Agenda and minutes

The Chair welcomed all to the meeting and apologies were noted as above.

An update on the Action Log was provided, relating to Minute No. 90.

The paper circulation deadline was proposed to be reduced to 5 clear working days, until such a time as the Terms of Reference could be amended. This would ensure that information circulated was as up to date as possible for future meetings.

It was noted that the Board’s Terms of Reference stated that papers should be circulated to Members 14 calendar days before the meeting, and as such this amendment would require agreement from the Board. It was further noted, in the absence of the Executive Director of Transport, that she had confirmed she was content to proceed on this basis.

RESOLVED that:

1.    The minutes of the meeting held on 20^th February 2024 were agreed to be a true and accurate record.

2.    The Board approve the change of paper circulation deadline from 14 calendar days to 5 clear working days before the meeting, until such a time as the Terms of Reference could be amended.

The Director of Strategic Transport presented an item on the refresh of the Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP).

In January, the Department for Transport (DfT) had instructed all Local Transport Authorities (LTA) to complete an update of their BSIP to be received by 12^th June. The release of £7.82m funding for 2024/25 was dependent on the submission of the refreshed BSIP and a completed Bus Connectivity Assessment to DfT.

Originally the funding was also dependant on the publication of an updated BSIP document on the SYMCA website. A General Election had since been called and a pre-election period had begun, meaning that LTAs could choose not to publish anything until after the election on 4 July 2024. Discussions with DfT were ongoing as to whether deferring publication would cause the release of funding to be delayed.

DfT had provided LTAs with a minimum viable product (MVP) of content for BSIP submissions in response to feedback on the feasibility of producing a document aligned to guidance in the limited time available. It was intended to produce the best BSIP possible, not only to meet the requirements set out in the MVP, but also providing additional contextual information in terms of the opportunities in South Yorkshire, plans for the future and the vision of how bus services could play a role in transformational growth, improving health and reducing social exclusion. It was noted that due to the tight timescales, there would be a short time for operators to provide feedback.

The BSIP would also be considered at the MCA Board on 4^th June where delegated authority would be sought to agree the final 2024 BSIP refresh submission.

RESOLVED that the update on the Bus Service Improvement Plan be noted.

The First Representative updated the Board on the latest performance in South Yorkshire. It was noted that:

• Reliability was at 99.04%;
• Journey start punctuality was at 91.60%, and timing point punctuality was at 83.70%;
• Vehicle capture rate was at 87.30%.

Following a substantial restructure of the engineering department at the Olive Grove depot, reliability and punctuality were improving. An issue with tracking data, had affected Sheffield services during the period but had now been resolved. It was hoped that this would further improve in the next quarter when auto-cancellations were planned to be introduced to ensure real time cancellations when vehicles do not operate.

She advised that during the period a number of service changes were implemented that saw service restored to a number of areas that were previously unserved. As part of the process, a public consultation and feedback exercise was held as well as community events, all of which seemed to be well received.

ACTION: The First Representative to use proxies to estimate the number of passengers using First services, how many trips they are making to extrapolate how people are using bus services.

The Stagecoach Representative presented a performance update, noting that:

• Reliability was at 98.9%;
• Journey start punctuality was at 90.3%, with overall punctuality at 83.2%;
• Vehicle tracking was at 96.3%.

He added that the changes made to timetables in April had shown improvements. There had been an issue with vehicle tracking over the previous weeks due to a server outage, which was still causing some lingering glitches. Stagecoach had seen 8.7% growth in patronage in children and young people during the period.

7 electric vehicles had been launched the previous month with another 16 to be deployed by the end of June. The daytime frequency of the 221 service from Rotherham to Doncaster had been increased to every 20 minutes. The open top Peak Sightseer service had also been reintroduced for the season and expanded for 2024.

The TM Travel Representative informed the Board that good progress had been made with driver recruitment.

The Mayor explained his dissatisfaction with the levels of service cancellations taking place with TM Travel contracted services, with some periods seeing over 10% of all mileage not operating. He explained that a contractual warning letter had been issued to TM Travel and that he expected a significant improvement in service delivery to take place.

The TM Travel Representative reassured Members that he was working with the MCA to resolve the ongoing reliability issues.

RESOLVED that the Board agree not to publish operator slides due to the commercially sensitive nature of their contents.

The Director of Public Transport Operations reminded operators of the requirements on audio visual legislation for all buses to be compliant by 1^st October 2026.