Bus Service: Timetable: Summer 2011 Confirmation

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A decision made 18 May 2011:

Decision Reference: MD-T-2011-0052
Decision Summary Title :	2011 Summer Bus Service Confirmation		Date of Decision Summary:	18 May 2011
Decision Summary Author:	Transport Logistics Manager		Decision Summary: Public or Exempt? (State clauses from Code of Practice booklet)	Public
Type of Report: Oral or Written?	Written		Person Giving Oral Report:	N/A
Written Report Title :	Confirmation of 2011 Summer Bus Services		Date of Written Report:	18 May 2011
Written Report Author:	Transport Logistics Manager		Written Report : Public or Exempt? (State clauses from Code of Practice booklet)	Public
Subject: Confirmation of 2011 Summer Bus Services
Decision(s): The Minister approved the following: That the summer 2011 bus timetable will run from Sunday 29 May 2011 through to a provisional end date of 01 October 2011; and The changes to bus routes as detailed in the report.
Reason(s) for Decision: Although sixteen comments from members of the public were received following advertising in the JEP and at Parish Halls, it is considered that the proposals as planned will provide a sensible overall improvement to services for the public. The proposals represent better targeting of capacity to passenger demand, with the potential to increase revenue through additional usage.
Resource Implications: These proposals represent an additional cost of £56,781.18, fully covered by funding available in the sustainable transport budget.
Action required: Advise Connex of the decision. Draft a media release advising of the Minister’s decision. Advise the members of the public who submitted comments of the Minister’s decision.
Signature:		Position:
Date Signed:		Date of Decision (If different from Date Signed):

Bus Service: Timetable: Summer 2011 Confirmation

TRANSPORT AND TECHNICAL SERVICES

CONFIRMATION OF 2011 SUMMER BUS SERVICES

Purpose of the Report

To seek the Minister‘s approval of a revised bus timetable from 29 May 2011 (“the 2011 summer bus services”).

Background

The Minister approved ‘in principle’ the proposals for the revised bus timetable on 19 April 2011 under MD-T-2011-0041 refers. As this represents changes to omnibus licences, under Article 24 of the Motor Traffic (Jersey) Law 1935, the Minister had to consult on the proposals prior to a final decision being made.

Discussion

1. The proposals can be summarised as follows:

(a) A revised Monday–Saturday timetable for service 1 with additional departures and more regular frequencies in the rush hour periods;

(b) Continuation of routes 25 (anti-clockwise) and 27 (clockwise) introduced in October 2010, resulting in an increased combined number of bus departures to St John, St Mary and St Lawrence with services also to run on Sundays;

(c) Extra departures serving Portelet and St Brelade’s Bay through enhancements to service 12, with some corresponding adjustments to summer-only service 14;

(d) Alterations to the 3 / 3A / 3B / 23 group of routes, with some minor timing changes and the adoption of the evening route via Cotes du Nord for commuter journeys on service 3;

(e) Changes to service 4 with off-peak journeys to Bouley Bay reinstated and the 0900 departure retimed to run half-an-hour later;

(f) Summer-only service 8A given a new schedule to co-ordinate with departures on service 26 and Island Explorer routes;

(g) New schedule for service 9 with evening and Sunday departures introduced to replace service 7B which will not run this year;

(h) Continuation of the key improvements to service 15 introduced in October 2010, with the evening extension to St Peter‘s Village dropped in favour of additional journeys on service 9;

(i) Very minor changes affecting services 1B, 8 and 19.

2. An advertisement was prepared for publication in the Gazette section of the Jersey Evening Post on 23 April 2011. However, a mistake by either the graphic designers or the newspaper meant that the advertisement appeared early, on 21 April. The press release intended to coincide with the advertisement was issued the following day.

In addition, all Constables and Parish Halls were contacted with details to display. Established practice has been to stipulate that comments must be received within two weeks of publication of the Gazette notice, although due to an administrative error a deadline of Friday 13 May was stated.

3. As of Thursday 12 May the department had received comments from sixteen people:

(a) Three ladies and three gentlemen who objected to the proposal delaying the 0900 journey on service 4 by 30 minutes;

(b) Two ladies, four gentlemen and one couple all expressing concerns over the change to service 3 journeys at commuter times;

(c) A young lady who was a user of the existing evening-only link between Red Houses and St Peter and would be disadvantaged by its withdrawal;

(d) A lady who did not agree with the service 1 revisions that would require her to leave home 10 minutes earlier;

(e) A gentleman who made a number of observations and suggestions, highlighting a couple of errors within the proposed timetable that had been published;

(f) A lady who provided comments of a general nature concerning the overall level of service and relative lengths of winter / summer timetable seasons.

Comments

The cost of the summer 2011 proposals totals £56,781.18. This is unchanged from the costs quoted in the ‘in principle’ decision, in which it was stated that this sum had already been identified within the 2011 Sustainable Transport Fund.

There have been a relatively small number of comments concerning these proposals. It was felt that most were not sufficiently numerous nor adverse in nature to justify rejection. However, the following points should be noted:

Those objecting to the re-timed 0900 journey on service 4 were concerned that the established daily routines of residents were being overlooked in favour of attempts to keep tourist-related businesses happy;
Those objecting to the proposed loop route on service 3 at commuter times had generally misinterpreted the wording of the proposal and, following clarification with the individuals concerned including a route map confirming that buses would continue to serve Grande Route de Rozel in the northbound direction, no further dissatisfaction was received.

It is recommended that the Minister approve the proposals without alteration for implementation on 29 May 2011, with the following exceptions:

The proposed service 4 at 0930 to revert to its established time of 0900, and
An extension to the service 4 journey at 1925 to incorporate Bouley Bay, as a means of enhancing the level of service for patrons of businesses there.

Connex have confirmed that the above two revisions can be accommodated and will appear in publicity material.

Connex have been forwarded copies of all comments received by the department and TTS officers intend to work with them to determine whether further adjustments are necessary following operational experience.

It is clear that members of the public consider the summer timetable to be too brief at 18 weeks in length, compared to a winter timetable of 34 weeks. Negotiations with Connex will take place in the coming months to determine whether resources could be available to allow the summer schedule to continue beyond its established end in late September / early October.

Recommendation:-

The Minister is recommended to approve the following:

That the summer 2011 bus timetable will run from Sunday 29 May 2011 through to a nominal end date of Saturday 01 October 2011; and
The changes to bus routes as detailed in this report.

Reason(s) for Recommendations

Although sixteen comments from members of the public were received following advertising in the JEP and at Parish Halls, it is considered that the proposals as planned will provide a sensible overall improvement to services for the public. The proposals represent better targeting of capacity to passenger demand, with the potential to increase revenue through additional usage.

Actions Required

Advise Connex of the decision.
Draft a media release advising of the Minister’s decision.
Advise the members of the public who submitted comments of the Minister’s decision.

Resource Implications

These proposals represent an additional cost of £56,781.18, fully covered by funding available in the sustainable transport budget.

Written by:	Transport Logistics Manager

Approved by:	Director of Transport

Attachments:	Log of public feedback responses Map of service 3 route at commuter / evening times Revised service 4 timetable including reinstatement of the 0900 journey