planning interface

to help build its new website design, with its own search,

design and front end. We want to extend that and other, free,

services to third parties and our Local Authority and operator

stakeholders.

We’re a key provider of transport open data for the UK and

are listed in the National Information Infrastructure http://

data.gov.uk/library/odug-national-information-infrastructure-

nii . We provide a weekly updated national dataset of all

routes and times for registered services, and an interface

for developers to get the next bus and metro departures

from every stop in England, Scotland and Wales. We include

real time where it’s made available to us and blend it with

scheduled data so that every service at a stop is shown.

Our open data journey planner users include Google, First

Group, Moovit, and Rome2Rio. Many Local Authorities or

their agents use the data for accessibility planning and

other in-house research. We re-designed our data website at

travelinedata.org.uk in April this year to better cater for our

open data customers and allow a single point of access to

public transport open data.

We also answer telephone calls, providing journey planning

information on 0871 200 22 33. It’s our smallest channel with

an average of 3000 calls per day. It costs us more to provide

than every other part of our GB service added together, and

call revenues from using an 0871 number barely cover one

quarter of the call handling cost. It’s the service for which we

made our name. Which for many reasons that there isn’t room

to go into here may not always have been a good thing. But

we’re even changing that.

We recognise that some customers need to be able to call

us and we remain committed to providing our telephone

channel. So we’ll be moving to a single call centre for England

from 1st October 2015, which will improve the customer

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experience, reduce their call costs through shorter calls, and

save our stakeholders hundreds of thousands of pounds.

There will be no cost to Local Authorities for call handling,

unless they are a transport provider, or for invoicing operators

for call costs or debt collection.

Partnership working at a regional and a national level is one of

the building blocks to our success. Without Traveline regional

organisations, data supply, shared expertise and a passion for

what we’re doing we wouldn’t be able to provide the services

that we have.

We see these regional partnerships and joint working as a

fundamental part of the future provision of public transport

information in the UK and to the future of the Traveline GB

services as we further improve services to customers and

provide more cost savings to our Local Authority stakeholders.

There is still much to do. We can use disruption feeds in a Siri

SX format to integrate into our services. Some of our partners

such as Traveline South East and Anglia, and others, have

software that provide this data and we’re currently working

with them to have some sample data to develop against.

We also plan to link to Operator fares pages as a first step

towards telling our customers how much their journey might

cost.

We operate as a not for profit company and our Board of

Directors include representatives from ATCO, PTEG, Transport

Focus, The Confederation of Passenger Transport, National

Rail Enquiries, ALBUM, First Group, Stagecoach, Arriva, and Go

Ahead.

If you’d like any further information about any of our services,

are considering using the Traveline GB journey planner instead

of developing local solutions, would like to embed our free

journey planning tools in your own web services, want to be

kept up to date with what we’re doing, or have ideas and

suggestions about how we can improve what we do please

contact stakeholder@traveline.info.

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Challenges for Socially Necessary Bus Services Intensify Despite Falling Costs

Costs of replacing local bus contracts have fallen for the 6th consecutive year according to the results of the Association of Transport Co-Ordinating Officers (ATCO) 2014 Price Expenditure and Competition (PEC) Survey.

The seventeenth annual PEC survey, shows that the cost of replacing local bus contracts fell by an average of 2.9% in the past 12 months.

75 out of 130 Local Transport Authorities outside London responded to the survey which represents a 58% response rate from authorities covering 61% of the total population of England (outside London), Scotland and Wales. It gives a unique snapshot of transport spending by local authorities. This falls into three categories, contracts for socially necessary local bus services, education transport and special educational needs (SEN) transport. In more detail:

• Last year local authorities said that in order to maintain

existing levels of support for socially necessary local buses,

budgets would have to increase by an average of around

4.4% whereas in practice local authority budgets were

reduced by 2.9%;

• Some 36% of local authorities overall said they will cut

services by March 2015 in order to stay within budget (up

from 26% last year);

• 18% of authorities reported a decrease in the rate of

de-registrations compared with last year. The number

of authorities reporting an increase in the rate of de-

registrations was 20%. Overall, 62% of authorities

reported that the rate of de-registrations was about the

same as last year.

• The average rate of local bus service de-registrations since

1 April 2014 has increased marginally.

• The local authority spending cuts are offset in part by the

continuing falls in contract prices, but formerly commercial

services also meet social needs leading to pressures for

authorities to support replacement services which often

cannot be achieved;

• Costs of replacing school transport contracts fell by an

average of 3.1% in the past 12 months to September

2014, for the 8th consecutive year with local authorities

estimating that they would need a 2.1% budget growth to

retain existing school transport service levels;

• The cost of replacing SEN transport contracts fell, again

for the 8th consecutive year, by an average of 3.2% but

local authorities estimate that they will need 2.5% budget

growth next year to retain existing SEN transport service

levels

ATCO Performance Group Chair John Carr said: “At first glance these may appear to be good news. However, the reality is that continuing swingeing cuts in local authority funding decreed by the Government - apparently without detailed analysis of the impact on the public - mean that authorities just cannot afford to support all the services for which there are real social needs. A particular concern is that the cost of

concessionary travel largely determined by the Government itself continues to rise and must be paid as a first call on transport budgets. This leaves even less money to support bus services. As a result, many disabled and elderly people are perplexed that although the Government has said they can continue to enjoy free bus travel (except at morning peak time) they cannot actually do so because their bus services are disappearing!”

Chair of ATCO Bus Executive John Pope added: “The sting in the tail is that operators are really squeezing their margins to keep prices as low as possible year on year. We know that this has knock on effects such as keeping old vehicles for longer so the quality of service inevitably falls as well. As commercial bus services may be reduced too as operators face up to their own cost pressures, the travelling public are faced with a double whammy which neither authorities nor operators can avoid.”

ATCO has also published the results of the 2014 Benchmarking Survey which was carried out for the seventh consecutive year with 87 out of 130 authorities responding. Key indicators from the Survey include:

• Annual spend on local bus services per head of population

over the last 8 years has fallen only by 5.6% to £5.70,

although the peak was £6.74 in 2011;

• The cost of concessionary travel paid by local authorities

over the last 8 years (principally for pensioners) has

increased by 40% to £76.44 per qualifying person;

• Education and SEN transport costs per pupil were £807

and £4,366 respectively, around 24% and 18% higher than

in 2007.

Chair of the ATCO Education and Specialist Transport Executive Ian Gwenlan said “Although both authorities and their contractors have continued to devise innovative approaches to meeting requirements whilst controlling costs, inevitably we cannot continue to meet the same levels of service within ever reducing budgets.”

ATCO is repeating both the surveys in 2015. All local authorities have been strongly encouraged to participate to ensure that results are fully representative and robust. The closing date for the Benchmarking survey has been extended to the end of August recognising that more time is needed as many authorities have had to reduce staffing levels too. The highly respected Price, Expenditure and Competition Survey will be issued in September as usual.

For further information please contact:

Robin RileySecretary, ATCO Performance Group T: 0115 977 4520 E: survey@atco.org.uk

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‘Cuts on cuts – can we deliver safe, smart and sustainable transport?’

Peter Hardy reflects on this summer’s ATCO training event in Ipswich, which considered a wide range of subjects across all areas of passenger transport.

James Finch, portfolio holder at Suffolk County Council,

welcomed delegates to Ipswich. He reflected on the dilemma

of meeting the needs of rural communities across Suffolk,

whilst budgets were being squeezed. He highlighted his

authority’s Travel Transformation Programme that was

looking to do things differently – working with others, taking

integrated approaches, developing the devolution agenda and

reviewing current practices. He hoped that delegates would

enjoy the event, benefitting from sharing experiences.

SafeguardingNext, it was straight into the serious matter of safeguarding.

Martin Stringfellow and Niki Park of Norfolk County Council

explained the approach taken across the authority to highlight

that safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility. In particular, it

was felt that more needed to be done to inform and educate

transport operators.

The starting point for this was the provision of more

information and guidance, with specific leaflets and a film

being produced. All transport operators and their staff were

written to about their responsibilities. With raised awareness,

the County Council started to receive concerns and queries

from drivers and staff. This highlighted that key messages

were not being passed onto drivers by operators. As a

consequence, operators approached the County Council to

run sessions for their drivers.

In these sessions, drivers are told to report concerns about

individuals who:

• Regularly seem unfed or unkempt

• Are bruised or have injuries

• Talk about violence at home

• For their age act in appropriate ways

Staff and drivers are told that if a young person tells them

something in confidence:

• Never promise to keep a secret

• Listen, but don’t ask questions

• Tell them that you will have to tell someone

• Be friendly, but professional

• Take things seriously

• Report it to County Council staff immediately

Also, drivers are told never to:

• Share personal contact details with passengers

• Engage with them on social media

• Make unnecessary physical contact

• Buy gifts or sweets

• Take photographs of passengers

• Make detours from the route at the request of a passenger

• Use bad or inappropriate language

• Become involved in arguments

In terms of their conduct, drivers are reminded always to

remain professional and to keep appropriate boundaries,

and to be aware of how their actions might look to others.

And if an allegation is made about a driver, it will always be

investigated. This may mean that a driver is suspended from

contracts while the investigation takes place. Other agencies

may be involved. The outcome might be a warning, their

badge being withdrawn, criminal charges or no further action.

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The key message in the information sessions for drivers is that

they are important. By following guidelines, using common

sense and seeking advice when unsure about something, good

safeguarding will result and everyone will be protected.

Rail and Busways The next topic looked at the development of rail services in

Denver, the results of a study visit by Stephen Pauling, assisted

by ATCO’s Martin Robertson Bursary last year (and reported

previously in ATCO News).

Joseph Whelan then whisked us to Cambridge to report on

the busway, which parallels the A14 corridor between St Ives

and the city. In its 3rd year, patronage reached 3.5m, double

the level of usage in year 1. An analysis of users shows that

58% are female, 83% are of working age and 80% come from

car-owning households. 51% are from the £20-50k income

group. Journey purposes are 40% commuting, 20% education

and 19% shopping.

There is an exclusive agreement with 2 operators for use of

the busway. In return, operators agree to meet certain quality

and customer care standards. Features of the service are

free wifi on buses and at park and ride stations, smartcards, a

smartcard app, and 85% of the bus fleet uses biofuel.

There is a 25km continuous cycleway alongside the busway.

On the northern section, almost 1000 cyclists use it per day;

while the busier southern section sees some 1600 cyclists per

day.

Jonathan Denby of Abellio then looked at what the company

was doing in respect of its Greater Anglia franchise, which

covers 140 stations and involves 2700 employees. Particular

progress to note was:

• Upgrades to some stations, more ticket vending machines,

and introduction of free wifi at 120 stations

• Refurbishment of trains

• Cycle hire introduced at 14 stations, with a cycle point at

Chelmsford with spaces for 1000 cycles

• Improved bus links (Audley End – Bishops Stortford;

Halesworth – Southwold) with integrated ticketing

• Cab and Go taxi booking

• 90 stations have volunteer station adopters

The company has been working with others to push for

funding to upgrade the Great Eastern Main Line. A business

case has been established and following the establishment

of a taskforce by government, the Conservative Election

Manifesto made specific reference to the GEML upgrade

aspirations. The DfT has now included these aspirations into

the new franchise prospectus for 2016.

Following its recent award of the Scotrail franchise, Jonathan

briefly outlined some of the commitments Abellio had made,

in particular recognising the role in wider society that the

railway has:

• Development of Community Rail Partnerships and getting

more volunteers involved

• Adopt a station

• Station Regeneration Fund

• Engaging with schools

• Allowing staff to volunteer during work time to take part

in community projects

On the second day, there were 2 different thematic streams

– one looking at client transport and the other at local buses

and smartcards.

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Client transportThe client transport session opened with Chris Pettifer of

Bedford Borough Council talking about lessons learnt from

a tragedy involving the death of a 91 year old passenger,

following a fall from a vehicle tail-lift. The man was being

transported from a day centre on an in-house minibus with

an experienced driver and passenger assistant. He had been

using transport for 18 months, but had only just returned

from a period of not using transport for 6 weeks due to

being in hospital. In the afternoon, the man collapsed (as a

result of a stroke) while on the tail-lift and fell through the

gap between the vehicle and the handrail. He was taken to

hospital by ambulance and died 2 weeks later. There were

anecdotal reports that on the day of the incident the man had

had some dizzy bouts while at the centre.

Following the accident, there was an investigation by the

police and Health & Safety Executive (HSE), which looked at

various pieces of evidence: vehicle documentation, personnel

and training records, risk assessments, communications.

The findings from the investigation were that:

• The gap between vehicle and handrail presented a risk,

and an adaption to the door was needed to reduce the gap

• An additional risk assessment for the needs of the user

should have been undertaken following the return from

hospital and before using the transport again

• All internal communications need to be documented

HSE requirements are that the following need to be

demonstrated for all transport:

Vehicle Driver User Route Communication

Standard documents;

Tail-lift testing;

Defect testing;

Risk assessment;

Equipment testing

Standard documents;

Qualifications;

Personnel records;

Training records

Assessment of needs;

Risk assessment of current needs

Appropriate;

Assessed for vehicle

Clear;

Secure;

Real time (i.e. what has happened in the day centre that day)

Having received the findings, the Council was confident about

its own fleet. It is replacing its vehicles, has introduced risk

assessments for users following breaks in using transport

and is improving its real time communication reporting.

However, the question was: would all of the documentation

and processes have been demonstrated for an external

contractor? In response, the Council has taken the decision

that all ‘high dependency’ transport needs will be met using

in-house vehicles. This will ensure consistency and will involve

regular monitoring and review of needs and requirements.

Paul Meadows of Northamptonshire went on to describe the

progress being made there in terms of procurement and other

processes. Recent improvements include:

• Working with parent groups and the introduction of a

Transport Board

• Use of one page profiles for each user

• Use of transport social stories to help prepare children

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with autism for using transport

• Transport inductions at primary schools to assist with

transition

• All drivers and passenger assistants trained in challenging

behaviours

• Safeguarding and safer recruitment for operators

• Presentations on acceptable behaviour at new driver

training sessions held arranged by the licensing authority

In a total transport approach, the NHS has started to use the

County Council’s procurement frameworks and is achieving

savings.

The County Council is introducing GLIMPSE, a software system

supplied by ACL that will maintain all records electronically,

as well as looking after passenger and vehicle bookings. It will

enable electronic records of vehicle checks, track vehicles,

produce alerts when passengers are not picked up, contain all

routes and passenger data, handle all new transport requests,

allow better vehicle management and monitor driver habits.

Lynnette Marks of Dudley Council outlined the approach taken

to personal travel budgets (PTBs), which had been offered to

parents since last year. Of 800 pupils receiving transport (at a

cost of about £3m), there are currently 58 children on PTBs.

The system works as follows:

• Following initial contact with parents, a home visit is

arranged

• The visit enables an assessment to be undertaken of the

family’s situation and any barriers identified

• If the parents agree to a PTB, a budget is based on

distance between home and school (x2) at a mileage rate

(which is not a set rate) that is based on the child’s and

family’s needs

• The parent signs an agreement confirming that they

will transport their child safely and securely and that

attendance at school will be maintained

So far, no problems have been experienced and actual savings

of £95k have been achieved. One example where it has

worked well was where the authority used to arrange a taxi

to take the parent and child to school at a cost of £40 per day.

The parent found that she could arrange a taxi for £17 per

day, so went down the line of having a PTB in order to do this.

The important thing about introducing PTBs is having

opportunities to talk to parents. Therefore, in future, any

new pupil referrals will lead to an assessment of needs and a

meeting with parents to talk about PTBs (or Travel Support

Allowance, as they will be referred to in Dudley in future).

Chantal Chaervey (vice chair of the Suffolk Parent Carer

Network) gave a parent’s eye view of transport arrangements,

based around her experience of dealing with Suffolk County

Council regarding her son’s requirements. She talked of the

need for consistency of drivers and passenger assistants and

her offer to provide specific training to the staff in the needs

of her son that had been rejected. She felt that it was very

difficult to get to talk to the right people in the authority;

therefore, the Carer Network was seeking to work with the

County Council to improve the situation and create a more

comprehensive approach.

Ian Gwenlan of West Sussex County Council talked about

experiences of doing school transport reviews, some of which

had gone well and others that had not. He offered thoughts

on what made a review work well. Preparation was crucial,

ensuring that information about current arrangements is up

to date and correct and that all background information (e.g.

care plans) was included. Communication was important,

particularly with a need to talk as early as possible with

schools, parent groups, operators and in-house staff. Then

proper consultation should occur, where full details of the

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review are explained together with why it is being done.

Overall, key principles to adopt for any review are:

• Honesty

• Transparency

• Ask

• Listen

• Act

Bus services and smart ticketingChris Cheek of TAS gave some thoughts on the current

challenges for buses, which he considered were as follows:

• Debates around regulation and organisation (e.g.

devolution)

• How technological advances can be best harnessed

• Financial pressures from public spending cutbacks

• Customers’ expectations

On devolution, he considered that thinking was not joined-

up and that changes were being suggested as a knee-jerk

reaction to changing events and thinking. He saw that

there would be cross-boundary issues between areas

where franchising was introduced and those that continued

as present. He warned against change for its own sake,

suggesting that the devil would be in the detail.

Financial pressures were a real threat to bus networks, as

local authorities reduced their funding for supported services.

Furthermore, Chris reminded us that government still had to

conclude its review of BSOG: would we see the removal of

this, which would have a greater impact on rural services?

Chris considered that it was important to go back to basics

with transport policy, focusing on the customer. The bus

can support the economy, helping people access jobs. It can

support environmental aspirations and help achieve improved

air quality in cities, and it has a social role in facilitating access

to services, particularly for those with no access to a car. There

was opportunity for the bus to contribute more towards

society’s goals. However, the bus needs help in achieving

this – a key factor is the need to reduce journey times by bus.

Highway authorities and planners can play significant roles by

introducing progressive policies on bus priority, car parking

and parking charges and by ensuring that new developments

are easily accessible by buses.

Within this stream, there was an in-depth look at Norfolk’s

smart ticketing project (Norfolk Holdall). Research had been

undertaken before and after its introduction on park and

ride services. Passengers had welcomed the introduction of

smart ticketing and its ease of use. However, because the

Holdall was introduced at the same time as changes to the

fare structure, it was difficult to disentangle views on the two

issues.

Overall, it was seen as a good thing that fares were cheaper

using the Holdall than paying by cash, and passengers liked

not having to carry cash. Some considered that boarding

was quicker and generally the view was that it was seen as

‘modern’. On the downside, passengers were not able to top

up their cards at machines at park and ride sites, the readers

seemed to take time to read the cards, and people couldn’t

understand why cards couldn’t be used on other buses across

Norfolk. People wanted to see the system work like the

London Oyster, whereby the system deducts the appropriate

amount according to usage and times. Also, people wanted

to be able swap between different products and the ‘purse’

element.

SWSAL is the managed service provider for Norfolk’s

smartcards. Andrew Seedhouse of SWSAL outlined the various

services that it offers to its members, which currently include

19 local authorities, 15 bus operators and the Welsh Assembly

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Government. The organisation is free to join, providing access

to a number of call-off contracts for different services.

Integration and StrategyOn the final day, Peter Hardy of JMP Consultants outlined

the Total Transport initiative being funded by the DfT, and

detailed ATCO’s role in this.

Peter Walker of West Berkshire Council talked about its Total

Transport project, whereby it is taking a comprehensive look

at all transport resources. The project’s objectives are to:

•• Identify needs

•• Identify available resources

•• Assemble an asset database and undertake resource

mapping

•• Understand barriers and seek to overcome them

•• Use resources in a more co-ordinated way

•• Provide greater access

•• Share knowledge

As part of its project, it was keen to get the health sector on

board. This was also true in East Riding, and David Boden

outlined the similar Total Transport project there. Already, all

different types of services had been identified and mapped

– the aim was to achieve a one-stop shop for transport and

to unlock money in different budgets that might help fund

transport improvements.

Finally, Helen Morris of Essex County Council talked about the

development of its new Bus Strategy. In this are 8 areas of

action:

•• Partnership working with bus operators to achieve

commercial growth

•• Customer quality

•• Better, well used services

•• Support for valuable, but not commercial, services

•• Good customer information

•• Tailored solutions

•• Ticketing

•• Focused local planning

Peter HardyE: peter.hardy@jmp.co.uk M: 07977 268250

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Signing the contract ahead of the official launch of Transport Service Solutions: Managing Director Kevin Melling with Chair Rod Menlove, Portfolio Holder with Responsibility for Commissioning Cllr David Topping and Steph Cordon, Head of Communities at Cheshire East Council TSS Chair Gail Wait, supporting the recent ‘Catch the Bus Week’

Transport Service Solutions

A new way of delivering passenger transport in Cheshire East - and beyond

As Councils across the UK strive to continue to deliver the

best services possible against a backdrop of austerity, many

are adopting new ways of working. Cheshire East Council

is among a number who are redefining themselves as

commissioners of services, rather than direct providers - and

they have created a portfolio of new companies from some of

their existing departments. These new companies – or ASDVs

(Alternative Service Delivery Vehicles), as they are known - are

gathering momentum and gearing up to face the future.

Launched on 1 January 2015, Transport Service Solutions

is one of the Council’s newest companies. Built on the solid

foundations of the Council’s own Transport Service, the

company continues to manage the transport contract for

Cheshire East, while at the same time having more freedom

to grow its business by handling transport arrangements on

behalf of other organisations. To begin trading, the company

has received a management fee from the council along

with an initial 7 year contract to supply passenger transport

services. This takes into account a number of savings required

around efficiency, reconfiguration of services and new

company operating.

The shareholder structure is reflected in a 20% direct

ownership by Cheshire East Borough Council and an 80%

holding by Cheshire East Residents First, which is itself

a wholly owned Cheshire East Company. Cheshire East

Residents First also holds an 80% interest in other companies

set up by Cheshire East Council.

There is a positive feeling and ‘buzz’ among the staff;

everyone is encouraged to be entrepreneurial and think more

commercially, sharing ideas that may potentially flourish as

income streams and actively contributing to the business

planning process. A staff newsletter keeps all 73 staff

informed of business developments, personal achievements

and includes some light-hearted articles too. To make TSS

fit for purpose, the company recently restructured, filling a

number of long term vacant posts to broaden the company’s

skill base and increase capacity to take on new business. New

recruits with external business experience have joined the

team to complement those with public sector backgrounds

and contribute towards taking forward a dynamic, new,

commercial company culture, building in resilience and scope

for career progression. TSS has relocated to a new office

space within the Municipal Buildings in Crewe and is enjoying

its new operating environment.

The company, a united team of experienced transport

professionals, is committed to developing a business-like

approach to provide tailored solutions. Offering instant access

to a broad market place of transport operators and providers,

TSS can ensure that procured services give value for money.

Contract management and monitoring services will ensure

compliance in areas such as health and safety, driver vetting

and reliability and the company is able to offer marketing

support as part of a customised package, which is also being

offered to commercial bus operators.

Company performance will be measured against KPIs set by

the Council. Work is proceeding apace to establish meaningful

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School’s Out - some of the School Crossing Patrol Team, pictured after one of their regular meetings

TSS General Manager Glen Bubb and former TSS Chair Rod Menlove with Stephen Bryce, General Manager at GHA Coaches at the launch of GHA’s new ‘Gold’ brand service at Tatton Park

internal performance measures and targets to allow

monitoring of progress, ensuring that the company meets

and contributes to agreed objectives. These KPIs must also

challenge the company to improve. Work is also in progress to

improve monitoring processes and identify and address risk.

Transport Service Solutions’ Board, comprising Senior

Managers and Directors, meets regularly to hone company

plans and ambitions, moving forward steadily to maximise

new, profitable, business opportunities. The company also has

greater freedoms around procurement and, whilst remaining

EU compliant, is no longer required to adhere to Council

procurement regulations, having developed new company

specific policies, agreed by the TSS Board.

The company shares Managing Director Kevin Melling

with two other new Council-owned companies - ANSA,

which manages waste disposal and Orbitas, Cheshire East’s

bereavement services company. The group of companies

share skills, resources and best practice. There are informal

sharing arrangements, as well as more formal arrangements,

such as HR, which is bought back from ANSA.

Said Gail Wait, recently appointed Chair, “The future is very

exciting. We see a real need for our expertise and there are

lots of opportunities for clients to benefit from the tailor-

made services we can provide. Throughout the transition

from council service to fully-fledged company, our priority

focus was to ensure the continued transport provision for our

thousands of customers travelling on school, local and flexible

transport services and it is a credit to all in TSS for making the

transition successfully and seamlessly. Going forward, we are

very customer focussed and committed to delivering high

quality services that meet our customers’ needs. As a council

service we achieved a lot and managed to deliver significant

savings. As a company, we are able to move forward with

confidence and resilience.”

TSS currently manages the provision of home to school

transport for over 4,500 children, the issue of more than

66,000 concessionary travel passes per year, maintains 1,483

bus stops and shelters across Cheshire East, updates 1,170 bus

timetable displays and manages over 600 transport contracts

annually to help people connect with work and education. It

also manages a team of School Crossing Patrol staff across the

borough.

The company is also working closely with operators to

promote bus services, investing in routes to reduce subsidy.

Following the successful development and launch of GHA

Coaches’ new ‘Gold’ brand commuter service, TSS used its

design and marketing expertise to rebrand Congleton’s

‘Beartown’ service with a friendly ‘furry’ livery, introducing

a new ‘Bear Hug’ group saver ticket and travel incentives.

Entering into the spirit of the launch, Finance Manager Mike

Wall donned a bear costume and entertained guests before

boarding the bus for the promotional photoshoot. The ‘Gold’

brand is being rolled out to other routes. So far both services

are showing an upsurge in passenger numbers and further

promotion is planned to encourage more bus travel.

TSS also has a small in-house fleet, used mainly for SEN

transport. A review of the viability of the fleet has been

undertaken and there are plans to extend operations as

opportunities appear.

Glen Bubb, General Manager, explained “We have always been

very careful to nurture good customer relationships with our

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Launch guests make themselves comfortable on board the ‘Beartown Bus’

The launch of GHA’s new ‘Beartown Buses’ – with Glen Bubb, Mike Wall/Bear, Finance Manager, Managing Director Kevin Melling and TSS representatives Sue Benson (marketing), Sarah Tunstall Business and Projects Manager and Clair Kiffin, Transport Coordinator

suppliers and operators and be as cooperative as possible.

We appreciate that our partners contribute greatly to our

success and we are keen to give local operators and suppliers

every opportunity to work with us for mutual benefit. We

also live by our values, which include putting customers at

the centre of everything we do, taking pride in our work,

valuing our employees and being open and honest, as well

as flexible and innovative. We are currently looking at a wide

variety of business opportunities, at the same time striving

to drive down costs by reviewing and re-engineering delivery

processes to provide even greater efficiency. Customer

satisfaction is paramount and the positive relationships we

already enjoy will play a big part in helping TSS become a

sustainable and profitable business.”

From September, TSS will be working with a large local school

to provide a total transport solution for its students, plugging

gaps in provision. This includes travel for non-entitled

students as well as those receiving support, introducing

improved payment methods and ticketing arrangements and

providing information booklets for parents. To streamline

operations, TSS will be working with one operator to provide

all home to school transport for the school.

Cheshire East Council has been successful in securing one of

the largest allocations of Total Transport Pilot funding and

TSS are looking forward to acting as a lead contractor on this

bid, working with the Council’s commissioners to review rural

transport provision and develop new and innovative ways to

deliver transport in rural areas.

Further opportunities are being explored with schools,

colleges and health sector departments to help more people

access activities and amenities. The future looks busy, but

Transport Service Solutions is ready for it.

To find out more about what we do or how we can work with

you, please contact:

Sarah TunstallBusiness and Projects Manager on 01270 371480 or Glen Bubb, General Manager on 01270 371487

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Editor’s note

In these times of budget cuts and associated pressures and issues, it has been encouraging to see the enthusiasm, interest and energy generated by the Total Transport initiative.

For over 30 years, transport integration has been promoted

as the obvious thing to do. There is little doubt that it makes

sense, offering opportunities to provide more or better

services for less. However, achieving such integration has

proved more difficult due to various organisational and

operational barriers. Achieving effective and efficient

solutions often comes down to relationships and

communication. Good partnerships between organisations

are crucial to achieving integrated approaches. And

partnerships are only ever as good as the representatives who

come around the table to consider a joint approach and their

willingness to maintain their interest.

It’s good that the DfT has put £7.6m into encouraging a

‘Total Transport’ approach; hopefully the initiative will help

overcome some of those barriers. ATCO has offered to co-

ordinate activity and networking around the Total Transport

programme on behalf of the DfT. As such, I have been leading

this for ATCO. Over the summer, 5 regional Total Transport

groups have been established to cover the whole of England,

and these have started meeting to share knowledge and

encourage joint working on certain elements. A national

forum has also been established, comprising national

stakeholders, regional representatives and representatives of

a number of the larger ‘Total Transport’ pilot projects.

I recently attended a meeting of the ATCO Northern Total

Transport Group, which was attended, either personally

or by teleconference, by virtually all Total Transport pilot

authorities across the north of England. There were some

very useful discussions on engagement with the health sector,

joint working on the development of software systems, and

the planning of a regional seminar to further promote joint

working and understanding between transport and health

sectors. Whilst Total Transport marks a positive step for ATCO,

so too has been the establishment of an ATCO community of

interest around the theme of independent travel training. A

recent gathering in London saw 40 people attend, all keen to

share experiences and ideas.

It is really good to see ATCO at work in these new ways.

Networking and sharing is what ATCO is all about. It is what

provides real benefits to members and their authorities. So, I

would encourage you to get involved and to be active within

and for ATCO in whatever ways you can.

Peter HardyEditor, ATCO NewsE: peter.hardy@jmp.co.uk M: 07977 268250

New Atco MembersLynne Penn Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead

Phillip Milward Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead

Jason Salter Wiltshire County Council

Carin McCullagh Ecebs

Keith McNally CPT

Stephen Ashley Matrix-SPS Ltd

Nick Phillips Borough of Poole Council

Jacqui Elliott Kent County Council

Barry Richards Bath & North East Somerset Council

Martin Ware Bath & North East Somerset Council

Nick Doolan Central Bedfordshire Council

Dave Streeton Central Bedfordshire Council

Alan Barrett Gloucestershire County Council

Chris Hegarty Nottingham City Council

Jan Chisholm Northumberland County Council

Kirsten Francis Northumberland County Council

Terry Cheeseman Lincolnshire County Council

Lynn Wade Lincolnshire County Council

Helen Reek North Lincolnshire Council

Philip Smith Derbyshire County Council A

TCO

New

s Su

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Trueform Engineering Ltd ı 12 Pasadena Close ı Hayes ı Middlesex UB3 3NQ

T: 020 8561 4959 ı F: 020 8848 1397 ı sales@trueform.co.uk ı www.trueform.co.uk

Since establishment in 1977 we have been at the forefront of innovation,

design, engineering and service, offering a ‘One-Stop- Shop’ for the

supply, installation and maintenance of all forms of intelligent passenger

transport hardware, transport information and communication

technologies.

Trueform have a proven track record in the provision of ‘integrated’ and ‘coordinated’

hardware & advanced technology solutions for public transportation that attract travellers

and reduced congestion by successfully transforming the ‘waiting experience’.

Trueform’s Hardware solutions include transit stops, shelters, interchanges, mobility hubs

stations, canopies, advanced RTI displays, interactive journey planning kiosks, wayfinding

systems, CCTV security and solar energy systems.

INTELLIGENT TRANSPORT SYSTEMS

BUS STOPS & BUS SHELTERS

CANOPIES & WALKWAYS

WAYFINDING SIGNAGE & RTI DISPLAYS

www.trueform.co.uk

INTERCHANGES & STATIONS

Bus Stops Bus Shelters RTI Displays Canopies & Walkways

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Trueform Engineering Ltd ı 12 Pasadena Close ı Hayes ı Middlesex UB3 3NQ

T: 020 8561 4959 ı F: 020 8848 1397 ı sales@trueform.co.uk ı www.trueform.co.uk

Since establishment in 1977 we have been at the forefront of innovation,

design, engineering and service, offering a ‘One-Stop- Shop’ for the

supply, installation and maintenance of all forms of intelligent passenger

transport hardware, transport information and communication

technologies.

Trueform have a proven track record in the provision of ‘integrated’ and ‘coordinated’

hardware & advanced technology solutions for public transportation that attract travellers

and reduced congestion by successfully transforming the ‘waiting experience’.

Trueform’s Hardware solutions include transit stops, shelters, interchanges, mobility hubs

stations, canopies, advanced RTI displays, interactive journey planning kiosks, wayfinding

systems, CCTV security and solar energy systems.

INTELLIGENT TRANSPORT SYSTEMS

BUS STOPS & BUS SHELTERS

CANOPIES & WALKWAYS

WAYFINDING SIGNAGE & RTI DISPLAYS

www.trueform.co.uk

INTERCHANGES & STATIONS

Bus Stops Bus Shelters RTI Displays Canopies & Walkways

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Ferrograph ı 1 New York Way ı Newcastle upon Tyne ı NE27 0QF

T: 0191 280 8800 ı F: 0191 280 8810 ı info@ferrograph.co.uk ı www.ferrograph.com

Ferrograph is a world leading public information display brand.

30 years of experience has positioned Ferrograph as the authority in the design and

manufacture of rugged electronic displays for airports, bus stops / interchanges, rail stations

and platforms and underground / subway stations. Ferrograph offer the latest visual display

technology including LED, LCD and TFT.

ELECTRONIC REAL TIME INFORMATION DISPLAYS AND KIOSKS

RUGGED ELECTRONIC DISPLAYS

INTERACTIVE TFT TOUCHSCREEN KIOSKS

ELECTRONIC INFORMATION TOTEMS

ı

Ferrograph is a world leading public information display brand.

30 years of experience has positioned Ferrograph as the authority in the design

and manufacture of rugged electronic displays for airports, bus stops /

interchanges, rail stations and platforms and underground / subway stations.

Ferrograph offer the latest visual display technology including LED, LCD and TFT.

ELECTRONIC REAL TIME INFORMATION DISPLAYS

TOUCH SCREENS

ELECTRONIC DISPLAYS

ıFerrograph ı 1 New York Way ı Newcastle upon Tyne ı NE27 0QF

T: 0191 280 8800 F: 0191 280 8810 info@ferrograph.com ı www.ferrograph.com ı

INTERACTIVE KIOSKS

AND KIOSKS

Electronic Information Totems Rugged LED Displays Rugged TFT Displays RTI Displays