1 THE ISSUE

1.1 The Development of Quality Bus Partnerships is the Government's recommended approach to improving Bus Services through documented agreements between Private and Local Authorities.

The Council's Local Transport Plan has the development of Local Bus Partnerships as a key action to `provide a credible alternative to car use for local trips'.

2 RECOMMENDATION

2.1 That the draft Quality Partnership set out in Appendix A is approved

2.2 That in pursuit of the above officers are instructed to commence work with First on the establishment of a detailed Showcase Agreement in accordance with the criteria set out in paragraph 4.4 of this report with a view to implementation this financial year.

3 FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

3.1 Bath and North East Somerset Council have allocated £140,000 for bus infrastructure improvements and revenue expenditure in relation to free Concessionary Travel for local residents aged 75 and over. Additional bid for capital funds will be made through the Local Transport Plan.

4 THE REPORT

4.1 The Council has been working with First over the last three years to improve the quality of Bus Services to users. Over this period there have been many well publicised problems however there have also been many steps forward namely;

· Change to Ultra Low Sulphur Diesel

· Introduction of Route Specific publicity

· Investment in low floor, easy access vehicles

· Additional driver training

· New local Bus Depot

· Joint input to development of New Bus Station as part of Southgate Transport Interchange.

· Introduction of Bus Priorities.

4.2 However, both the Council and First recognised the need to make further step change improvements and believe this is best achieved through a more formal, structured approach which will create the opportunity for additional investment from each partner.

4.3 The Draft Umbrella Partnership Agreement sets out the principles, which each party will pursue to improve Bus travel and achieve year on year growth in usage. The agreement runs from July 2002 to July 2006 with the intention to extend into the next five year Local Transport Plan.

4.4 The Umbrella Partnership as well as setting out quarterly and annual review meetings also documents high level targets over the four year period.

· An additional 110,000 No of passenger journeys

· 40% of First Bus fleet (operating in Bath and North East Somerset to have low floor, fully accessible buses. First Bus work to achieve a local bus fleet age of less than 7 years.

· Achieve a 10% journey time saving during peak hours on all Showcase Bus Routes.

· To deliver 95% reliability (as targeted by Traffic Commissioner) on all Showcase Bus Routes.

· To deliver an additional 40 new high quality bus shelters.

The above and further indicators set out in the report will be monitored annually. These targets will be challenging for both the Council and First. For the Council, reducing journey times and improving bus reliability will require a commitment to deliver further bus priority schemes throughout the period of the agreement.

4.5 The Umbrella Agreement envisages the development of individual Showcase Bus Corridor Quality Agreements as the vehicle to document time limited commitments on specified routes. These individual agreements will publicly commit both parties to delivery.

4.6 The use of Showcase Routes is seen as critical to making and demonstrating the real improvements that the Partnership must deliver. They will in fact become benchmarks for all principal routes to achieve over time.

The criteria for selection of Showcase Routes will include:

· First Buses view of highest impact on users

· The Council's view of practicality of implementation

· A joint view of potential to improve air quality, social inclusion and accessibility

· A joint view on contributions to achieving overall targets

· Length of lead time to implementation.

5. SUMMARY

The signing of the Umbrella Quality Bus Partnership Agreement and Showcase Rate Agreements are at the leading edge of Public Transport action. It is the Council's intention to extend the opportunity to enter such agreements to all Bus Operators in the next twelve months. The above is one key component needed to deliver an Integrated Transport System to meet the needs of citizens and improve the quality of life for all who live, work and visit Bath and North East Somerset.

The development of a Twenty Year Transportation Vision proposed in a separate report to this Executive is a ground-breaking initiative which will become the means to drive forward improvement across all components of the Network.

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