Meeting Title

The York Enhanced Partnership for Buses Forum

Date / Time

Friday 10th November 2023 14:00-16:00

Location

City of York Council, West Offices, York

Attendees

Keith McNally (KM)


Cllr Pete Kilbane (PK)

Cllr Stephen Fenton (SFE)

Dave Merrett (DM)

David Beer (DB)

Niall McFerran (NM)

Mike Longhurst (ML)

Flick Williams (FW)

Andrew Fozzard (AF)

Sam Fryers (SFR)

Joanne Waddington (JW)

George Wood (GW)

Cllr Rachel Melly (RM)

Richard Hampton (RH)

Andy D’Agorne (ADA)

Cllr Michael Nicholls (MN)

Danielle Hudson (DH)

Confederation for Passenger Transport, ODG Chair and stand-in Forum Chair

CYC (Labour Group)

CYC (Lib Dem Group)

York & District Trades Union Council

Transport Focus

York Bus Forum

Dodsworth Area Residents Association

York Disability Forum

First Bus

City of York Council (CYC)

City of York Council (CYC)

York Older Peoples Assembly

CYC (Labour Group)

City of York Council (CYC)

York Green Party

CYC (Conservative Group)

City of York Council (CYC)

Apologies

Lara Thompson (LT)

Andrew McGuinness (AMG)

Andrew Mortimer (AM)

City of York Council (CYC)

Confederation Passenger Transport (Forum Chair)

Badger Hill Residents Community Group

Circulation

Attendees & Apologies

Minutes By

Danielle Hudson and Joanne Waddington

Item

Discussion

 

1.0

Introductions and Apologies

 

1.1

KM introduced the meeting and explained that due to AMG not being available he had been invited to stand in as chair.

DH and JW listed the apologies.

 

1.2

DM stated that he was not here as a councillor but as a representative of York and District Trades Union Council. Due to Member Interest rules, all emails should be sent to his private email not councillor email so there is no confusion.

JW confirmed this would be addressed.

ACTION: DH to update all meeting invites and the EP contacts database with the correct details for DM. 

 

 

 

 

2

Matters arising

 

2.1

ADA mentioned annual review comment on EP Forum minutes.
SFR Explained the requirement from government to review BSIP once a year (End of October). EP also needs to be reviewed once a year (End of March).

 

2.2

DM noted that the notice period for changing the meeting date was not satisfactory. JW apologised for the inconvenience caused by the change, which was communicated on 01.11.2023 when a Chair for the meeting was secured. DM stated that due to the incorrect email address being used for him the date change was not seen, plus the agenda being circulated 2 days before the meeting was not satisfactory.

JW acknowledged the complaint and stated that, with an new EP Officer in post, CYC aim to circulate draft minutes within 1 week of each meeting and send agendas 1 week ahead.

 

2.3

FW queried item 2.1 in ODG minutes regarding reporting back on wheelchair spaces on buses. JW stated discussions with First are ongoing on this matter.

FW asks operators to gather data on refusals for wheelchair users.

JW stated First had reported 5 instances having been recorded in York over a 12 month period where a wheelchair user was unable to travel due to another wheelchair user already being onboard.

AF advised First are recording these instances and there is a process in place so if there is a wheelchair user waiting on for the bus the driver of the next bus will be aware so they can assist.

ACTION: December agenda to include an update on wheelchair spaces on new EV buses, plus information about how operators record instances where wheelchair users have not been able to board.

JW & DH

2.4

JW asked to add extra item onto agenda for an update on “Your bus journey” from DB.

 

 

 

 

3

DB shares slides on “Your bus journey”, the annual passenger survey carried out by Transport Focus. Shared with Minutes

DH

3.1

Questions following Your bus journey presentation:

 

GW - is there anything that may tell us how long people have been using the bus for and if there has been a change in habit?

DB - that will be in the mix as to when people last used the bus service etc.

 

NM - asked DB if he would like to address York Bus Forum?

DB – potentially yes, it would depend on timings. NM to email DB to confirm.

 

NM - how many respondents to survey?

DB - 1000 over the year, around 500 for York.

 

NM where were the surveys carried out? All in city centre or spread through area?

DB - All over the city at all times of day.

 

DM - do we have a comparison with previous years?

DB - This is the first time the exercise has been done using this format. All previous information is available to the public on the Transport Focus website.

 

RM - did you collect demographic data for questions such as Male and Female?

DB – Yes, this is all gathered.

 

FW - does the research look specifically at issues with bus stop by-passes and shared use bus boarders, there are safety concerns from people with impaired vision.

DB - not in this piece of work but Transport Focus is doing a study in Wales. Will be published early next year.

NM/DB

 

 

 

4.0

October ODG meeting questions

 

4.1

SFR advised that further funding has been made available by DfT following the announcement of the northern leg of HS2 being cancelled. £1.1 million of this will be allocated to CYC for the next financial year. Decision will need to be made in regard to how this is going to be distributed. CYC submits quarterly spreadsheet reports to DFT regarding BSIP spend.

ACTION: JW going to confirm that the DfT spreadsheets can be made public.

JW

4.2

ADA asked what the reports to DfT are for?

SFR advised that reports are project led, DfT is asking for BSIP spend per project, not detailed progress regarding individual BSIP objectives- which would only need to provided for the final report in 2025. There is an EP commitment to produce an annual report to the Executive Member, we will look into this in January.

 

4.3

DM asked if there was likely to be further investment of this type following the end of the current BSIP funding period. Is there an update on post-2025 funding?

SFR stated that following announcement of HS2 cancellation, £700million has been allocated to Local Transport Authorities in the north. CYC is expected to receive £1.1m of this from government for the next financial year, in addition to the existing BSIP funding. Similar annual amounts are expected for the next 5-7 years.  This funding will be paid to the new combined authority once it has been formed, and is separate from the existing BSIP funding.

 

4.4

SFE noted the network review in the ODG minutes- good to see it is progressing. Will there be a chance to sense check before we issue? A way to involve elected members in the future.

SFR stated that if any service withdrawals are proposed as a result of the review, residents will be consulted.

 

4.5

ADA expressed concern that the review is focusing on subsidised route but there is no word in BSIP regarding new routes for new developments e.g. Germany Beck.

 

SFR advised that Section 106 developer funding has now been received for Germany Beck. The intention is for this to be used to connect services 25/26 to the new development, subject to contract discussions with Transdev. KM stated that it was important to consider people who are reliant on access to bus services.

SFR

4.6

ADA stated there was no mention of money being spent on advertising key routes, there is mention of a marketing tender but doesn’t look like much has been done apart from social media.

JW noted a range of channels have been used to market fares initiatives, including radio advetisements and social media output.

ADA asked if the measures were being monitored to see if marketing is actually working. JW noted that the marketing agency will assist us with this.

JW

4.7

NM encouraged CYC to do more as smaller companies do not have the money to spend on marketing. NM complained of a lack of operational delivery from the ODG, minutes do not show much happening apart from £90k spend for additional bus service support.  JW advised that plans for additional fares support are being worked on and infrastructure projects are in development using funding secured at earlier ODG meetings.

KM confirmed there is work going on and progress on many items is shown within the minutes.

 

4.6

DM asked for a report to the Forum to show progress on each BSIP component so the group can track what is going on.

KM asked what details the group would like to see.

DM advised that a quarterly business plan will suffice.

SFR advised that the quarterly report to DFT should fulfil this request, providing DfT are happy with it being shared. Confirm is DFT report is sharable JW & SFR.

JW & SFR

4.7

NM would like to see business plan for the £17.3 million with detail to see what is happening. JW to provide progress update to next meeting

JW

4.8

PK would like to have a passenger stakeholder on the ODG.

 

 

 

 

5

Questions for bus operators

 

5.1

NM is concerned about floating timetables and would prefer a return to clock-face times so passengers know when to expect buses.

AF to discuss with networking and scheduling team.

NM would urge First to reconsider their recent decision, as not all demographic of people have access to phones or the eyesight to read timetables.

RM stated that many bus users rely on buses being at regular intervals.

ADA suggested that if timing is an issue maybe we should review the congestion points.

PK stated that congestion points are being looked at to make sure buses are reliable.

JW advised that BSIP funding is being used to deliver new real-time screens, which will include audio technology for those with visual impairments.

ML asked for timetable changes to be better communicated so people are aware.

AF to look into how service changes are communicated to residents.

ML stated we need to bear this in mind for Christmas.

AF

5.2

DM stated there are continuous problems with Coastliner reliability, which is undermining customer confidence.

SFR stated this has been discussed at the Performance Group- the success of £2 fare has caused capacity issues for Coastliner, major works on Tadcaster road have impacted reliability.  Punctuality has improved since weekly meetings started with the Tadcaster Road team.

SF

 

 

 

6

Questions for ODG chair.

 

6.1

DM - consultant proposes ‘Terminating some services short of the city centre to avoid more congested areas.’ What does this mean and how does this impact people making cross city journeys?

SFR advised that consultants were given a very broad brief to come up with different ideas for the network, however officers understand that not all their suggestions will be workable or desirable in practice.

 

6.2

DM -  bus stop kept being moved around on Tadcaster Rd, causing people to be missed by the bus driver. At one point the temporary stop was moved onto a hill with a steep drop to get onto the bus.

SFR stated we are now holding weekly meeting with the works organiser to address issues. Please let officers know about any new issues as we may not always be aware.

JW lessons learnt to discuss with works originators.

KM - may be worth looking into putting more information on the web

JW

6.3

DM asked if the Forum could have presentations on Park & Ride, Network review, city centre access review?

JW stated that there will be consultations when proposals have been developed.

ADA stated that overnight parking at P&R would be welcomed at this time of year. JW advised progress is being made and will provide update at next meeting.

JW

 

 

 

7

How to widen representation on Forum

 

7.1

JW noted ADG’s concern that young people in full-time education cannot attend due to timings of meetings, as well as a lack of representation from Visit York and the BID.

KM advised there has been a struggle to find additional representation.

DM said it would be ideal to have some after school meetings.

PK advised Lara Thornton will be well placed to help with getting recruitment. It was agreed that every third meetings would take place from 4-6pm.

JW to implement. Avoid Thursday due to council decision meetings usually being at that time.

DH

 

 

 

8

Marketing group update

 

8.1

JW stated that marketing group will meet next week. Operators to be asked to do more to promote awareness of All York tickets. Promotion of services in run-up to Christmas also on the agenda. Tender for marketing agency to support BSIP to be issued in November.

ADA stated that First are running later buses to Askham bar but only on Saturday evening. 20.15 is the latest bus on Thursday and Friday. Also, hours for all park and ride sites are is not very clear.

AF advised that four P&R routes are increasing frequency to every 10 mins at weekends until Christmas. AF will look at raising awareness of closing times.

NM Can we use electronic road signs promote park and ride? JW we will look into this.

ML Can we have later P&R buses for theatre performances like we do for York City games? AF we will look into it to support local businesses.

AF & JW

 

 

 

9

AOB

 

9.1

NM would be interested to know if wheelchairs cannot get access to bus due to pushchairs. AF he will look into it and feed back to us.

NM asked why there are so many timetable changes.

AF

9.2

FW would like to know the number of occasions when wheelchairs are unable to gain access due to other wheelchairs users already on the bus. FW doubts the previously quoted data so would like to know a true figure. This has happened to FW at least 3 times in the last year.  

PK stated concerns about queuing at stops in busy areas, eg. Clifford St. Please let PK know if anyone notices this.

 

9.3

JW noted some attendees may have the 16th November meeting in diary- please can we disregard this, we can not delete the invite as the CYC colleague who created it has left the organisation.

Date of next meeting: 13th December 2023 10:00-12:00.

 

 

Meeting closed.