Proposals for 2009 Summer Bus Services.

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A decision made (17/03/09) regarding: Proposals for 2009 Summer Bus Services.

Decision Reference: MD-T-2009-0026
Decision Summary Title :	Proposals for 2009 Summer Bus Services		Date of Decision Summary:	11 March 2009
Decision Summary Author:	Director of Transport		Decision Summary: Public or Exempt? (State clauses from Code of Practice booklet)	Public
Type of Report: Oral or Written?	Written		Person Giving Oral Report:
Written Report Title :	Proposals for 2009 Summer Bus Services		Date of Written Report:	11 March 2009
Written Report Author:	Director of Transport		Written Report : Public or Exempt? (State clauses from Code of Practice booklet)	Public
Subject: 2009 Summer Bus Service: proposals
Decision(s): The Minister, having provisionally approved changes to the summer 2009 bus timetable as shown in Appendix A to the accompanying report, determined that public notice of his provisional decision should be given in accordance with Article 24 of the Motor Traffic (Jersey) Law 1935.
Reason(s) for Decision: The changes being proposed enhance the summer network, remove some routing and timing anomalies, plug some gaps in the schedule and are cost neutral.
Resource Implications: The proposals are cost neutral.
Action required: Advise Connex of the decision. Prepare advertisement to be placed in the Gazette section of the JEP and media release as soon as possible. Circulate proposals to all Constables, Parish Halls and other interested parties. Revert to the Minister for a final decision once the notice period has expired.
Signature:		Position:
Date Signed:		Date of Decision (If different from Date Signed):

Proposals for 2009 Summer Bus Services.

TRANSPORT & TECHNICAL SERVICES

PROPOSALS FOR 2009 SUMMER BUS SERVICES

Purpose of the Report

To seek the ‘in principle’ approval of the Minister to proposals for 2009 summer bus services and to request comments from the public on these proposals.

Background

The Minister has recently approved proposals to the 2009 Island Explorer services (ref MD-T-2009-0025). Unfortunately, work on the main summer schedule had not been completed and deadlines for the commencement of the Island Explorer service meant that the latter needed to be progressed ahead of consideration about the summer network. For future years, these two elements will be put forward and agreed simultaneously so the impact of any changes can be fully appreciated on both services and the public is only asked to comment once on the complete summer network proposals.

TTS and Connex are keen not only to ensure greater efficiency and effectiveness on all the bus services but also to attempt to maintain a base level service running throughout the year which is augmented during the summer by the main summer network as well as the leisure service. This will mean that if a service runs in the winter, the same service at the same time will run in the summer. There are other anomalies within the timetable where some services run in the winter but not in the summer or services at different times follow different routes. All these issues create confusion for the travelling public.

It is not always easy and straightforward to correct these issues but TTS and Connex will continue to work on improvements. The proposals now being put forward include additional services both in the morning and evening, ensure less duplication between services (especially in regard to the Island Explorer) and simplifies services by following the same routing.

Discussion

The proposals are set out in Appendix A where each change is detailed and the reason for the change explained. The key changes are as follows:

An additional commuter service will operate on Route 15 at 08.10 in the morning which fills a gap commented on by members of the public from this area. This service will also run as an ‘Express’ along Victoria Avenue which it is hoped will encourage passengers from west of Bel Royal because it is non-stopping into St Helier. If this is successful, TTS will be suggesting additional services are run as Expresses – both morning and evening. This will not reduce current capacity along the Inner Road – in fact if existing passengers transfer to this new service, extra capacity on current services will exist. In order to provide the resources for this additional service, it is proposed that Route 7B at 16.30 from Greve de Lecq is withdrawn. This area is adequately served by the Route 9 and the Red Island Explorer.

Additional services from St Aubin to St Helier will operate at 09.15 (Monday-Friday) which is a popular time for visitors to journey into town and also at 21.45 and 22.50 on Friday and Saturday nights. These services were operated last year but not timetabled – they are required to serve busy periods on this route and will be even better used when the services are included in the timetable.

In order to provide some consistency between the summer and winter schedules, it is proposed that Service 3B at 10.50 and 13.50 are withdrawn and replaced by Service 23. The latter will serve Grand Vaux which will mean that residents in that area have the same level of service all year. By making this change, passengers along St Saviour’s Road between Langley Avenue and the bottom of St Saviour’s Hill will not be served. However, this proposal does tidy the summer/winter schedules and it is considered a beneficial change to propose.

Route 12A from L’Etacq at 09.20 has a very low demand (there is a service an hour later on this route) and it is proposed that the resources are transferred to a new Route 23 leaving Liberation Station at 09.00 and returning from Durrell at 09.25. There is a gap in services at this time both serving Durrell and also coming back into town through Grands Vaux.

Sunday Route 12A services have also been shifted 15 minutes later to avoid clashing with the Blue Island Explorer and, thereby, providing increased options for the public.

Route 8 leaving Liberation Station at 07.10 will no longer serve Plemont which will bring consistency with the winter schedule on this morning commuter journey. Other summer departures during the day will continue to serve Plemont. This is an anachronism dating back to when the holiday village was operating.

The morning service from Victoria Village (Route 21) is currently too late to allow children to use it for the Wellington Road schools. It was brought five minutes earlier for the winter timetable but still arrives too late so the summer proposals are a shift of a further 10 minutes (15 minutes compared to last summer’s schedule).

The remaining major changes affect Routes 3, 5 and 22 and are route modifications to bring consistency, clarity and improved services.

There are also some minor timing changes of up to 10 minutes to either simplify the schedule, prevent a clash of times with other services, allow journeys to be evenly spaced or are required due to other timing changes. The morning departures on Route 22 will now leave from Snow Hill prior to calling at Liberation Station so that passengers do not need to change buses.

Comments

The proposals put forward enhance the current network and reduce the number of anomalies that have existed for many years. There are some areas where services have been taken away – on the Route 3B down St Saviour’s Hill, the early morning Plemont leg and a morning service from L’Etacq. However, the alternative proposals using the resources from these services are considered to provide improved coverage for the network as a whole.

These proposals are cost neutral and, bearing in mind this incorporates an additional morning commuter route as well as some extra timetabled evening services, appears to provide good value for money from the network.

In the summer last year, a circular evening service, Route 10, operated on Friday and Saturday evenings for 17 weeks at a total cost of £28,000. The service carried 2,610 passengers and revenue received equated to £2,340, which was very disappointing. This service was not included in the main summer timetable and it is acknowledged that, in order to get maximum marketing, this is essential. In addition, the route is distinct from the rest of the network and it is recommended that future proposals for evening services should be based on services that run through the day. This is easier for the public to understand and more marketable. This is not to say that all services should be on a radial basis in and out of St Helier and circular routes covering large or smaller areas may well be viable. But this needs to be considered as part of the whole Island network rather than an ad hoc addition. Furthermore, it would appear from recent requests that it is the lack of evening and Sunday services in the winter schedule that is of most concern to residents so this will be taken into consideration when the 2009/10 winter timetable is considered in the next few months.

Article 24 of the Motor Traffic (Jersey) Law 1935 states that the Minister must give notice and consult on any revocation or modification to an omnibus licence. For this reason, once the Minister has approved these proposals in principle, the changes will need to be advertised in the JEP and representations or submissions allowed prior to the Minister making his final decision. In addition, as last year, it is also beneficial to circulate these proposals to all Constables and other interested parties to coincide with the advertisement and press release. Once the deadline for submissions has passed, the Minister will be requested to finally approve the proposals including any changes which may be requested.

Recommendation

The Minister is recommended to approve the changes to the summer 2009 bus timetable as shown in Appendix A, subject to receiving submissions from members of the public as required by Article 24 of the Motor Traffic (Jersey) Law 1935.

Reasons for Recommendations

The changes being proposed enhance the summer network, remove some routing and timing anomalies or duplications, plug some gaps in the schedule and are cost neutral.

Actions Required

Advise Connex of the decision.

Prepare advertisement to be placed in the Gazette section of the JEP and media release as soon as possible.

Circulate proposals to all Constables, Parish Halls and other interested parties.

Resource Implications

The proposals are cost neutral.

Written by:	Caroline Anderson, Director of Transport

Approved by:	John Richardson, Chief Officer