Agendas, Meetings and Minutes - Agenda item

Agenda item

Notices of Motion - Notice of Motion 2 - County Bus Services (Agenda item 6)

Minutes:

The Council had before it a Notice of Motion set out in the agenda papers standing in the names of Mr R C Lunn, Mr P Denham, Mr P M McDonald, Mr R M Udall, Ms P Agar and Ms C M Stalker.

 

The motion was moved by Mr R C Lunn and seconded by Mr P Denham who both spoke in favour of it.

 

The Council agreed to deal with the motion on the day.

 

In the debate, the following principal points were raised:

 

·         The aim of the Notice of Motion was to increase bus usage and thereby encourage bus companies to extend service provision. There were examples elsewhere in the country where bus services operated successfully, for example the Channel Islands. There was no reason why this Council could not learn from such examples. The Council should consider: asking bus companies to put on more services at peak work-related times; encourage smaller bus companies to take up routes; provide help/expertise to bus companies to run on time; unblock obstacles on urban routes; and encourage bus companies to listen to users

·         Unless car drivers were encouraged to use buses, service provision would continue to decline. Reducing subsidies did not make economic sense as it led to increased car usage and associated congestion and pollution. This Council needed to help bus companies run better services by unblocking bus lanes and improve marketing and communications

·         The Cabinet Member with Responsibility for Highways accepted the motion on behalf of the administration. The Council had a good relationship with First Bus and consequently the no 30 and 35 bus services had been reprieved. A first class bus service was expected from all bus operators. The Council was already improving reliability and marketing, providing real-time information, removing parking and bus lane obstacles, addressing issues with utility companies, introducing traffic lights management and a congestion programme, co-ordinating bus timetables/schedules and integrating them with train timetables, and providing greater ticket flexibility. The school run was a particular obstacle and parents should be encouraged to walk their children to school

·         This Council should act as a "critical friend" for bus users. Bus company operational matters seemed to be prioritised over customer needs

·         Congestion led to incremental loss of time which led to reduced services and thereby reduced confidence in bus services as a whole, resulting in the erosion of the bus network

·         Some parents were unable to walk children to school because of work commitments

·         Overall bus services in the county were really poor. In particular, bus provision in the north of the county was unreliable with buses prone to break-down.

 

On being put to the vote, the motion was unanimously agreed.

 

Council RESOLVED "Council calls on the Cabinet Member with Responsibility for Highways to consider presenting a report to Cabinet, which should include a series of proposals to improve usage, reduce fares and remove some of the main obstacles that slow down buses.

 

As the County Council are unfortunately not allowed by Government legislation to run its own bus services, we are keen to encourage more people to use the services in the county as this is the best antidote to further service cuts.

 

We also urge the Cabinet Member to constantly request the very highest standards of service from the county's bus providers and to consider providing an annual report to Cabinet on the relationship between the Council and bus providers and on ways he can encourage and improve the public transport service within the county"