Agenda item

An Enhanced Partnership Programme Delivery Update was presented. It noted that a lack of Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP) funding had prevented greater success of the Enhanced Partnership.

The Report proposed:

• That some better-defined priorities for the Enhanced Partnership be implemented, and that these be based on the most important issues to passengers, including the coverage of the network, punctuality, and a lack of real time information systems,
• That the proportion of buses which are live tracked by operator be a regularly reviewed performance indicator,
• That the Bus Promise be published and used as a method of monitoring the Enhanced Partnership Scheme,
• That marketing around the Enhanced Partnership’s achievements be increased and that greater data and information be shared between members,

It was noted that a revised Enhanced Partnership Scheme is not likely to be available for consideration until May or June 2024.

Members welcomed the report and expressed their commitment to working collaboratively towards its recommendations.

Operators requested that feedback from the Mayor’s public bus meetings be shared so that the issues raised can be addressed. The Mayor highlighted the needs of local employers, alignment of bus and tram times at Middlewood, and issues at hospitals as some of the biggest concerns raised.

ACTION: Marketing & Communications Officer, Project Director Bus Partnerships, operators - In advance of the February meeting, feedback from public bus meetings to be compiled with updates on which issues have been addressed.

A discussion was had on the use of available EP marketing funding. Awareness of the £2 fare cap, rolling out use of City Mapper and a need for greater analytics capability at the MCA were all highlighted as possible uses.

Graham Vidler noted ongoing research which had identified a 7-8% increase in bus journeys as a result of the £2 fare cap nationally. ACTION: Graham Vidler to circulate research when published.

It was noted that the MCA would receive £7.82m in the next financial year following Network North announcements, but that beyond this there was no certainty in long term government funding.

ACTION: Director of Public Transport Operations to invite Operators to internal working group on the roll out of CityMapper, and to provide an update to members before the February meeting.

RESOLVED: That the Board:

1.    Notes the progress and outstanding issues across the Board’s project deliverables and targets, as set out in the report.

2.    Agrees that the Project Director (Bus Partnerships) completes the review of the current EP Scheme, in consultation with the EP Forum, Local Authorities, Bus Operators and SYMCA, with the aim of bringing final recommendations to the EP Board in May or June 2024. The aim will be to refresh the current scope and ways of working with a renewed focus on addressing passenger priorities

3.    Approves and publishes the South Yorkshire Bus Promise (Appendix 4) and uses a consideration of how it is to be delivered, alongside addressing ongoing real time customer intelligence, as one of the starting points for the refreshed focus and work programme of the Board. As part of that work the Board agrees that:

3.1   Partners share insights into the issues that are raised through passenger feedback and complaints. This information is used to develop a prioritised list of passenger priorities for improvement, as a direct input into the EP Scheme review, and as a basis for reporting progress to the EP Board in the future.

3.2 SYMCA, operators and councils work to promote CityMapper as a mechanism for better understanding passenger demand; and use this data in the ongoing planning of the network and trialling of new service proposals.

3.3 All future performance reporting to the EP Board includes reporting of vehicle tracking performance.

Requests the Project Director (Bus Partnerships) to develop and consult with partners on a revised overarching ‘back to bus’ marketing plan that draws from the recently commissioned customer insight work (set out in paragraph 3.6), for consideration at a future meeting.