Agenda item

1.       October bus changes

2.       Progressing Enhanced Partnership

3.       Franchising: Case for Change     

i.              October Bus Changes

The Corporate Director of Public Transport presented a report on the recent changes to the Bus Network.

The Department for Transport (DfT) had announced an unexpected extension to the Bus Recovery Grant (BRG) for another 6 months from the end of September. While most operators planned to accept this additional support, First had made the decision not to accept further BRG funding. Following discussions with DfT, it had been confirmed that the MCA would receive First’s allocation of around £1.1m per quarter to protect services. However, there would still be a significant shortfall which would be subsidised from MCA reserves which would not be sustainable longer term. It was also noted that it had not been possible to protect all services as a number of tenders had not received any bids due to a shortage of bus drivers.

The Executive Director of Infrastructure & Place stated that the delays experienced in providing timetable information at bus stops were regrettable. The short notice of the Government’s extension had impacted on changes to services. This had in turn highlighted issues with the MCA’s legacy systems used to translate timetable data into public information and which were no longer fit for purpose. Options for upgrading systems were under review.

The Corporate Director of Public Transport informed that Board that the MCA had been working with the West Yorkshire Combined Authority to learn about their bus driver training scheme and explore similar ideas for South Yorkshire.

RESOLVED that the Board:

1.   Note the use of up to £7.2m of reserves for supporting bus services to the end of July 2023;

2.   Note that non-statutory school services have been successfully protected for a period of two academic years by drawing on the MCA’s financial reserves;

3.   Note that continued BRG funding will be available to part protect the network for a period of up to six months.

ii.                     Progressing Enhanced Partnership

The Executive Director of Infrastructure & Place introduced the update on the Enhanced Partnership (EP).

The EP had been set up in April 2022 and built around a significant bid for Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP) funding which had proved unsuccessful.

The original EP/BSIP would bring some beneficial improvements for passengers.  The EP had agreed to limit service changes to twice a year and price increases to once per year.  

Within the next year the EP was planning to:

·    Order the first zero-emission buses for South Yorkshire;

·    Rollout real time information screens at bus stops;

·    Consolidate data available across multiple platforms and launch a single source of information for buses in South Yorkshire;

·    Expand SMART ticketing and simplify fares.

It was now time to look at what more could be done in the absence of Government funding. Passengers should not have to wait until franchising or other longer term measures became possible. Discussions had been progressing with operators on options for low-cost enhancements in the customer offer during 2023. The next EP Board would be taking a report on the outcome of this work.

RESOLVED that the Board note the update on the progress of the Enhanced Partnership.

iii.                    Franchising: Case for Change

The Director of Public Transport Development provided an update on the progress with the assessment of a bus franchising scheme.

 As part of the pre-assessment phase a Case for Change had been developed to justify why the MCA was exploring alternative models to deliver local bus services. The objectives had been set out for the business case work and the options to be appraised had also been outlined. The Board’s comments were invited.

Members supported the analysis that had been done to date, while raising the challenge of encouraging bus use when the network was unreliable.

RESOLVED that the Board:

1.    Note the progress made by SYMCA to date against the process set out in DfT’s franchising guidelines set out in DfT’s Bus Services Act 2017, Franchising Scheme Guidance.

2.    Endorse the case for change.

The Corporate Director of Public Transport introduced a discussion on the £2 single fare cap.

The MCA Board had approved several measures to address cost-of-living crisis, one of which was the implementation of the £2 single fare cap from November, ahead of the nationwide introduction in January. The MCA had also extended the scheme to cover tram journeys. It was noted that there was a risk that operators may choose not to participate in the national scheme.

The Executive Director of Infrastructure & Place added that a working group of the MCA and operators had been established to ensure the benefits were marketed effectively and patronage maximised.