Proposals for the Enhancement of Evening Summer Services

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A decision made (19.06.2008) regarding proposal for Connex to operate a summer evening bus service linking restaurants and other venues at a cost of £20,179

Decision Reference: MD-T-2008-0055
Decision Summary Title :	Proposals for the Enhancement of Evening Summer Services		Date of Decision Summary:	19 June 2008
Decision Summary Author:	Caroline Anderson 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:	N/A
Written Report Title :			Date of Written Report:	19 June 2008
Written Report Author:	Caroline Anderson Director of Transport		Written Report : Public or Exempt? (State clauses from Code of Practice booklet)	Public
Subject: Proposal for Connex to operate a summer evening bus service linking restaurants and other venues at a cost of £20,179.
Decision(s): The Minister approved an evening bus service, called Route 10, to be run on Fridays and Saturdays from 18 July to 11 October 2008 at a total cost of £20,179 under Article 18(2)(b) of the Motor Traffic (Jersey) Law 1935.
Reason(s) for Decision: This proposal will provide an enhanced evening service for both residents and visitors alike and also allow for cross Island travelling.
Resource Implications: The gross cost of this proposal is £20,179. Any fare revenue will offset this cost (assuming those passengers would not have used an alternative bus service). This can be met from within the current contract cost and the 2008 budget allocation in TTS.
Action Required: The Department will advise Connex of this decision so the service can be started on 18 July. A notice will be placed in the JEP advising the public of this trial and the fact it is an exempted service under Article 18 the Motor Traffic (Jersey) Law 1935. TTS will liaise with Connex to co-ordinate the marketing and publicity for this service.
Signature:		Position:
Date Signed:		Date of Decision (If different from Date Signed):

Proposals for the Enhancement of Evening Summer Services

TRANSPORT & TECHNICAL SERVICES

PROPOSALS FOR FRIDAY AND SATURDAY EVENING BUS SERVICES

DURING THE SUMMER

Purpose of the Report

To seek the Minister’s approval for Connex to operate a summer evening service linking restaurants and other venues at a cost of £20,179.

Background

An experimental evening service, Route 10, operated from October 05 to 30 December 2006 (13 weeks) to complement both the 2006 Tennerfest season and the festive period over Christmas. The route covered the central and eastern parts of the Island by a simultaneous contra-rotating circular service consisting of three evening journeys each way on Thursdays, Fridays & Saturdays.

The Minister is keen to trial a similar service over the summer which will be available to residents and tourists alike.

Discussion

During the period of operation in 2006, Route 10 carried nearly 3,000 passengers and generated revenue of £2,836. At a total cost of £20,265, this represents a return of only 14%. Thursday nights particularly were not popular – carrying only 18% of passengers on a third of the services.

The proposal for 2008 is similar to the original Route 10 but incorporates Greve de Lecq. Four services a night will be operated on Fridays and Saturdays in each direction with a headway of 1½ hours. The timetable and route is attached. It is proposed that this service will run from the beginning of the school summer holidays (Friday 18 July) to when the Explorer service finishes (Saturday 11 October). For all but the last two weeks, the summer service will also be running which provides extended evening services on the major routes (Routes 1, 3, 4/5, 7b, 15 and 12). The attached map shows the last departures on the scheduled services which, in particular, cover St Brelade which is not included on the Route 10.

This proposal will provide a significant improvement in evening services and also provide a cross Island opportunity as opposed to the scheduled radial routes out and back to St Helier.

Comments

The cost of this service will be £20,179. Given the timing of this proposal, it is to be expected that the income generated will be greater than that on the original Route 10 in 2006 which totalled just short of £3,000. Due to the spring and summer timetable revisions and, in particular, the contract savings due to not running the K services and also on the reductions on Routes 7a and 8a, there is currently a credit on the contract sum amounting to £17,457. The cost of this service can, therefore, be met from within the contract sum.

There is a flat evening fare of £1 so it is recommended that this also be used on this service. Passengers with passes will also be allowed to travel as they can on all other services on the network. This will make passes even more attractive as the network has been enhanced.

Article 18 of the Motor Traffic (Jersey) Law 1935 provides for the Minister to exempt a person from compliance with Article 15 of the Law which is the requirement for an omnibus service to be licensed. Article 18(2)(b) states that:

‘the exemption may be in respect of a particular journey or series of journeys specified . . ‘

This exemption has commonly been utilised for trial routes and it is proposed that these summer evening services be operated as such. If this is deemed to be a success, proper notice and consultation must take place prior to a licence being granted. Article 18 does state that ‘the Minister may, by written notice, exempt ..’ so a notice will have to be placed in the JEP to advise the public of this trial.

This service will need to be well marketed as the summer timetable has already been circulated and there was some criticism of the original Route 10 service that the public were unaware of its existence.

Recommendation

The Minister is recommended to approve an evening bus service, called Route 10, on Friday and Saturday evenings from 18 July to 11 October 2008 at a total cost of £20,179 under Article 18(2)(b) of the Motor Traffic (Jersey) Law 1935.

Reasons for Recommendation

This proposal will provide an enhanced evening service for both residents and visitors alike and also allow for cross Island travelling.

Resource Implications

The gross cost of this proposal is £20,179. Any fare revenue will offset this cost (assuming those passengers would not have used an alternative bus service). This can be met from within the current contract cost and the 2008 budget allocation in TTS.

Action Required

The Department will advise Connex of this decision so the service can be started on 18 July.

A notice will be placed in the JEP advising the public of this trial and the fact it is an exempted service under Article 18 of the Motor Traffic (Jersey) Law 1935.

TTS will liaise with Connex to co-ordinate the marketing and publicity for this service.

Written by:	Caroline Anderson

Approved by:	John Richardson

Attachments:

Map of Proposed Route 10 and Timetable.