Issue - decisions
Response to operator request for short-term extension to service 13 funding.
06/06/2024 - Response to operator request for short-term extension to service 13 funding.
Since COVID bus passenger numbers on some
routes have remained below pre-COVID levels.
As a result of this and increased operating costs, Connexions
Buses, the commercial operator of service 13 (Copmanthorpe to Haxby
West Nooks) announced their intention to reduce the weekday bus
resource on this route from 4 buses to 3 from Oct 2023.
Council officers were advised that the service would remain
half-hourly but no longer serve Flaxman Croft (Copmanthorpe) or
West Nooks (Haxby). To delay the change, in order to allow
sufficient time to complete a review of its tendered network, the
Council began funding the service at a cost of
£450/day.
At Executive on 20th Feb 2024, a decision was made to withdraw this
funding at the end of May and to seek a lower-cost alternative to
maintain a service to West Nooks. It was decided that there were no
affordable alternatives to maintain a service to Flaxman Croft.
Arrangements have subsequently been put in place with First York to
operate an approximately hourly variation to service 1 (numbered
1A), at a cost of £270/day from BSIP to service West
Nooks
The operator (Connexions), has approached the Council and advised
that their new 3-bus half-hourly timetable is proving to be
extremely unreliable and that attempting to continue with it would
carry a high risk of the entire service 13 ceasing to operate in
the coming weeks. In order to avoid a repeat scenario of
introducing an unreliable timetable, Connexions have advised that
it will take some time to properly draw up a workable 3-bus
schedule.
As part of this request, the operator has asked CYC for a
continuation of financial support until the timetable change date
at the end of the summer school term on 21st July. At a cost of
£450/day, this equates to approximately £16k, which is
currently affordable from BSIP revenue but would reduce the
financial headroom should upcoming tenders prove to be more
expensive than projected.
Whilst CYC could be accused of rewarding a bus operator for poor
planning, the alternatives would have an immediate negative impact
on residents in the affected areas.
The operator has stated that there are a number of pupils using
service 13 to travel to places of education along the route- eg.
Joseph Rowntree, Huntington, All Saints and York College. It will
take some time to quantify that figure- either by analysing the
ticket machine data or manually surveying buses.
Only a small number of residents in West Nooks and Flaxman Croft
would have been affected by the 2nd June change, whereas this issue
now potentially affects the entire route.
Other than the withdrawal of the aforementioned sections, the 20th
Feb Executive report (para. 52) simply committed that “The
majority of the route currently taken by the number 13 will remain
the same.” The operator is now telling the Council this is
now not the case.
Extending the financial support for service 13 until 21st July
would result in a delay to the implementation of the Executive
decision, however the decision to remove weekday financial support
from service 13 would still ultimately be implemented, just seven
weeks later than originally agreed.
The situation that has arisen is an operational based problem that
affects the entire route and could not be foreseen by the matters
considered in the 20th February Executive report. In order to
protect the interests of passengers across the entire route, but
particularly the majority of Copmanthorpe village which would
otherwise be left with no bus service, a quick decision is
essential. It is not possible to convene an Executive Member
Decision Session to consider this matter due to both the pre-
election period and only having a day to confirm arrangements with
the operator.
Implications - Legal:
1. The awarding of the additional temporary subsidy is within the
delegated powers of the Director of Environment, Transport and
Planning
2. The bus service contract must be extended and/or modified in
accordance with the contractual terms and conditions and in
accordance with CYC’s Contract Procedure Rules and the Public
Contracts Regulations 2015.
Comments/Observations:
The service 13 has historically been a commercial service operated
with four busses, with no funding from the Council. In late 2023
the operator declared that the service was no longer financially
viable and wished to reduce the length of the service by no longer
servicing Flaxman Croft and West Nooks which would allow the
operator to deliver the service with three busses.
The Council made a decision to inject short term funding to the
operator to continue the extent of the service so it could be
properly considered by the Council.
At Executive in February 2024, it was determined that to allow the
operator of the 13 to reduce the service and move to a three bus
operation, but that alternative arrangements would be made for West
Nooks, which has been implemented.
The new three bus operation of the service has proven unreliable
and is a poor customer experience. The operator has said they may
withdraw the whole service 13 in response.
The impact of that would be significant on the users of the service
and therefore it is in the Council’s interests to work with
the operator and find a better solution by working with the
operator to deliver the Executives intent from February 2024 by
reviewing the timetabling.
Decision: To extend the implementation date of the Exec Decision,
by continuing the current short-term arrangement with Connexions
until 21st July 2024 in order to allow sufficient time to plan a
workable commercial alternative. Therefore the council will fund
the Flaxman Court and West Nooks elements of the service until the
21st of July