Passenger Transport: February 25, 2022

FO EV RT ER NI Y GH T

ISSUE 259 25 FEBRUARY 2022

NEWS, VIEWS AND ANALYSIS FOR A SECTOR ON THE MOVE

‘Unless they act at once Public transport UK cities is the damage will be done’ inmost expensive NEWS

On March 1 bus operators in England will notify traffic commissioners of extensive cuts to services - unless the Treasury extends emergency funding The Treasury is being urged to extend emergency funding to support local bus services in England to allow more time for passenger numbers to recover.

Bus operators say they could be forced to axe up to 30% of their services if emergency revenue support ends on April 5 because they are only carrying 70% of pre-Covid patronage. The deadline for notifying traffic commissioners of these cuts so that they can be implemented from that date is March 1.

Bus operators, metro mayors and other stakeholders have warned the government that such a large and unprecedented loss of

vital sustainable transport links will undermine its ambitions on net zero and levelling up.

A statement by seven of England’s nine metro mayors, led

by South Yorkshire mayor Dan Jarvis, said: “We are at a critical tipping- point: unless they act at once, the damage will be done.

The failure to extend support appears to be based on wishful thinking that the impact of Covid

“This is strategic short-sightedness of the worst kind”

Metro Mayors’ statement

is in the past... We should be maximising the chances of a full recovery in passenger numbers.

Instead the government is standing by as fares are sharply increased and services are slashed - virtually guaranteeing that full recovery will not happen.

The statement continued: “If we want to realise the potential of our buses, this is strategic short-sightedness of the worst kind. It is wildly incompatible with the National Bus Strategy’s stated aim to get patronage ‘back to its pre-Covid level, and then to exceed it’ - an aim we fully support.”

MORE ON PAGES 4, 16-17

08

‘Wake-up call for the UK government’

ENVIRONMENT

New model for UK’s biggest e-bus deal

12

National Express partners with Zenobe

COMMENT

Bus cuts close doors onto the world

16

Jonathan Bray on the impact of bus cuts

COMMENT

Rural transport is vital to city centres

18

Beate Kubitz on linked destinies

CAREERS

Arriva shuffles UK bus team HOUSEWARMING GIFT An innovative transport scheme between Persimmon Homes and Stagecoach West Scotland will see free bus passes issued to the first 65 home buyers at a housing development in Monkton, Ayrshire

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27

Further contraction of senior team

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23/02/2022 17:59

CONTENTS

PASSENGER TRANSPORT PO Box 5496, Westbury BA13 9BX 020 3950 8000 editorial@passengertransport.co.uk

We must avoid IN THIS ISSUE a great leap 20 backward for buses

HAS MORALE FINALLY HIT ROCK BOTTOM?

It would be understandable if the prime minister’s attention was focused elsewhere at the moment, but perhaps someone will alert him to the fact that buses in England have reached crossroads. Unless the Treasury extends emergency Robert Jack funding beyond April 5, up to 30% of services Managing Editor could very soon disappear. Boris Johnson famously professes to love buses and last year he published the first ever National Bus Strategy. Buses have meanwhile been recognised as vital to his government’s plans to decarbonise transport and reinvigorate left-behind communities. So it would be ironic if his tenure saw a great leap backward for buses.

Government funding kept the show on the road during Covid, when the strong ‘avoid public transport’ message and successive lockdowns saw passenger numbers plummet. Now that the final Covid restrictions are being lifted in England the Treasury is keen to stop making payments to bus operators, but it will cause huge damage to return revenue support to pre-Covid levels before patronage has had a chance to recover. No-one expects it to reach pre-Covid levels any time soon, but it will rise beyond current levels as people begin to return to work and resume leisure activities.

Withdrawing support and effectively forcing operators to match their networks to current levels of demand risks stifling that recovery.

If the government truly loves buses, now is the time to show it.

HAVE YOUR SAY Contact us with your news, views and opinion at: editorial@passengertransport.co.uk PASSENGER TRANSPORT editorial@passengertransport.co.uk forename.surname@ passengertransport.co.uk Telephone: 020 3950 8000 Managing Editor & Publisher Robert Jack Deputy Editor Andrew Garnett Contributing Writer Rhodri Clark Directors Chris Cheek, Andrew Garnett, Robert Jack, George Muir, John Nelson OFFICE CONTACT DETAILS Passenger Transport Publishing Ltd PO Box 5496, Westbury BA13 9BX, UNITED KINGDOM Telephone (all enquiries):

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address. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in whole or in part without the publisher’s written permission.

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“It’s been an oft-said phrase in public transport over the years, but I fear we may have reached a nadir,” writes Alex Warner. He says the public transport sector must respond to the growing issue of poor morale amongst frontline staff.

ORGANISATION

PAGE

Alexander Dennis 12 Arriva 27 BYD 12 Bus Users UK 7 Campaign for Better Transport 8 Chiltern Railways 13 CPT 11 Glasgow Subway 10 Great Western Railway 13 Littlepay 15 McGill’s 10 National Express 12, 28 Network Rail 6, 26, 28 Office of Rail & Road 6 Oxford Bus Company 11 Passenger 15 Porterbrook 13 RAIB 6 Reading Buses 11 South Western Railway 6 ScotRail 7 SPT 10 Stagecoach 4, 26 Stagecoach Manchester 11 Stagecoach South 11 Stagecoach West Scotland 1, 11 Stagecoach Yorkshire 26 Ticketer 15 Transport for London 5 Transport for Wales 9 Transport for West Midlands 7 TSSA 6 Tyne and Wear Metro 7 Urban Transport Group 4 Vivarail 13 West Midlands Metro 7 Wrightbus 11 Zenobe 12

15

PARTNERS OFFER PAYMENT INFORMATION

22

ARE ELECTRIC CARS THE WAY FORWARD?

25

WHO’D WANT TO BE TRANSPORT SECRETARY?

Passenger and Littlepay have announced a nationwide partnership which will give public transport users total transparency about the fares they pay using contactless bank cards and contactless-enabled devices, and a clear view of fare capping benefits.

Government advice advocates the mass adoption of electric vehicles but skims over some of the potential problems, writes Nick Richardson.

“Putting it bluntly, EVs are for the wealthy, but represent a significant threat to passenger transport,” he says.

Our Whitehall insider imagines what’s going on inside the minds of the mandarins at Great Minster House, home of the Department for Transport.

“Right now I would imagine he [Grant Shapps] just can’t wait for the next full scale reshuffle,” they say.

REGULARS NEWS ENVIRONMENT INNOVATION & TECH COMMENT GRUMBLES CAREERS DIVERSIONS

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NEWS ROUND-UP

Bus operators hit back at mayoral criticism Stagecoach boss rejects suggestions operators share blame FUNDING

Bus operators have hit back at a statement made by seven of England’s nine ‘metro mayors’ which claimed they shared the blame for looming cuts and fare rises as the government prepares to turns off the industry’s Covid funding support.

In the statement led by South Yorkshire mayor Dan Jarvis, the mayors, with the notable exception of Andy Street from the West Midlands and Tees Valley mayor Ben Houchen, expressed “profound concern” over the government’s seeming unwillingness to extend financial support for bus services. They added that the government had “dithered on extending Covid support for months”.

“Our buses are under exceptional pressure, with passenger numbers

outside London still around 25% down on pre-Covid levels,” they said. “But operators are rushing to make cuts and raise fares even before the prospects for recovery are clear. That is unacceptable. We need them to give something back after the support they have had during lockdown, and be genuine partners for the long-term health of the service.

“We are at a critical tippingpoint: unless they [the government] act at once, the damage will be done. The failure to extend support appears to be based on wishful thinking that the impact of Covid is in the past even as infection rates remain high and many people are working from home. We should be maximising the chances of a full recovery in passenger numbers. Instead the government is standing by as fares are sharply increased and services are slashed - virtually guaranteeing that full recovery will not happen.

“If we want to realise the

UTG report presses case for bus funding £450m to get patronage back to 95% of pre-Covid The number of bus passengers in city regions outside London could be up to 30% lower than before the pandemic if the government does not extend its financial support for the bus, according to a new report by the Urban Transport Group.

The report - Continuing Covid Funding Support for Urban Public Transport - warns

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that bus patronage in the metropolitan areas could stick at 70% of pre-Covid levels within a year of funding ending due to a combination of service reductions, higher fares and changing travel habits.

The report also projects that over a quarter (26%) of bus services could be lost without further funding. Operators

potential of our buses, this is strategic short-sightedness of the worst kind. It is wildly incompatible with the National Bus Strategy’s stated aim to get patronage ‘back to its pre-Covid level, and then to exceed it’ - an aim we fully support.”

The mayors concluded by asking for the government to work with them, as well as with other local leaders and bus operators, to develop a “thought-through plan that allows for managed changes to the system, protects its health for the long term, and avoids fuelling a vicious cycle of decline.”

The criticism brought a testy reponse from operators.

Stagecoach chief executive Martin Griffiths said the Perthbased group was “absolutely focused on the long term”.

“The future of our business and the jobs of the people we employ depends on securing a long term passenger base,” he

will be faced with a position where their revenues are below pre-pandemic levels and their operating costs are similar, if not greater, than they were pre-pandemic.

The report recommends further financial support for at least a year. It models two funding scenarios for city regions; £245m required to maintain bus patronage at 85% of pre-pandemic levels.

Alternatively, £450m would get patronage closer to pre-pandemic levels (95%).

said. “Achieving that objective is the responsibility of us all and it is influenced by the decisions of national government, regional authorities and transport providers.”

Griffiths added operators had been grateful for the financial support they had received over the last two years and this had ensured they had broken even.

He said more recently operators had taken greater financial risk on passenger volumes and these remain significantly below pre-Covid levels. “Government support, combined with the steps we have taken to protect jobs and services, has kept bus networks on life-support,” he added.

While he welcomed the support shown by mayors for a further funding deal for operators in England, he said it could not be ignored that the pandemic has accelerated long-term changes. “Even with any further government funding, bus networks across the country simply cannot return to their prepandemic form,” Griffiths added.

“We will continue to seek to maximise the scope of our bus networks, but they must also reflect changed travel patterns,” he said. “We must also plan for a scenario where the funding from government is insufficient to ensure a measured transition.”

Griffiths concluded by highlighting the public sector was not immune from funding challenges and pointed out Sheffield City Council has recently confirmed plans to reduce the authority’s workforce by more than 160 people and hike council tax in a bid to plug an inflation-related funding gap.

“It admits that this is only a short-term solution and going forward the council will need to take further action to plug the gap,” he added pointedly. www.passengertransport.co.uk

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“This is no way to run one of the largest and most successful public transport networks in the country”

‘Merry-go-round’ of TfL funding continues Business groups call for action as further interim deal agreed FUNDING

The saga of reaching a sustainable long-term funding agreement for Transport for London continues with the government confirming two further interim extensions that extend the existing emergency funding agreements until February 25.

Transport secretary Grant Shapps told the House of Commons this week that since the start of the pandemic, the government has supported TfL with funding amounting to £4.5bn. He added that he recognised the reliance of London’s transport network on fare revenue.

“We have recognised that demand and, therefore, passenger

LONDON BUS FARES RISE 6.5% Inflation-busting increase side effect of funding deal FARES

London mayor Sadiq Khan has confirmed that fares on Transport for London services will increase by 4.8% from March 1, but bus fares will be disproportionately affected with an even larger increase in ticket prices.

The fare rise is in line with conditions placed on continued short-term funding agreements by the government as a result of the Covid pandemic. The RPI+1% formula means that the increase in fares on TfL services will be higher www.passengertransport.co.uk

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revenue has been volatile, and have responded accordingly, compensating TfL for that revenue loss to ensure services can be maintained.

“Government is still committed to supporting London’s transport network as we have since the start of the pandemic and it has offered TfL and the Mayor of London a fourth extraordinary funding agreement.”

Shapps told MPs that TfL had requested an extension of one week to allow London mayor Sadiq Khan to consider the terms of the settlement letter and agree to them. He added the government is “committed to supporting London and the transport network on which it depends, balancing that with supporting the national transport network”.

A TfL spokesperson reiterated that “there is no UK recovery from the pandemic without a

London recovery and there is no London recovery without a properly funded transport network in the capital”.

“It is essential London receives the sustained long-term government funding that is vital for the coming years if a period of ‘managed decline’ of London’s transport network is to be avoided,” they said.

Meanwhile, business groups in the capital called for the “merry-go-round” of short-term funding deals to stop.

“The government and City Hall must agree a long-term funding solution that helps TfL return to financial sustainability, not least so it can play its part in the UK’s post-pandemic recovery,” said John Dickie, chief executive of London First. “This is no way to run one of the largest and most successful public transport networks in the country.”

than the 3.8% increase in regulated fares on the national rail network in England and Wales.

But as rail revenue is significantly higher than bus and tram revenue and TfL has budgeted for fares to rise by RPI+1 overall to reach financial sustainability in line with the funding agreements - bus and tram fares will need to increase by the equivalent of RPI+2.7% to achieve the overall rise.

Some individual Tube fares will also increase by more or less than that amount owing to rules stating that increases can only be made by 10p increments. Tube fares solely within Zone 1 will increase for the first time in six years, from £2.40 to £2.50. Passengers who travel greater

distances on TfL services will see a slight increase to further bring them in line with nearby National Rail fares.

While single Pay As You Go fares on Tube, DLR and most TfL-run rail services will increase by RPI+1%, bus and tram single fares will increase by 10p to £1.65, and the daily cap will increase by 30p to £4.95, the same price as three single journeys.

“Since TfL’s finances were decimated by the pandemic, the government has set strict conditions as part of the emergency funding deals to keep essential transport services running in London,” Khan said.

“We have been forced into this position by the government and

IN BRIEF TFL RAIL PERFORMANCE UP Transport for London has revealed TfL Rail delivered a Public Performance Measure (PPM) of 93.4% between December 12 and January 8, as rumours circulate the Elizabeth line could open within weeks. The eastern section of the network achieved 92.1% with the western section achieving 95.3%. The overall Moving Annual Average trend continues to be better than target at 94.7%.

PATRONAGE GROWING New patronage data from Transport for London has revealed that Tube ridership has increased by more than 25% since early January with patronage now regularly around 60% of prepandemic levels during the week - up from around 45% in early January. While bus ridership has consistently been more than 50% of pre-pandemic levels since April 2021, weekday patronage is now regularly at 75%, but some routes report figures in the high eighties.

the way it continues to refuse to properly fund TfL, but I have done everything in my power to keep fares as affordable as possible.”

London TravelWatch chief executive Emma Gibson said Londoners affected by the current cost of living crisis “will be disappointed” to hear that bus fares are going up by almost 6.5% in March, even more than the average 4.8% rise across TfL services.

She continued: “Many key workers and those on low incomes rely solely on the bus, as they can’t afford the Tube or train, and they will be hit hardest by this rise, which comes despite London TravelWatch repeatedly asking for bus fares to be kept low.’

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NEWS ROUND-UP

TSSA warns of national dispute over job cuts General secretary Manuel Cortes says he has ‘grave concerns’ TRADES UNIONS

The TSSA union has written to the Office of Rail and Road and Andrew Haines, the chief executive of Network Rail outlining ‘grave concerns’ that job cuts planned by the infrastructure controller could impact on rail safety and are likely to spark an industrial dispute.

At a media briefing earlier this month, Haines said Network Rail was preparing to open a compulsory redundancy programme later this year in a bid to reduce its headcount. The move is part of a programme that aims to explore efficiencies within the rail sector that began in August.

The Network Rail chief

PROFITING FROM TICKET REFUNDS Ticket refund admin fees exceed actual costs CUSTOMER SERVICE

The Office of Rail and Road has revealed that train operators and train ticket retailers have been profiting from the fees levied for refunding unused train tickets.

While the current cap on these administration fees is set at £10 by the National Rail Conditions of Travel, the regulator has discovered the average administration fee, when charged, is estimated at £6.96 per ticket. However, the industry’s actual average cost incurred from processing a refund, such as staffing costs, internal systems and banking charges, is estimated at £3.77.

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executive claimed 1,200 managers have left the organisation on a voluntary basis, while the company has rejected applications from around 1,000 members of staff it was reluctant to lose.

He said the reduction so far “will not be enough to meet the scale of financial challenge the industry faces” amid declining rail passenger numbers since the onset of the pandemic.

It is understood Network Rail has set about making workforce cuts of around £270m per year and is seeking to cut nearly £4bn from its overall budget across Control Period 6 (CP6) which runs from 2019 to 2024.

TSSA, which has sole recognition rights of Network Rail’s management grades, has expressed “grave concerns” about safety on the railways resulting

from the loss of more than 900 “highly skilled and specialist” Network Rail employees in management grades, and question Network Rail’s ability to carry out planned work over the Control Period.

In his letter to the rail regulator TSSA general secretary Manuel Cortes asks ORR chief executive John Larkinson if the scale of the planned changes infringe the ‘Managing Change Policy’, which NR is required to comply with under its network licence.

If that is the case, Cortes contends the infrastructure controller should be consulting with a range of stakeholders as the funding cuts could affect what work Network Rail can do.

Cortes goes on to ask the ORR in its rail safety regulator role whether Network Rail should be

The review by ORR, at the request of the Department for Transport, was based on data from train operators and third-party retailers spanning 12 months from April 1, 2019 to March 31, 2020, when 341 million tickets were issued, of which 5.8 million were refunded.

In that time 28% of potential admin fees were waived (during 2019-20), bringing the average admin fee charged per ticket across all refunded tickets to £4.64.

The ORR has concluded that, where retailers are charging £10 this appears not to be based on an assessment of costs. Actual costs are generally lower, and often less than £5 on average.

According to the industry’s Ticketing and Settlement Agreement, the administration fees

should be based on an assessment of the actual costs involved. The regulator says it is now encouraging train operators and other ticket retailers to assess whether their administration fees for ticket refunds are cost reflective or reasonable for each transaction type. It is also in discussions with the Department for Transport and the Rail Delivery Group about whether the £10 cap should be reduced to provide additional protection for passengers.

“With 92% of refund claims now submitted electronically and almost all refunds paid out by bank transfer or card payment, we’re asking retailers to assess whether their administration fees for ticket refunds are cost-reflective and reasonable,” said Stephanie Tobyn, deputy director for consumers at the ORR.

reviewing its Safety Management System because of the levels of redundancies which could affect key roles and require changed responsibilities. TSSA’s view is that the scale of change should require a formal review of how Network Rail manages its safety responsibilities, a requirement under railway law.

“We have grave concerns about the impact that thousands of Network Rail job cuts in a short space of time will have on the safe running of our railways and are asking the ORR to execute their duty in holding Network Rail to account,” he said.

“It is vital that such huge changes on our railways do not put passengers or staff at risk the safety of our railways must come first.”

Cortes added in his letter to Haines: “We need assurance that Network Rail has a full understanding and is taking all steps necessary to ensure that the industry remains safe to use and safe to work.”

LEAVES CAUSED SALISBURY CRASH

SWR service skidded on track coated with wet leaves SAFETY

The Rail Accident Investigation Board has released its interim report following the collision between a South Western Railway and a Great Western Railway service at Salisbury Tunnel Junction in October (PT253).

RAIB says rails in the area had been contaminated by leaves which had been crushed by train wheels and this had been exacerbated by extremely wet weather. It has also discovered a railhead treatment train which should have passed the crash site almost two hours before the collision had been delayed by engineering work in Hampshire. www.passengertransport.co.uk

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Bus cuts close doors onto the world. Page 16

Metro expansion to Solihull put on hold Funding still being sought for West Midlands Metro route PROJECTS

A £700m expansion of the West Midlands Metro light rail system from Birmingham city centre to Solihull has been delayed.

Work had been expected to commence in 2024 on the 16.5km route which would have linked the new HS2 station at Curzon Street with the NEC, Birmingham Airport and the HS2 Interchange station.

A business case was submitted in spring 2018 to unlock the further development funding required to take the project through its next steps of route design, public consultation and preparation of the Transport and Works Act Order application.

But those plans appear to have been derailed after a meeting of Solihull Council heard that the extension was “likely now to be

more of a long-term project” partly due to the impact of the Covid pandemic.

Transport for West Midlands (TfWM) has confirmed the delay and said the funding is still being sought to develop the business case further. A spokesperson added the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) had recently agreed to progress 50 transport projects in the region as part of its ambitious £1.3bn City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement bid (PT252).

Work on the extension has been expected to start in 2024

“This includes funding towards detailed development and planning of improved transport services along a corridor through east Birmingham and north Solihull,” they said.

“Options include a further review of the business case for Metro with a view to secure funding for a scheme which also supports wider regeneration, investigating the potential for alternative rail solutions such as Very Light Rail based on the pilot project being developed and delivered in Coventry and Dudley [and] a broad range of bus priority, highway and walking and cycling schemes.”

Meanwhile, the WMCA has approved its budget for 2022-23 that includes £379m for TfWM. The capital budget includes delivery of the West Midlands Metro extensions to Brierley Hill and Birmingham Eastside, Sprint bus rapid transit corridors and a new interchange in Dudley.

SCOTRAIL TO GO PUBLIC IN APRIL

Minister confirms April 1 date for nationalisation OPERATORS

METRO FEATURES PUT THROUGH THEIR PACES Tyne & Wear Metro operator Nexus has revealed additional images showing some of the door features on the system’s new fleet of trains being put through their paces.

They include a sliding step at each door that will facilitate level boarding. www.passengertransport.co.uk

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Scottish transport minister Jenny Gilruth has confirmed the transition of ScotRail services into public ownership will take place on April 1.

Gilruth has also invited elected members and rail unions to take part in a “national conversation” on the future of rail in Scotland, to help shape the creation of an affordable, sustainable, customer-focused rail service. More details will be provided in the coming weeks.

IN BRIEF NEXT STOP DUDLEY The first section of rail has been installed in Dudley for the Wednesbury to Brierley Hill extension of the West Midlands Metro. A total of 300 metres of track is now in place on Castle Hill after it was successfully delivered to site late last month. The 11km extension will have up to 16 stops, with provision for two additional stops. Passenger services are expecting to begin by 2024.

A ONE STOP SHOP Bus Users UK and The Rail Ombudsman are joining forces to improve services for public transport users and to raise awareness of Alternative Dispute Resolution, helping passengers and operators to settle complaints. The two organisations are looking into a range of projects including workshops on complaints handling, on-street events to bring passengers and transport providers together, and joint initiatives on Passenger Rights and Alternative Dispute Resolution.

ANTISOCIAL BEHAVIOUR Police and transport staff are warning of the dangers and consequences of throwing objects at buses, trains and trams following a spate of incidents in Greater Manchester. The warning comes as three buses had their windows smashed in Salford, Wigan and Manchester earlier this month, with Altrincham and Bury interchange toilet facilities also vandalised. Meanwhile, a Northern train driver was injured after a brick was thrown through a train window as it was travelling towards Clifton. The operator is offering a £1,000 reward to find those responsible.

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NEWS ROUND-UP

Public transport in UK cities is most expensive Report showing how the UK’s largest cities are ranked the worst in Europe for public transport affordability is ‘wake-up call for the UK government’ AFFORDABILITY

A new report has highlighted how the UK’s largest cities - Birmingham, London and Manchester - are ranked the worst in Europe for public transport affordability.

Pan-European City Rating and Ranking on Urban Mobility for Liveable Cities, a report for the Clean Cities Campaign, ranked 36 European cities by how much progress they are making towards achieving net zero mobility by 2030, based on measures ranging from more space for walking and cycling to road safety and policies to phase out polluting cars.

When ranked by affordability of public transport, London came 36th, followed by Manchester (35th) and Birmingham (34th).

The three cities are bottom of the table (see below) with residents being asked to spend 8-10% of their household budget on monthly travel costs.

By contrast, in Oslo, which came top overall in the report, passengers spend just 2% of their household budget on public transport fares.

With rail fares set to increase a further 3.8% next week, along with London tube and bus fares by 4.8%, Campaign for Better Transport is calling for more action from central government to make buses and trains affordable. The group points out that public transport is essential to tackling air pollution and traffic congestion in cities, as well as meeting net zero targets.

“This report makes clear the link between the cost of public transport and efforts to

decarbonise transport and must therefore act as a wake-up call for the UK Government,” said Campaign for Better Transport chief executive Paul Tuohy.

“We currently have a situation where it is often cheaper to drive or fly short distances than take the train or the bus, whereas the greenest option should always be the cheapest. We need more affordable public transport to help us achieve the government’s vision where public transport, cycling and walking are the first choice

Birmingham (pictured), London and Manchester are ranked the worst cities in Europe for public transport affordability

PUBLIC TRANSPORT AFFORDABILITY: THE BOTTOM THREE CITIES Pan-European City Rating and Ranking on Urban Mobility for Liveable Cities, Report for the Clean Cities Campaign Rank for public transport affordability 34/36 35/35 36/36

City Birmingham Greater Manchester London (inner)

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Cost of monthly travel pass £105 £126 £167.10

Average household size 2.41 2.35 2.68

Average annual household income £38,544 £39,507 £55,777

Average monthly household income £3,212 £3,292 £4,648

Indicator (share of household budget) 7.9% 9.0% 9.6%

when it comes to transport.”

When ranking overall progress towards achieving zero emission mobility, London came 12th in the overall rankings with a score of 55.8%. Birmingham was 17th with a score of 52.8% and Manchester was 30th with a score of 42.1%.

Oliver Lord, UK head of Clean Cities Campaign, said: “The only way to address our air pollution and climate crisis is to ensure public transport is a cheap, reliable and accessible alternative to the car. Our new report shows that UK cities have the least affordable public transport in Europe, which will inevitably get worse given this government’s decision to increase fares in a cost of living crisis. This government should be helping, not hindering, our cities to play their role in meeting the UK’s clean air and climate goals.”

To improve affordability and help ensure the greenest transport option is always the cheapest, Campaign for Better Transport is calling for the UK government to: Introduce Pay-As-You-Go ticketing with daily price capping within towns and cities as soon as possible; Improve the flexible rail season ticket offer to ensure it provides comparable savings to a full-time one; Expedite the promised reform of rail fares and ticketing to provide more affordable options and eliminate inconsistencies; Improve incentives for bus operators to implement contactless payment options and cross-operator ticketing.

Tuohy added: “We are running out of time to tackle the climate crisis. Transport is still the biggest single emitter of carbon in the UK. The government must do more to get people using public transport by making it more affordable and encouraging its use.” www.passengertransport.co.uk

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“A lot of it is about collaboration and integration - getting systems to work together”

TfW says coordination key to integrated tickets Coordination is more important than new technology TICKETING

Creating seamless ticketing across services run by different public transport operators is as much about coordinating existing systems as investing in new technology, according to Transport for Wales.

The operator has ambitious plans to make it easier for consumers to pay for mobility, including public transport tickets and potentially bicycle hire. It is preparing to launch Pay As You Go (PAYG) pilots on selected bus and train routes in South East Wales this autumn, for which it has a capital budget of £10.5m and funding of £7.7m to cover operating costs.

However, some integration of ticketing is possible without incurring large expenses, David O’Leary, TfW’s commercial and

customer experience director, told Passenger Transport.

Last summer TfW helped bus operators in North Wales to take part in the 1Bws initiative, which saw all local authorities and all 27 bus operators establish one ticket which is valid on almost every bus route in the region.

“A lot of it is about collaboration and integration - getting systems to work together, getting people and organisations working on the same proposition,” said O’Leary.

“It’s not been so much around heavy technology and deploying new things. There has been some, but most of it has been around coordinating the different parties.”

The willingness of the parties to cooperate in North Wales enabled 1Bws to be put together quickly. Since then, TfW has helped Arriva to install contactless tap-out readers on over 170 buses. TfW will provide the same assistance to other bus operators in North West Wales, with the

Burns to lead further Welsh transport review New commission to probe A55 corridor improvements A new transport commission that will develop a pipeline of transport schemes for north Wales has been announced by the Welsh deputy minister for climate change, Lee Waters.

The North Wales Transport Commission follows the model of the commission set up after the cancellation of the M4 relief road in south east Wales

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and will also be led by Lord Terry Burns, former permanent secretary of the UK Treasury.

The announcement follows recommendations from the Welsh Government’s Roads Review Panel and Union Connectivity Review by Network Rail chair Sir Peter Hendy for a ‘multimodal’ review of the A55 corridor.

The year-long review will

aim of enabling a multi-operator PAYG pilot to commence in that area this summer (PT258).

O’Leary said there was definitely a need for on-going investment. For PAYG, the technical systems required to join up data were complex and needed time to develop. However, he continued: “A lot of this is about getting parties to work together, getting organisations to want to work together and trying to integrate the different things that we do. I think that’s as big a challenge as investing in the technology. The technology is difficult but it’s not the most important thing.”

In South Wales, TfW now aims to launch a combined rail and bus PAYG pilot next year. Previously it was planning to reach that stage in 2024. The initial pilots, starting this autumn, will cover rail between Newport, Cardiff and Pontyclun and, separately, the Newport to Cardiff bus

develop recommendations for road, rail, bus and active travel across the whole of north Wales.

It follows on from the advice of the Roads Review Panel to cancel current plans for improvements on the A55. It has also now been agreed which further schemes the panel will consider as part of their final report due this summer.

Waters said it did not mean the end of road building, but focus would shift to “investing in alternatives to give people a real choice”.

route which is operated jointly

by Cardiff Bus and Newport Transport. TfW would like to run a simultaneous pilot on another bus route, preferably in Newport or Cardiff and operated by a different company.

“The rail industry has a single settlement system, which is well established,” said O’Leary. “The bus industry has lots of different settlement systems for different operators, so trying to bring things together technically is probably the challenging part.”

He acknowledged that transport companies had their own viability to consider. “There will always be some concerns from every party about ‘What risks and opportunities does this bring to our business?’, but I think if we can navigate through that and we focus on enabling multi-modal travel in Wales and enabling people to travel more on bus and rail, then I think a lot of those concerns will disappear.”

Last month, TfW became the first National Rail operator to make rail tickets available at convenience stores, in a partnership with Payzone. More than 90 stores in South East Wales are taking part in the pilot, which covers tickets for local travel only. O’Leary said the partnership could be particularly useful to passengers where stations were unstaffed, or staffed for only part of the day.

Another recent change by TfW is the introduction of its own app and a single website. The website was designed to present information on all modes, instead of the previous rail focus. The website’s retailing side is almost exclusively for rail travel, but O’Leary said some bus tickets were already available, for through bus and train journeys involving the TrawsCymru route between Aberystwyth and Carmarthen.

25 February 2022 | 09

23/02/2022 17:25

NEWS ROUND-UP

SPT warns on cost of free travel to Subway Fears raised for patronage as a result of free bus scheme CONCESSIONARY TRAVEL

Strathclyde Partnership for Transport has warned the launch of the Young Persons’ Free Bus Travel Scheme in Scotland at the end of January could lead to challenges for the Glasgow Subway.

SPT estimates 17% of Subway journeys are made by passengers aged under 22, equating to more than 2.0 million journeys per year in 2019-20 or a forecast 1.5 million journeys per year in 2022-23, assuming Subway usage returns to 70% of historic patronage.

In November Valerie Davidson, SPT’s acting chief executive, and George Lowder, chief executive of Transport for Edinburgh wrote to Transport Scotland to press the case for the Subway and Edinburgh Trams to be included in the scheme. However, Neil

COVID IMPACTS MCGILL’S PROFITS Roberts: ‘Covid of greater concern than congestion’ FINANCIALS

The impact Covid has had on the bus industry is demonstrated in the latest accounts filed by Scottish independent operator McGill’s for the year ending December 27, 2020.

The company, which operates a large network of urban rural and interurban bus services across of the area around Glasgow and the Clyde coast, reported that turnover fell from £36.6m in the year December 29, 2019 to £31.1m. Earnings fell too 10 | 25 February 2022 PT259p10-11.indd 10

£800K FOR BUS IMPROVEMENTS Three partnerships win Scottish Govt funding INVESTMENT

Wylie, SPT’s director of finance, told members last week this request was declined.

“The inclusion of Subway and Edinburgh Trams would support the drive toward integration for users, and contribute to the reduction of car kilometres and net zero targets by giving an attractive option to support modal shift,” argued Wylie. He added that Scottish transport minister Jenny Gilruth has offered to meet with SPT to discuss the matter further.

Until then SPT has probed a number of scenarios. These include a ‘no change’ scenario where children under five continue to travel for free, under 16s can benefit from child fares, and passengers aged 16-21 pay adult fares.

SPT says this scenario carries the highest risk of a proportion of under 22s transferring their travel from Subway to bus. If 50% transfer, the financial cost to SPT

would be £1.55m on the basis of historic 2019-20 patronage and £1.1m if patronage recovers to 70% of those levels.

Another option would be to offer free travel with the scheme funded by SPT. Wylie says this would mitigate the potential transfer from Subway to bus, but the impact of lost revenue (£3.1m based on 2019-20 or £2.2m based on 70% recovery) would be borne

by SPT. He added this would need to be balanced by a reduced expenditure elsewhere in the provision of services.

Alternatively, free travel could be funded by the Strathclyde Concessionary Travel Scheme, but Wylie admits this scheme already has financial challenges. Other options could include reduced fares for under 22s or specific ticketing offers such as free travel in school holidays.

Wylie said SPT would monitor the impact of the scheme before making a final decision.

The Scottish Government has allocated over £800,000 in funding to support three bus partnerships in Scotland.

The Argyll and Bute Bus Partnership, Midlothian Bus Alliance and West Lothian Bus Alliance now join eight other partnerships involving 28 local authorities across Scotland. The schemes aim to boost implementation of bus priority measures in a bid to speed up buses and make them more reliable.

“I’m pleased that these three new bus partnerships are making plans to improve bus services,” said Scottish transport minister Jenny Gilruth. “We’re incentivising bus travel through the provision of free bus travel to under 22s. We’re also supporting bus operators’ transition to modern zero emission vehicles.

“The next step is to unshackle our buses from the congestion on our roads and provide those quicker, more reliable journeys that will ensure more people make the choice of bus over the car.”

with operating profits of £968,000 for the year, down from £1.8m a year earlier.

In his review of the business, McGill’s chief executive Ralph Roberts described how the effects of stormy weather in early 2020 had only been exacerbated by the impact of the pandemic.

“Footfall recovered over the various stages of the pandemic to a maximum of 65% of pre-pandemic trading,” he wrote. “The year was clearly extremely difficult and unusual in the range of challenges faced, however much progress was made in terms of management of the risks of the pandemic upon the

workforce and our customers.”

Roberts said government support via the furlough scheme and the Covid Support Grant had allowed McGill’s to “trade at levels in excess of the footfall being achieved”.

He claimed that the impact and uncertainty of Covid now exceeded the risks to the business posed by growing traffic congestion.

“Ordinarily, car and van-based congestion and the management of the roads network in relation to parking and roadworks would be the most obvious threat to the business,” Roberts wrote. “But the pandemic saw minimal car use and bus punctuality reached record levels along with reduced journey times.”

Roberts added McGill’s was focussed on improving efficiency, noting the company had introduced a German-style workers council in order to boost engagement.

McGill’s boss Ralph Roberts

www.passengertransport.co.uk

23/02/2022 17:39

Are electric cars the way forward? Page 22

Bus operators aim to tackle recruitment Industry-wide event aims to highlight job opportunities in sector RECRUITMENT

Bus operators this week launched a special recruitment event to highlight employment opportunities in the sector, in a bid to tackle the growing issue of new driver recruitment.

Led by the Confederation of Passenger Transport, the activities form part of a national campaign to address a shortage of around 7,000 drivers across the UK bus and coach industry.

The events have highlighted the job opportunities available and aim to help people find out more about life as a bus or coach driver.

“As we exit the pandemic and seek to grow the number of people travelling by bus and coach

to help us hit important net zero targets it is vital that operators have sufficient drivers to be able to run the services people need,” said Keith McNally, CPT’s operations director.

“Bus and coach drivers are at the heart of their local communities helping people access jobs, education as well as health and leisure services.

Many drivers, once they enter the industry, stay for decades and our recruitment week will help showcase the benefits of a career in bus and coach.”

The move has been backed by transport minister Baroness Vere. She said the bus and coach industry is the lifeblood of communities, ensuring people are able to get to get to work, access education or to see family.

“This is a brilliant initiative

and I’d encourage anyone who is considering entering this important sector to find out more about the great opportunities that are available during the recruitment week,” she said. “This industry initiative supports the wider work we’re doing to help people become bus drivers” A number of operators are participating in the initiative.

Go-Ahead subsidiary Oxford Bus Company held a special engagement event as part of its ‘Lonely Bus Eagerly Seeking New Driver’ campaign.

Meanwhile, Stagecoach Manchester highlighted age is no barrier to becoming a bus driver.

It publicised the case of 60-year old Albert Thomas, who held a life-long ambition to become a bus driver and who has recently joined the firm as a trainee.

ALL ABOARD THE JUBILEE BUSES As the country prepares to celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee this summer, bus operator Stagecoach South has unveiled two special Platinum Jubilee-themed buses to mark the occasion. The buses will be seen across the year on services serving the operator’s entire network throughout Hampshire, Surrey and West Sussex. They will initially be based at Andover before moving on to the operator’s seven other depots. www.passengertransport.co.uk

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IN BRIEF FREE TRAVEL SCHEME An innovative transport scheme between Persimmon Homes and Stagecoach West Scotland will see complimentary bus passes issued to the first 65 home buyers at the Fairfields housing development in Monkton, Ayrshire. Transferable Stagecoach smartcards will provide eligible residents with direct services to the main towns in Ayrshire, including Prestwick, Ayr, Troon, Irvine and Kilmarnock with easy links to express coach services to Glasgow. Later this year Stagecoach intends to reroute some X77 express services so they travel directly from Monkton to Glasgow.

WRIGHTBUS RECRUITS Bus manufacturer Wrightbus is looking to recruit 25 trainees from its local community to support young people who are struggling to find employment.

The traineeships are being offered through JobStart, a scheme run by the Department for Communities. which is designed to help young people aged 16-24 who are at risk of long term unemployment get into the job market by offering six month job opportunities with a range of employers, in all sectors across Northern Ireland.

NEWBURY’S NEW COACHES Reading Buses has introduced two new Plaxton coaches in order to upgrade services to local schools and expand the private hire activities at its Newbury & District operation. The vehicles will primarily be used on student transport services but will be available for hire, at discounted rates, on weekdays between 9.30am and 2.00pm. The operator is highlighting the environmental credentials of the new vehicles.

25 February 2022 | 11

23/02/2022 17:39

ENVIRONMENT

Coventry will be the UK’s first zero emission bus city

Innovative model for UK’s biggest e-bus deal

Zenobe’s ‘Electric Transportation as a Service’ offering will supply, support and maintain a fleet of 130 electric double deckers for National Express ELECTRIC VEHICLES

The UK’s largest ever deal for electric buses incorporates a new funding model that promises to make bus travel “easier, cheaper, and cleaner for all”.

National Express is partnering with Zenobe, the EV fleet and battery storage specialist, for the supply, support and long term maintainence of 130 electric double decker buses.

Manufactured in Britain by Alexander Dennis Limited in partnership with BYD, the vehicles will help to make Coventry the UK’s first all-electric bus city. When they enter service from early 2023, they will take National Express’s operation in the city a huge step closer to replacing around 300 diesel vehicles by 2025.

12 | 25 February 2022 PT259p12-13.indd 12

Zenobe will be providing ‘Electric Transportation as a Service’ to National Express.

ETaaS contracts are a well-established model for other sectors, including rail, aircraft and shipping. This ‘risk-free availability model’ provides reliability and flexibility for the operator, removing the hassle of owning the electric vehicle fleet. Zenobe claims it will shape the future of bus travel, making it “easier, cheaper, and cleaner for all”.

The work builds on Zenobe’s existing partnership with National Express, which provided charging infrastructure and batteries for electric buses in Coventry and Birmingham in 2020.

In this new partnership with National Express, Zenobe will finance and manage a full turnkey solution that includes new vehicles, on-board battery replacement, charging and grid infrastructure, a second life battery system at the depot, unique software to optimise charging,

“We are giving National Express the use of an electric bus fleet without the hassle of owning one” Steven Meersman, co-founder of Zenobe

parts, and full operational support.

The project will be financed partly through the partnership between Zenobe and National Express, assisted by the £50m Department of Transport grant awarded to the West Midlands Combined Authority for Coventry’s all-electric bus city scheme.

As part of the agreement, ADL will supply Zenobe and National Express with spare parts for planned preventive maintenance (PPM) over a period of 16 years from acceptance of the vehicles.

The project will be implemented in phases with infrastructure works beginning in May 2022 and the first vehicle deliveries arriving in Coventry early in 2023.

Steven Meersman, co-founder and director of Zenobe, said: “This really is a globally important deal. We are incredibly excited to be leading the way for the electric bus industry, with ETaaS revolutionising the way fleets are electrified. By retaining ownership of the vehicles and taking on the risk of switching to zero-emission, we are giving National Express the use of an electric bus fleet without the hassle of owning one, making the transition to a zero-emission fleet more financially desirable.

“We’re excited to use our new model to help many more operators and local authorities across the UK and the world transition to electric, and ultimately accelerate progress towards net zero and clean air.”

Tom Stables, CEO of National Express UK and Germany, commented: “Through this pioneering new way of working, Zenobe’s innovative solution provides us with the reliability and flexibility we need to accelerate the roll-out of our greener, cleaner vehicles, while we focus on delivering an excellent service for the people of Coventry.” www.passengertransport.co.uk

23/02/2022 17:07

“We are really proud that this concept train is now carrying customers”

HybridFLEX enters service with Chiltern

with a Roll-Royce powerpack which means quieter and quicker journeys and a 25% reduction in CO2 emissions on every journey.

Nitrogen oxide and pollutants are also cut by 70% and 90% respectively.

The HybridFlex train substantially cuts fuel usage and reduces noise by up to 75% in and around stations and urban areas.

It also presents the opportunity for quicker customer journeys in the future.

Chiltern Railways managing director Richard Allan said: “We have worked hard with our partners to fit a powerful battery power pack underneath a 20-year old diesel train to make the train cleaner, quieter and quicker.

“We are really proud that this

concept train is now carrying customers and look forward to assessing its performance in daily service.”

The HybridFlex train will initially operate between Aylesbury and London Marylebone with plans to bring the new type of train to the London to Oxford via Bicester Village route in the coming months.

Mary Grant, CEO of Porterbrook, commented: “The entry of our hybrid batterydiesel train HybridFLEX into passenger service is great news for Chiltern Railways and its customers. It’s a significant first step in demonstrating how improvements to this fleet can reduce emissions and improve air quality both at stations and other locations across the network.

Rolls-Royce’s mtu Hybrid PowerPack pairs a diesel engine with an electric unit that can function both as a motor and as a generator. The battery system stores power that is recovered during train braking.

The use of batteries for extended operation has typically been constrained by their range and meant widespread implementation has, until now, not been feasible.

Fast Charge equipment will be installed at West Ealing station later this year and tested with Vivarail’s battery-only Class 230 train.

The train has a range of up to 62 miles on battery power, recharging in only 10 minutes using the Fast Charge system in off-network tests.

When the train arrives at a station it connects automatically to the Fast Charge and the batteries receive charge while the train is prepared for its next journey.

The train was launched at COP26 in November and ran daily services throughout the international climate change conference in Glasgow,

including an iconic trip across the Forth Bridge.

Testing on the Greenford branch line supports the Government and wider rail industry ambitions to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.

The trial is supported by £2.15m of funding from the Department for Transport’s Rail Network Enhancement Pipeline (RNEP).

Development of the Fast Charge technology also received funding from Innovate UK.

Powerful battery means that train cuts emission by a quarter ROLLING STOCK

Chiltern Railways has this month launched the innovative ‘HybridFLEX’ train into service between Aylesbury and London.

The train significantly cuts CO2 emissions, saves fuel and reduces noise and air pollution.

Chiltern, rolling stock leasing company Porterbrook (the train’s owner) and industrial technology company Rolls-Royce have worked together to convert a diesel train into one that now runs on both diesel and battery power.

The concept train is the first 100mph-capable battery-diesel hybrid train to operate on the UK’s national rail network.

The train has been retrofitted

FAST-CHARGING TRIAL AT GWR

Regular battery-only rail services a step closer ROLLING STOCK

Great Western Railway has signed a deal with manufacturer Vivarail to trial new battery-charging technology on its network, paving the way for battery-only trains to run in regular passenger service in the future.

The trial, supported by Network Rail, will take place on the Greenford branch line later this year and test Vivarail’s trackside fast-charging equipment in an operational setting for the first time.

It is hoped that the project will demonstrate that the equipment works safely and reliably in a ‘real-world’ environment. www.passengertransport.co.uk

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HybridFLEX

Vivarail’s battery-only Class 230 train 25 February 2022 | 13

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23/02/2022 17:59

INNOVATION & TECHNOLOGY

Partners offer real time payment information Passenger and Littlepay strengthen contactless experience TICKETING

Passenger and Littlepay have announced a nationwide partnership which will give public transport users total transparency about the fares they pay using contactless bank cards and contactless-enabled devices, and a clear view of fare capping benefits.

The collaboration will allow contactless EMV payments and fare capping activity to be introduced by payments infrastructure provider Littlepay into a contactless journeys portal within transport apps and websites provided by Passenger.

This means that operators that have a contactless deployment with Littlepay will now be able to

PARTNERSHIP TO AID THE TOURISM INDUSTRY

Ticketer and Palisis aim to make buses more ‘visible’ TICKETING

Palisis, technology provider of sales and operations solutions for the transportation and tourism industry, and Ticketer, public transport and data intelligence partner, have announced their collaboration to introduce improved ticketing and connectivity for the tourism industry. The partnership will provide the first scalable roll out of its kind, in a bid to “make travelling by bus visible and core to the whole travel experience and support the recovery of the bus and coach www.passengertransport.co.uk

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give their customers a real-time overview of all journeys made using a contactless bank card or contactless-enabled smart device as payment.

Rather than having to switch to a different app to view their journeys, fares and where they were capped, customers will be able to see this information within existing Passenger apps and websites. Push notifications will enable customers to be kept informed about travel events as they happen, such as reaching a fare cap. This proactive engagement is intended to give

passengers confidence in the value for money they’re receiving.

Greg Hepworth, head of product at Passenger said: “Our partnership with Littlepay means operators across the country can significantly boost their customer experience when it comes to contactless payments. For too long, customers have had to jump between platforms to purchase tickets and view journey history now, they can do it all in one place in an easy-to-navigate format.

“Through the portal’s unified and transparent approach, passengers are made to feel more in control

“The efforts of our partnership with Littlepay will support the objectives of the National Bus Strategy” Greg Hepworth, Passenger industry”.

Domestic tourism is on the increase, a trend which is only expected to rise over the coming years. This presents a greater need for connected travel and for operators to provide a seamless travel experience for all passengers.

Locating public transport routes and purchasing tickets for connected services when holidaying in unfamiliar destinations can be daunting. With local transport services and tickets directly available from online travel booking providers (booking.com, Expedia, Tripadvisor and others), through this new solution, passengers can source and purchase tickets for their connected journeys with ease.

The Ticketer platform will integrate with Palisis and will allow

operators to choose which tickets they wish to make visible via their online marketplace. Online travel agents and tour providers will then be able to offer online purchase of connected transport services across destinations. The new distribution channels are targeted to go live during Spring 2022, and Ticketer will be able to activate the new feature for operators through their back-end portal, enabling ticket purchase on the customer facing travel booking providers’ websites and apps. A QR code will be issued upon purchase, which will be scanned directly on the bus using the Ticketer ticket machines.

Connectivity to the online travel booking world will enable an increased flow of passengers and ticketing revenues for bus and coach

of their journeys and travelling via public transport becomes a more convenient and attractive alternative to cars. Overall, the efforts of our partnership with Littlepay will support the objectives of the National Bus Strategy, enhancing trust in public transport services and ultimately, increasing patronage.”

Sheryll Ricketts, Solutions Consultancy Lead at Littlepay commented: “We’re thrilled to be working with Passenger to bring operators a powerful way to improve customer experience.

Giving passengers real-time access to their travel and payments data demystifies fare capping and highlights the value of using contactless EMV for fare payments. It will prove especially valuable where multi-operator fare caps are applied, providing a single place to monitor payments across different operators’ networks.

This transparency has a knockon effect of inspiring passenger loyalty and frequent ridership, a top priority for operators.”

operators, whether that’s for airport shuttles, sightseeing services or any other type of public transportation within tourist hotspots.

Passengers will be able to plan their connected journey, book and purchase their tickets online, alongside their flight/train journey, hotel etc., and if the online travel agency provides an app, tickets can also be purchased with greater ease during transit. A simple QR code, printed on a ticket or scanned from a mobile device, is all that is required to validate the ticket onboard. This will help remove the uncertainty or unwillingness to use local public transportation in a foreign destination due to lack of knowledge about how the local services work, physical cash or if a local bus might accept contactless payment.

25 February 2022 | 15

23/02/2022 17:59

COMMENT

JONATHAN BRAY

Bus cuts close doors onto the world As the funding cliff-edge approaches, we should consider the impact the bus service cuts have on those who depend on them “It’s like a forgotten world. It makes you feel depressed... we’ve got bus passes - that’s brilliant I feel like framing mine... But no bus services to use them on. We’re on an estate surrounded by main roads.

The whole of life is out there but we can’t access it.”

Covid may have changed the context for bus services but bus cuts still aren’t victimless or without consequences. It’s just that (as with past waves of bus cuts) those who are most affected by them don’t have much clout or visibility. They were marginalised already and bus cuts marginalise them even further.

A few years back we worked with the Campaign for Better Transport and the Ecorys consultancy to look at the affects on two sample places (the Burbank Estate in Hartlepool and Marchwood in Hampshire) of losing their bus services. Re-reading the reports now the overall sense you get is that bus cuts close down both specific opportunities and, more widely, wall people into living more lonely, restricted and stigmatised lives. There’s a dimming of the lights; a closing of doors onto the world. This all comes at the cost of poorer physical and mental health and of missed life chances.

“Needed the bus to travel into town and often caught connecting bus to daughters and vice versa so don’t see as much of each other now. Feel totally isolated - I have problems walking, get short of breath and use a stick.”

“I want to be independent and it’s not allowing me to be independent. If you put yourself in my shoes, I’m not able to drive and I have health reasons as well... it’s not a very nice situation to be in when you know 16 | 25 February 2022 PT259p16-17.indd 16

your children want to go and do something and you have to say ‘no I’m sorry I can’t get you there because there isn’t a bus service.”

These are the voices that remind us that buses are a key public service relied upon by those with the least. They remind us that whilst buses should be in the aspirational business of getting modal shift from the car for ‘people like us’, they are also there so that millions of people on low incomes, who don’t have access to a car in the first place, can get out of the house. And without a new funding deal for bus there will be many more people whose lives will be narrowed by the loss of their bus service.

Our latest report on bus funding (produced for us by Steer, and using our Metropolitan Bus Model) found that the number of bus passengers in city regions outside London could be up to 30% lower than before the pandemic. A hit of “similar magnitude” to the direct impact which Covid itself has had on demand. The report also found that over a quarter of city region bus services could be lost.

The report concluded: “Around half of all bus users are dependent on bus for their travel.

The young and the elderly have the highest propensity to use bus, as do people in the lowest income quintile. A reduced bus service means that some of these people will have no viable travel alternative. A smaller public transport network means that remaining bus users will have reduced access to jobs, education, health and leisure activities, which will have knock-on negative impacts to the economy. Higher fares

The young and the elderly have the highest propensity to use bus, as do people in the lowest income quintile

will make them worse off financially at a time when people are also facing higher gas and electricity bills and food price inflation.”

The report was picked up in The Times - part of the wider and welcome traction that bus cuts now have in the national and mainstream media. A level of interest that is probably greater than buses have had for many years.

However, there’s a danger that we are now getting locked into a narrative which is in effect about pushing back the point (measured in months) at which additional Covid funding will end and we get back to ‘normal’ on funding. The problem with that is we need to get real about the order of magnitude increase in subsidy that will be needed if Covid’s legacy isn’t going to be more than just a particularly savage episode of the normal pattern of bus network and patronage contraction. Because if we go back to the level of revenue support we had for bus preCovid then that pretty much guarantees more decline (given that’s what it bought us before).

To even return to pre-Covid levels of patronage will require a substantial uplift in pre-Covid levels of subsidy - and to get to Bus Back Better nirvana you are looking at a further www.passengertransport.co.uk

23/02/2022 17:09

“You want high quality bus services everywhere?

Then take a look at the subsidy levels that those European countries that have them are providing” substantial uplift. You want high quality bus services everywhere? Then take a look at the subsidy levels that those European countries that have them are providing. It’s based on something entirely different to the low subsidy and high fare model we have in the UK. You want to find the money to do this - then there are some magic money trees available.

For example, the Department for Transport could ask National Highways to give back the one they gave them for the zombie national road programme. But a long term higher subsidy model for bus doesn’t suit incumbent monopolies - as it would lead to more expectations of public influence. And it doesn’t suit the Treasury - because they don’t like revenue subsidies (especially much bigger ones). So instead, an emerging narrative is that if we are going to career over the end of the Covid funding cliff edge at some stage www.passengertransport.co.uk

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anyway then we might as well be grown up about it, face up to reality (in a sorrowful but professional way) and get on with the cuts now.

For those who are squeamish about the thought of another round of bus network cuts, or uncomfortable with the dissonance with Bus Back Better, then don’t worry. Once the ship has steadied after Covid buses will get a shot in the arm from spending that flows from Bus Service Improvement Plans and City Region Sustainable Transport Settlements which will drive up patronage. So look on the bright side - these cuts might only be temporary. But somehow I doubt it. After all it’s much more difficult to build back services and patronage after they’ve been trashed than if they had been sheltered from the storm in the first place.

A more rational and credible approach would be to maintain networks for a longer period while the fall-out from Covid is on

travel patterns becomes clearer (at present we are still at the guessing rather than knowing stage). We also need to give time to move to a reformed and long term funding settlement for bus. This would also allow more time for the benefits of upcoming capital investment in bus to take effect.

But, whatever happens next, it should be based on a recognition that cuts have consequences for those with the least. That the people who use bus services matter.

“It does make you think that you are reliant [on buses] and you could get quite down about it... I feel frustrated and a bit sort of left out. People like me in my situation or the elderly...don’t really matter... I know that one person doesn’t matter to them but really that one person does matter, everyone matters.”

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Jonathan Bray is the director of the Urban Transport Group. Throughout his career in policy and lobbying roles he has been at the frontline in bringing about more effective, sustainable and equitable transport policies.

25 February 2022 | 17

23/02/2022 17:09

COMMENT

BEATE KUBITZ

Rural transport is vital to city centres

Too often we consider urban and rural transport in isolation, but we can’t fix urban transport without improving rural transport Urban and rural transport are not separate.

We often behave as though they are.

There are the profitable(ish) urban services and the subsidised rural services and never the twain shall sit comfortably in the same network. Except for the fact that the lack of bus services in the less than profitable rural and peri-urban areas is probably a key contributor to the difficulties that services face in notionally profitable (in non-covid times) dense urban areas.

Let me explain.

We have a tendency to think in terms of urban and rural. Manchester is urban.

The Peak District rural. But on closer inspection our urban areas are not conveniently homogenous zones. The reality is that the Greater Manchester area is a complicated patchwork where much of it is very definitely urban, but there’s a strong element which exhibits the distinct characteristics of rural areas.

The World Bank has some fairly simple metrics for degrees of urbanisation. Cities have 50,000+ inhabitants in contiguous grid cells at a population density of at least 1,500 inhabitants per sq km. Towns and ‘semidense areas’ consist of 5,000+ inhabitants in contiguous grid cells with a population density of at least 300 people per sq km. And rural areas are those smaller size places with less than 5,000 inhabitants or areas with less than 300 people per sq km. Using Lower Super Output Areas - which represent approximately 18 | 25 February 2022 PT259p18-19.indd 18

1,500 residents or 650 households - as our ‘cells’ we can look at Manchester and assess just how urban it is.

Fact fans will know that Greater Manchester covers an area of 1,276 sq km, has a population of around 2.7 million, and an average population density of 2,155 people per sq km.

However, it’s composed of 10 boroughs, and only the central borough - Manchester - is truly dense and populous in a really urban sense, its 500,000+ people live at an average density of 4,350 people per sq km.

Beyond that, Rochdale has a density of 1,380 people per sq km, not even meeting the World Bank threshold, Oldham and Wigan scrape over the 1,500 people per sq km with 1,580

and 1,690 respectively and the other six outer boroughs vary between 1,860 and 2,410 people per sq km. And at a smaller scale, within these outer boroughs population density varies between 60 and 15,550 people per sq km.

Another important metric, is what area of these boroughs is densely populated, and how much sparsely covered. In central Manchester, only 2% of the population and 14% of the area is inhabited at densities of less than 1,500 people per sq km. In the outer boroughs, up to 22% of people live in less densely inhabited areas, covering up to 71% of the area of the borough.

Why is this important? Transport is the means by which people move through space, in time. We tend to measure the success of journeys in terms of the time taken to make them, their cost and convenience. ‘Lumpiness’ in population distribution (which is pretty much contiguous with the origin of everyday journeys) has a huge impact on the distance people will need to travel and the time that this will take.

Evidence and common sense collide in demonstrating that how people make their journeys correlates strongly with the modes available. It’s a simple exercise to map the density and availability of the public transport network against other metrics such as car ownership and car miles travelled. The message is pretty clear that there’s a strong correlation between available transport and people using it. The rub is that this is also a strong correlation with population density.

Transport is provided where the majority of people live. Where transport is provided,

Given the less dense nature of rural areas it may not mean fixed route buses but smaller, smarter, dynamic, on-demand buses

www.passengertransport.co.uk

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“The outer edges of the network may look like the margins but they are not marginal in their impact” people tend to use it. So what’s the problem?

Surely this is a sensible and cost efficient mapping of resource to population?

The problem is that when we look at car use, the origin of journeys is inversely proportionate to population density and the provision of bus and rail. People in lower density areas - where there are fewer public transport options - own more cars and use them more. However, these car drivers don’t stick to their patches. Their destinations are often the areas where the inhabitants have low car ownership and use - city centres where jobs and services provide their destinations.

For instance, in Greater Manchester, the densely populated central core - Manchester borough - has the highest proportion of its area covered with the best indices of connectivity of all the boroughs. (the GMAL score). Within Greater Manchester, Manchester City is also the borough with the lowest percentage of residents driving to work (46%) and the lowest proportion of its workplace population arriving by car (49%).

However, the last published census (2011) showed that over 157,000 people arrived in central Manchester by car. Of the total, 25% came from within the borough, 48% from other Greater Manchester boroughs and 27% from outside of the Greater Manchester area.

As we know, traffic causes congestion. And congestion is one of the greatest inhibitors to efficient public transport (particularly buses), increasing journey times and reducing reliability.

So the irony is that the traffic which inhibits the progress of buses within central Manchester is largely generated by those areas with fewer buses. The poor provision of public transport in lower density rural areas is a tangible impediment to the smooth and efficient functioning of public transport in the centre.

In these financially difficult times, it’s hard to argue that the buses serving the fewest people should be a priority. However, that’s exactly what we need to do to make the network work.

The outer edges of the network may look like the margins but they are not marginal in their impact.

So how do we address this?

If you look at Bolton, a borough with over a quarter of a million people, and population density that ranges between 200 and 15,380 people over nearly 14,000 hectares (which means a distance of about 12 miles across) www.passengertransport.co.uk

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there’s a typical pattern of public transport access correlating with high density areas and car use correlated with lower density areas.

Typical endpoints - places of work - are central Bolton (up to 10 miles from the edge of the borough) and central Manchester, with a lower percentage scattered across Manchester and the North West. Despite the size of the borough, over 60% of people who live and work in the borough drive to work. Of those who do not drive to work, the second largest group is of those who walk to work - 12.5% of those living and working within the borough.

Talking to people about why they make the transport choices they do is revealing.

In the lower density areas the public transport options require double to triple the journey time of car use. An 8.8- 10 mile journey between Horwich, on the edge of the borough, to the Royal Bolton Hospital (both an important local employer and the destination for people using their services) is 16-30 minutes’ drive or 59 minutes up to an hour and four minutes using public transport, requiring a change of buses with the additional friction and uncertainty that this implies. The bus route takes the main corridor and stops 40 times on this journey whilst the car has a choice of options, including both minor roads and the motorway which parallels the route.

Travelling from the edge of Horwich to the mainline station - three miles - is not possible by public transport in time for the first train.

That aside, the route would have required a mile walk plus completing the trip by bus or rail. A 30-45 minute trip compared to a maximum of 20 minutes in the car. Whilst the margin is slimmer here, it only forms one leg of the journey to the centre of Manchester (another hour by train). Whilst some people would take the train at this point, others would drive into the centre - 55% of those who live in Bolton and work in central Manchester drive (even though there are several main line stations within the borough).

Whilst the interviewees were interested in walking and cycling, they were scathing about the infrastructure and the dangers they faced when they tried to replace car trips with active travel. They were both pushed and pulled into car use.

Tackling the outer areas would mean innovation and investment. Investment in good quality active travel routes so that people

are not faced with near death experiences if they choose not to drive. This is crucial for reducing the numbers of cars on the road in general. Making it attractive and safe for people to leave their homes on foot and by bike will change the default reliance on the car. It will give families better options for the school run, commuters better options for travelling to work and to public transport nodes and older people the chance to get out and about independently.

The second element is more buses. Given the less dense nature of the areas it may not mean fixed route buses but smaller, smarter, dynamic, on-demand buses which ensure that people can get to stations or onto rapid fixed line bus routes without suffering a huge time penalty compared with driving themselves.

These are neither the traditional ‘dial-a-ride’ buses with passengers limited by access requirements nor limited to booking by app only. Whilst they need smart organisation in the background to ensure routes are optimised and usage maximised, they need to be accessible to all. Recent iterations of DRT (Demand Responsive Transport) are bookable by app and also by phone, and integrate cash payments, smart cards, mobile app payments and concessionary fares. They are part of the network, designed to support it and increase patronage across the board.

Configuring the outer network so that it provides a genuine alternative to the cars which sit in almost every drive and line the roads is not cost-free. Lower density transport is rarely profitable. However, it is necessary if we are to improve everyone’s environment.

It requires the recognition that every person who does not set out from their house in a car is improving not only their neighbourhood but all the neighbourhoods that they would travel through and - most particularly - their end destination. City centres and urban areas will not reach the levels of clean air and quality of life they aspire to if the inequality of access to transport is not addressed.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Beate Kubitz specialise in analysing new technology, agendas and behaviours and articulating their potential future impact. www.beatekubitz.com

25 February 2022 | 19

23/02/2022 17:10

COMMENT

ALEX WARNER

Has morale finally hit rock bottom?

It’s an oft-said phrase in public transport over the years, but I fear we may have reached a nadir. The sector can and must respond When you trawl social media, there’s no shortage of folk masquerading as experts in mental health, spouting off in somewhat overly gushingly and patronising tones about ‘well being Wednesdays’ and telling us all how to better approach our working day.

Some have good intentions but for others this is a commercial stunt to extract cash for advice. Much of the messaging, though, is for management, the kind that are present on LinkedIn and the like and not those bearing the brunt of it all right now, the bus drivers, supervisors, or depot allocators or other frontline employees. Granted, many depots have signs offering free counselling and these can be effective, though there’s more to it than that. The problem is that in many transport companies, support and pastoral care is outsourced to third party companies.

There was a period when I was climbing the greasy pole in management roles where staff kept telling me ‘morale has never been lower’. It may indeed have been an indictment on my own capability as the gaffer, but it’s a phrase I’ve heard on and off over the years across the sector. However, I genuinely believe that it has reached a nadir - the perfect storm in many cases, with a mix of the pent up, post pandemic frustration and the financial challenges facing transport, alongside societal changes that don’t exactly suggest the most positive trajectory for our sector.

I’ve spent quite a lot of time recently in bus companies and it’s noticeable, in some 20 | 25 February 2022 PT259p20-21.indd 20

cases, how despairing drivers, supervisors and allocators are. Over the years, there’s always been shoulder shrugging about how it’s not great, but an acceptance that in the main it could be much worse in other jobs and we’d miss it if we didn’t work here anymore. This time, though, I’m noticing increasing vitriol.

For me, the real frustration is that the sudden spike in disquiet could be easily avoidable in some respects. Granted, the industry-wide shortage of drivers is chronic, and this clearly makes the role of a depot allocator and operations manager more stressful - because of the incessant challenge of trying to cover shifts and in doing so being at the behest of drivers who hold all the cards and need constant friendly persuasion to work It’s noticeable, in some cases, how despairing some staff are

additional duties. So too, it’s more challenging than ever to improve standards with no one in reserve to drive the buses if a brave allocator or supervisor sent a driver home for not being in full uniform or take them offline for a chat or additional training course to upskill them in customer service following a series of customer complaints. This is the time to turn a blind eye and drivers know it.

However, management don’t help themselves.

Drivers are ground down, so too are their immediate supervisors. They take the brunt of frustrations when drivers sign on and have to bite their tongue, be diplomatic and supportive, knowing a word out of place might send the driver onto the bus in a foul mood, which they might then take out on customers. Of course, this has always been the case, but the stakes are higher than ever before, longer shifts and customers, like employees, have a shorter fuse.

In another role I have in football, we’re grappling with a shocking rise in incidences of spectator and player abuse and violence post Covid. In most walks of society, there’s a pent up feeling of intolerance and self-entitlement.

Within this scenario, it’s more important than ever for senior managers to up their profile, like never before, be visible in the depot, engage and communicate - discuss the challenges facing the bus sector and explain how we’re all in it together at this crossroads for the industry.

Drivers and their immediate supervisors just think that management are oblivious to the need to fill vacancies and deliberately not doing so to save money, which isn’t the truth.

You can’t manage a bus company from a desktop PC at home and now, more than ever, visibility in the depots, not just the subsidiary HQ depot, is of paramount importance. This is the time to show true leadership and it’s more than the occasional visit or ‘long service award’ photo of the MD with some long serving old timer on LinkedIn - the kind of post that purports to celebrate the achievement of the frontline employee but is really done to draw attention to the manager next to them instead.

Of course being visible in the depot isn’t enough. (We are talking the very basics of management but, trust me, that’s eluding many senior managers out there.) It’s about having proper, meaningful discussions and in particular with the ‘meat in the sandwich’, those folk that are the first contact with drivers when they book on in the morning and who can make www.passengertransport.co.uk

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“It never ceases to amaze me how negligent and lacking selfawareness some managers can be” or break their day with the initial interaction they have with them and the decisions they take regarding their schedule for the day and rest of the week. They are the ones who hear the moans and groans from drivers and the valuable insight into what the customers are saying or their observations of competitors, as they drive their bus back and forth all day long. The problem is quite often, senior managers chat either with their own or with frontline employees. Meanwhile, supervisors and junior managers are traditionally the least communicated with or consulted upon and are always the last to benefit from training, development and career support.

It never ceases to amaze me how negligent and lacking in self-awareness some managers can be. In the midst of our most testing of times for frontline teams, I’ve heard tales of free tea and coffee from machines being removed (selfdefeating penny-pinching in the extreme) and canteens being closed down, or the numbers of on-street inspectors (those visible folk who can help engage with drivers, improve standards and talk to customers on the network) being deliberately allowed to dwindle and ultimately become obsolete. Or, of basic furniture in messrooms or supervisors’ offices (places where key staff literally spend an entire shift making pressurised decisions) cut back or less comfortable replacements introduced without any cognisance of their design and fitness for purpose. Elsewhere, running times are being squeezed back to the bone such that they are so unrealistic, causing undue stress for drivers and opprobrium from customers.

Meanwhile, in this fraught environment back in the depot, rational, customer-led decisions are incapable of being made, the kind that takes into account the negligence of cancelling the same bus each day on a particular route when there is a vehicle or driver shortage in terms of the impact on the same set of customers. Everyone agrees it’s an unabated hamster wheel of firefighting, but no-one does anything to intervene and break the cycle.

It’s interesting how many companies are either in denial that there’s a problem or believe the challenge of morale among bus drivers so incurable and long-standing that it’s not even worth addressing. Quite often, when I’ve been asked, in a consultancy capacity, to speak to drivers and their supervisors and diagnose what’s going wrong, managers tend www.passengertransport.co.uk

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to shoot the messenger, however diplomatic I might be. Or, they will belittle the feedback provided, as though it must be wrong because it came from bus drivers and there are a few notorious ‘trouble-makers’ out there.

Officialdom berates drivers for not performing but they just expect them to know what to do. They don’t even bother producing guidelines or customer service standards. If management aren’t doing that, then how else are they spending their time? It’s incredible how the views of drivers and their immediate superiors can be rubbished by the same people who love nothing better than posing on social media with these ‘salt of the earth’ characters in a depot. When it suits.

Supervisors or depot allocators are those that I feel most for, expected to lead by example yet paid less than the drivers they manage and given very little, if any, of the training that is required for their roles. Drivers return all energised from their own training, only for the smile to be wiped off their face by a cynical supervisor who hasn’t even been briefed about the training and is resentful that they’ve not themselves been deemed worthy enough to benefit from such development.

There are some exceptions - I’m currently in the midst of running a training programme for depot allocators in one of the more forwardthinking owning groups and it’s noticeable how appreciative attendees are at receiving such positive focus. It’s incredible, though, that so little thought is given to this key role across the industry. Supervisors or depot allocators, depending on the organisational set-up, are, in many cases, led by duty managers or depot operations managers who are almost as badly equipped, receiving very little in the way of leadership training and having been promoted because they were either the only applicants or they have the least blemished record in supervisory or team leader roles of ‘dropping service’, even if they demonstrate none of the other credentials required to lead and inspire a large team of frontline employees. Among this grade of staff, I also see a lot of cloned individuals, scared of speaking out about their own senior leaders, incapable or unwilling to challenge them and their ways of working or their approach to running the business or the culture of the company. The lack of chewing of the fat, or of garnering different ideas, is a real worry. During this period of adversity, I see a lot

of clamming up and fear of the consequences from those lower down the chain.

For duty managers, a proper leadership development programme is the exception rather than the rule. Some of the owning groups have embarked on these, but quite often they fizzle out or simply vanish at the first sign of crisis or organisation change.

They commence with good intentions and include an aspiration of everyone receiving a mentor but I’m yet to see any programme of this kind ever reach a great outcome for the recipients. Quite often not all duty managers benefit in any case, it tends to be the bright youngsters, with their career ahead of them, rather than the old timer who tends to be the person who actually holds it altogether but is sometimes dismissed as being beyond wanting development and investment.

I’ve lost count of the number of job interviews I’ve taken with senior managers who regale me their supposed great leadership skills.

Most of the time it is a sham because the reality is that if you visited their depots and asked the opinion of frontline employees, the response would be the complete opposite. Okay, so, there will be an element which might not be credible, but I’ve spent enough time with bus drivers, for instance, to realise that, in the main, they are an even-handed bunch and pretty rational with their views and they do identify and give positive feedback where it’s deserved.

I’m also a believer in ‘no smoke without fire’ and when I hear of an MD or director running the company from home during the pandemic, it tends not to be too far from the truth.

Leadership isn’t really that difficult and yet decade after decade in the transport sector it goes unmastered and in many cases gets worse with each passing year. Many senior leaders should hang their heads in shame and yet they just stand by and do nothing, except convincing themselves that a once in a while, ‘tea and toast drop-in session’ in the canteen constitutes inspirational leadership. Then, they wonder why morale genuinely has never been so low. It’s pathetic really.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Alex Warner has over 28 years’ experience in the transport sector, having held senior roles on a multi-modal basis across the sector

25 February 2022 | 21

23/02/2022 17:10

COMMENT

NICK RICHARDSON

Are electric cars the way forward?

Government advice advocates the mass adoption of electric vehicles but skims over some of the potential problems A 2021 publication by the government’s Office for Zero Emission Vehicles (OZEV) was headed Common misconceptions about electric vehicles as a promotional brochure for anyone thinking about purchasing one. It is aimed to debunk some populist views by heralding EVs as the answer to everything.

However, no context is provided i.e. that replacing all cars (diesel and petrol) with cars (electric) does nothing for traffic congestion or parking pressures. It glosses over problems, notably that noxious gases will still emanate from energy production and emissions from brake pad and tyre wear continue. It also conveniently misses the point that only betteroff people can afford an electric car and most of them have at least one other car anyway.

Putting it bluntly, EVs are for the wealthy and not for the masses, but represent a significant threat to passenger transport. While this is expected to change over time, it could be some way off even if targets are in place for ending the sale of conventional vehicles. As we have seen with recent sharp rises in energy costs, no-one mentions restraining consumption.

Misconceptions If you believe what OZEV is saying, then utopia beckons. Perhaps its name change from ‘Office for Low Emission Vehicles’ makes a statement of its own although sadly it all seems to be about cars and personal mobility rather than buses and mass transit.

Some of the separate ‘misconceptions’ can 22 | 25 February 2022 PT259p22-23.indd 22

be considered in more detail: EVs don’t have the battery range needed - range is improving with 200+ miles on one charge being possible. This makes sense but the OZEV report states that 99% of journeys in England are under 100 miles; EVs are too expensive - new cars costing under £35,000 are eligible for a government grant of £2,500; reassuring for anyone who can afford it. One offer is the Nissan LEAF, described as ‘The 100% electric family car’ which has a starting price of £26,995. The rhetoric for this particular vehicle extols ‘the perfect expression of smart and sustainable Nissan Intelligent Mobility, leaving you energised with the future of dynamic driving’. I’m not sure what this means or how intelligent it really is; The battery will need replacing every five years - this too is expected to improve but as experience with hybrid buses has shown, time will tell’; Materials used in batteries come from questionable sources - described carefully as ‘challenges in ensuring their transparency and sustainability’ which is in part mitigated by recycling and research. For ‘challenge’ read ‘lack of’; Batteries can’t be recycled - apparently true but producers are obligated to take back EV batteries for free for disposal, whatever that means. Creating battery banks of units that are past their prime seems reasonable rather than simply disposing of them somehow. At some point this implies vast heaps of old batteries in the same way that disposing of old tyres

presents large scale difficulties; Building an EV generates more carbon emissions than using it - taking a whole-life approach suggests otherwise but the lifespan of an EV is unknown. This is certainly the case with electric buses which, with less to maintain, could last considerably longer than a diesel or hybrid bus; The electricity grid won’t cope - it is predicted that 15 to 20% of total electricity demand by 2050 will be for EV recharging. This is potentially a massive problem because someone, probably the consumer, will have to pay for big upgrades. Again there seems to be a rush to create items that consume power rather than save it; More underground cables will be needed electricity providers are supposed to ensure that sufficient capacity is available; and EVs can’t be driven or charged in the rain apparently they are waterproof.

Intelligent mobility?

There are associated problems such as the restricted supply of microchips that has been stalling car production, especially in competition with the multitude of items based on the internet of things. What happens to simple and reliable products when we are drifting towards artificially intelligent fridges and washing machines?

It seems that EVs are the salvation, but a lot depends on the extent to which electricity can be generated sustainably and connected to charging points. OZEV reckons that public charging points will be available so that people without off-street parking can use EVs as much as anyone else. I suggest that this won’t work for the residents of tower blocks, but maybe this won’t matter because they can’t afford an EV in the first place. No doubt in more resourceful communities, any spare electricity cable in the street will be redeployed to good effect rather than staying plugged into a vehicle. In fact the rush to install chargers has created a lot of footway hazards in the form of boxes and cables, not to mention the EVs themselves that need a space to wait while thy are charging.

Why does all this matter? Because easy and cheap motoring is the antithesis of a comprehensive and efficient passenger transport network. The impact of EVs may be tempered by the fact that only wealthier www.passengertransport.co.uk

23/02/2022 17:11

IN ASSOCIATION WITH: www.ciltuk.org.uk Tel: 01536 740100 @ciltuk

It seems that EVs are the salvation but a lot depends on the extent to which electricity can be generated sustainably

people can use them but these are often not typical bus users or to some extent train users.

In developing countries where the majority of road vehicles are in a shocking state, the concept of EVs must be like science fiction and is certainly beyond the reach of the great majority of citizens.

Rationing innovation The rise of electric buses is interesting, notably those fleets that have made the connection between sustainable energy production and efficient vehicles. This also highlights the fragility of our energy networks - any extra demand, not least another 20% - cannot be guaranteed. If everyone boils a kettle at the same time, something has to give, so large numbers of EVs charging overnight could be challenging. Having said that, millions of mobile phones are charged on a daily basis, the effects of which are opaque.

The populist perception that electricity is emission-free and plentiful hides some inconvenient truths. How power is generated is a fundamental issue for every economy and while wind, hydro and solar are sustainable, we have discovered that fossil fuel power is not only anti-environmental but can be hugely costly as well. The stop-gap seems to be nuclear, something of a disaster when the www.passengertransport.co.uk

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“The road transport sector needs to re-think how it functions and change” power generated will cost three times that of current supplies, not to mention the thorny problem of decommissioning power stations when no-one has found a satisfactory way to store nuclear waste beyond piling it up in Cumbria.

On the issue of research and continuous improvement, there needs to be some sort of prioritisation given that governments are allowing the market to devise the best solutions. Surely the pandemic has shown that some vehicle movements are essential - buses and coaches (not just for key workers), delivery vehicles and other vital activities. The driver shortage has been aired for the road haulage sector but has also been a problem for buses and coaches for many years, a combination of demographics, delays for driving tests, loss of European staff and the relatively poor wages and working conditions. The road transport sector needs to re-think how it functions and change, not least to take advantage of the benefits of electric vehicles.

Buses can now be near-silent, efficient, fully

accessible and comfortable but it seems that mass car ownership can offer the same but without people having to share their space with anyone else. The real challenge is to promote bus and coach services as being better than cars, not simply emulating them. With research grants, prioritisation and practical experimentation arising from a push by government, electric buses could lead the way.

In parallel we have hydrogen fuel cell vehicles in practice, but this also needs to develop further and sourcing the fuel remains a difficulty, particularly as the process of making fuel cells uses three times as much electricity as an electric vehicle. In some areas, biogas works very well and some bus operators may be rushing in the direction of electrification prematurely. While the transport problem is a big one, the sustainable energy problem is even bigger.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Nick Richardson is Technical Principal at transport consultancy Mott MacDonald, chair of CILT’s Bus and Coach Policy Group and a former chair of the Transport Planning Society. In addition, he has held a PCV licence for over 30 years.

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23/02/2022 17:59

“I think it’s time we had an honest debate about the funding of public transport”

COMMENT

GREAT MINSTER GRUMBLES

Who’d want to be transport secretary?

Our Whitehall insider imagines what’s going on inside the minds of the mandarins at Great Minster House, home of the DfT

There are some big issues confronting transport ministers, and right now I’m not convinced anybody has the answers as to how they will be resolved. Grant Shapps may have told the prime minister back in the summer of 2019 that he really wanted to be secretary of state for transport, but right now I would imagine he just can’t wait for the next full scale reshuffle which, subject to the outcome of the Metropolitan Police investigation into “partygate”, may not be carried out by the current incumbent of No 10 (although my private hunch is that Boris Johnson will wriggle out of this).

The first issue that has to be resolved - and resolved soon - is just how much money is the Treasury willing to spend on subsidising the rail and bus sectors? The reality is that if politicians want to maintain a high degree of service levels, with cheaper fares that encourage modal shift, then the ultimate bill for the taxpayer is going to be way higher than I suspect the Treasury is currently willing to contemplate. The Rail Delivery Group (RDG) has highlighted the long-term dilemma by recently pointing out that while passenger journeys will be 4.7% higher in 2025 than before the pandemic, it will be 6.6% lower than if the pandemic had never hit. I find this curious because, as I recall, passenger numbers were already starting to show signs of levelling off even before Covid arrived. So quite why the RDG was expecting that kind of growth is a little puzzling.

The same is true for buses, where the www.passengertransport.co.uk

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commercial market is bound to shrink, and shrink quite dramatically in the absence of increased long-term subsidy. So, given that the chancellor of the exchequer has made clear that it is his intention to reduce taxes before the next general election I can’t see how the Treasury is ever going to be able to agree to a sustained period of subsidy for the public transport industry. Ministers may be between a rock and a hard place, but at some point harsh reality is going to kick in.

There are solutions of course, but none of them are politically palatable. At the extreme end of the spectrum we could put a halt to the current rail reforms and re-privatise the railways by selling off Network Rail - assuming

anybody actually would want to buy it of course - and return to the days of real franchised rail services. That might raise a lot of cash. And as part of any road pricing proposal that might emerge we could also sell off the strategic road network and allow the new owners and operators of the network to retain the income that road pricing raises. You probably think I’m mad or on drugs, but selling off the strategic road network has been proposed before.

All I’m really trying to do is to point out that the options facing ministers today are unpleasant and politically unpalatable.

They either have to accept reality and cut public transport services, or they have to maintain high levels of subsidy to retain current service levels - or they have to raise private sector money to avoid both those options. Service cuts are politically difficult and unpopular. High levels of subsidy are politically difficult and unpopular because it means paying more tax than we might otherwise do. But privatisation is also very unpopular - and therefore politically difficult.

So what to do? The reality is there is no easy answer, and perhaps no answer at all. Or at least no answer that is politically acceptable. Being secretary of state for transport is arguably one of the hardest cabinet jobs on offer, perhaps alongside home secretary and chancellor of the exchequer. Your decisions as transport secretary affect everybody in this country in a way that most other cabinet posts do not - and they affect everybody, everyday. Every decision you take will please one part of the electorate, and displease the other part. Sometimes it will displease everybody - such as the annual increase in rail fares, even if as taxpayers we should recognise that if fares don’t go up, then either services get cut or taxes go up.

In my last column I commended the Transport Select Committee for calling for an honest public debate on the merits of road pricing. I think it’s time we had an honest debate about the funding of public transport too. Does the electorate want a first class, gold-plated public transport system and is it willing to pay for it through fares or taxes, or is it prepared to accept a second, even third-rate public transport system instead? Answers on a postcard please!

So when the next secretary of state for transport says he or she wanted the job, my response will be simple. I won’t believe it.

25 February 2022 | 25

23/02/2022 17:59

CAREERS

Medlicott back to his routes Soon to retire Stagecoach bus boss returns to the depot where he started his career in 1983 Retiring Stagecoach Yorkshire managing director Phil Medlicott got back to his roots earlier this month with a visit to Birkenhead’s Rock Ferry bus depot. The facility is where he first started his career on the buses 39 years ago.

Medlicott, who will be retiring next month, began his career in the bus industry in 1983 as a cash clerk with Crosville Motor Services at Rock Ferry depot. He moved on to become a driver, after taking his test at Chester depot in 1985.

He eventually joined Stagecoach in 2000 as operations director of Stagecoach South and then held managing director roles at Warwickshire, South East and North East. After spending two years as managing director of First Manchester, Medlicott returned to Stagecoach in 2018 to head up its business in the Midlands, before being appointed managing director of Stagecoach Yorkshire in February 2020 Medlicott with the Crosville Leyland National

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During his visit, Stagecoach colleagues gave Medlicott a tour of the depot and as a surprise had a preserved former Crosville Leyland National bus on hand as well as the old Almex and Setright ticket machines he would have been familiar with during his driving days. The bus destination screen contained a special message to commemorate Medlicott’s retirement.

Matt Davies, managing director of Stagecoach Merseyside and South Lancashire, who manages the Birkenhead depot, said: “It was great to be able to give Phil an opportunity to see where he started his career almost 40 years ago. Phil will be missed by us all, and we were happy to give him a great send-off from Birkenhead!”

Medlicott added: “What a brilliant trip down memory lane! It was great to go back to the place where it all started and relive some of my earlier memories on the buses.

“I’ve had a really enjoyable and rewarding career in the bus industry and most of it has been as part of the Stagecoach family.

In all of the roles that I’ve had, what has stood out for me has been the people I have been fortunate to work with, from our fantastic frontline employees to the great support teams and managers around them. I’ve made many life-long friends along the way, and I’d like to thank everybody for their kind wishes and for all the surprises they had for me at Birkenhead!”

APPOINTMENTS STAGECOACH Stagecoach has announced that Janine Summers will be taking up the role of regional director north from early March. She will succeed Michelle Hargreaves, who will be retiring in the summer after a 35-year career with the group.

Summers (pictured) joined Stagecoach in early 2021 as commercial operations director leading Stagecoach Solutions, the Perth-based group’s bespoke transport solutions business covering corporate, on-demand and educational transport services and ticketing.

She has held senior positions at Virgin Media and Sky. As retail director at Sky, Stagecoach says she played “a fundamental part in transforming the look and feel of the retail portfolio of stores to a more customer centric approach”.

She was also responsible for Sky’s ‘Women in Home Service’ programme, offering female engineers career and development opportunities.

STAGECOACH Stagecoach has announced the appointment of Julie Wilson as head of customer service. She will manage the group’s new consolidated customer contact centre in Perth.

Wilson (pictured) has worked in contact centres since 1996, when she started as an advisor in British Gas and quickly progressed into management roles, spanning customer service, sales, and learning and development management roles, with British Gas, Sky, Heineken and more recently People’s Energy.

NETWORK RAIL Network Rail has announced the appointment of Rob Morton as the new managing director for Route Services. He succeeds Susan Cooklin, who is leaving the infrastructure controller in March after 16 years.

Morton (pictured) joined Network Rail as supply chain director in June 2017. He previously held senior roles with Centrica (British Gas parent company) and LogicaCMG. Network Rail says that over the past five years, Morton has spearheaded Network Rail’s relationships and commercial arrangements with suppliers, led a supply chain cost reduction programme that saved £330m, and improved Network Rail’s logistics capability to levels comparable with the best retail and manufacturing operations.

TRANSDEV BLAZEFIELD Harrogate-based bus operator Transdev Blazefield has announced the appointment of Sam Cockburn as its new engineering manager.

Cockburn (pictured) started his career as one of the first two engineering apprentices at the operator in 2001. Since then he has held a variety of roles with Transdev Blazefield. In October 2019 he moved to a coach operator based near York, but soon returned to Transdev as an acting supervisor.

Cockburn last month completed his transport manager CPC, a qualification Transdev says makes him an ideal candidate to lead the Harrogate engineering team.

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CALL NOW TO ADVERTISE 020 3950 8000 or email sales@passengertransport.co.uk

Further changes to Arriva’s management Group streamlines UK bus division management Arriva has announced a further contraction of the management tiers of its UK bus business. It will see the group’s entire operation in the hands of just four regional managing directors.

Although the group has not responded to a request to confirm the changes, a notice to staff from Marcos Hart, operations director of the UK bus division seen by Passenger Transport, confirms Howard Farrall will lead the North West and Wales area; Gavin Peace will lead North East and Yorkshire; and Simon

Mathieson will lead the Midlands and South. Alex Jones will continue to lead the London area.

The restructuring means that both Simon Finnie, the regional MD for the South of England, and Michael Morton, who led the Welsh bus operation, will leave the group on February 28.

Meanwhile, Patrick Sibley, area managing director at Arriva Yorkshire, has also taken the decision to leave the UK bus division, but will remain with the group for an interim period in order to support the transition to the new management structure.

Morton has had “a long and distinguished career” in the bus industry and has held a number

of senior roles since the late 1990s. These have included managing director roles at municipals Blackpool Transport and Blackburn Transport before joining Arriva.

Finnie joined Arriva in 2001 as a project manager and he has held a number of operational positions since then. These have included assistant operations manager at Speke depot in Liverpool before moving on to other roles in Merseyside, Wales, Yorkshire and the Midlands before taking on the role of area managing director of operations in the South.

Sibley joined Arriva as a graduate trainee in 2008 and has held a variety of roles since then.

ARRIVA MIDLANDS APPOINTMENTS Network manager positions created

Arriva has strengthened its commercial team in the Midlands with the appointment of two network managers.

Ryan Charlton takes on the role of network manager for Leicester, Milton Keynes and Buckinghamshire, supporting area head of commercial Toby France, while Matt King takes up the post of network manager for Derbyshire and the West Midlands supporting area head of commercial Richard Emery.

Both joined the group in the latter part of 2021 and they have worked on a range of projects across the region as part of the induction process. With that phase now completed, the two recruits took up area based positions on a permanent basis this month.

ONLINE VACANCIES Visit - passengertransport.co.uk - for information about these roles: Scottish Rail Holdings | Capital Projects and Other Projects Lead Customer Experience and Community Engagement Officer Rail Management Lead Active and Sustainable Travel Officer Culture and People Lead Transport for Wales | Timetable Strategy Manager Advertise your vacancy online for only £150, or online AND in print from just £250!

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DIVERSIONS

Go-Ahead coach has a ticket to Ryde Former Isle of Wight coach has a new life in Zambia A coach has completed its epic journey from the Isle of Wight in the UK to Lusaka in Zambia where it will have a new life helping to train drivers in a bid to ensure public transport journeys are safer across Sub-Saharan Africa.

The former Southern Vectis Irizar coach was donated to Transaid by Poole-based Go-Ahead subsidiary Go South Coast. The transport charity provides driving and maintenance training across Africa.

The coach travelled for over

It must be love

LOVE ON THE NATEX BUSES

Valentines Day 2021 was something of a non-starter - after all the country was in varying states of lockdown and it was more of a case of ‘Roses are red,

a month for 4,900 miles via road and sea. It reached the Lusaka International Training Centre in Zambia in December and it was

‘Is this the mainland?’

violets are blue, tonight we’re having an M&S ready meal for two’, rather than a deep commitment to unbridled, passionate romance.

This year, thankfully, things were a little different, despite the obvious continuing repercussions of the pandemic. And perhaps bearing in mind the current cost of living crisis, National Express West Midlands offered thrifty lovers the chance to save on a romantic St. Valentines night out; anyone who bought an ‘Evening Saver’ bus ticket on the National

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officially unveiled at a special launch event earlier this month.

The coach is the second vehicle Go-Ahead companies have donated to the ITC in recent years. A former Go-Ahead London single-decker bus joined the training facility’s fleet of vehicles in 2019.

It’s a long way from Ventnor...

EXPIRY DATE

Express app on the evening of Valentines Day could bring an extra person with them - for free!

As the operator noted: what’s not to love with a fare deal like that?

Reviewing the terms and conditions, commercial director Chris Gibbens said the free plus one didn’t actually have to be a romantic date - it could have been your ‘galentine’, your best mate, or even your mum.

Perhaps a case of ‘Buses are red, buses are blue, I got a free m-ticket, so I’d like to have a cheap Valentines night out with you’?

Is it copper wire or just a bone?

SNIFFING OUT THE METAL THIEVES Network Rail has revealed it’s now using specially trained sniffer dogs to track down metal thieves on the Chiltern main line and key West Midlands rail routes.

Working with canine recruits from Search Dogs UK, the clever pooches can sniff out metal impregnated with SelectaDNA, a permanent synthetic solution only visible under special police torches that also has a unique scent the dogs can detect.

“We’re always looking at new ways to crack down on criminals and now we have man’s best friend on the case too,” commented Andrea Graham, Network Rail’s area head of crime and security.

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