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Transport for Strathclyde – A New Public Transport Network

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KGGXXXY

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A new report "Transforming Transport for Strathclyde" has been published today by SPT. It looks like they are proposing a London style "Transport for Strathclyde" with a key recommendation to regulate buses.
Full pdf here: Transport for Strathclyde – A New Public Transport Network | SPT | Corporate Information | Strathclyde Partnership for Transport

Transforming Transport for Strathclyde - SPT

Vision unveiled to transform public transport in Strathclyde.
spt.co.uk

Headline recommendations:
  • Fairer fares: a clear fare arrangement which fits the needs of the region, and smart payment and pricing which would permit measures such as fare capping or pre-arranged ‘travel-to-work’ tariffs.
  • A ‘Smart Travel Pass’: an app or card for every citizen.
  • Strathclyde Buses: the creation of a new single Transport for Strathclyde service brand.
  • Smart passenger-responsive journeys: with a personalised ‘journey plan’ on an app so that passengers will know when a bus is coming and the driver will know if they need some help.
  • Real time network management: with better understanding of live travel needs a ‘smart network’ could adjust traffic lights and traffic management.
  • A ‘personal carbon emissions statement' to passengers take action to reduce how their transport choices impact the environment.
 
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TheGrandWazoo

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A new report "Transforming Transport for Strathclyde" has been published today by SPT. It looks like they are proposing a London style "Transport for Strathclyde" with a key recommendation to regulate buses.
Full pdf here: Transport for Strathclyde – A New Public Transport Network | SPT | Corporate Information | Strathclyde Partnership for Transport
Hmmm.... anything to reduce congestion? About three mentions of smart traffic lights. What about bus lanes or bus priority? Not a sausage.
 

Stan Drews

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Hmmm.... anything to reduce congestion? About three mentions of smart traffic lights. What about bus lanes or bus priority? Not a sausage.
Yeah, it does seem jam packed with sound bites, but rather little of practical substance. Didn’t see much mention of how they would propose to fund such enlightened thinking, but I was impressed with the original idea to call it Strathclyde Buses. Can we assume they’ll all be orange and black?
 

TheGrandWazoo

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Yeah, it does seem jam packed with sound bites, but rather little of practical substance. Didn’t see much mention of how they would propose to fund such enlightened thinking, but I was impressed with the original idea to call it Strathclyde Buses. Can we assume they’ll all be orange and black?
You mean Strathclyde Red.....

Looked like it was knocked up in very short time
 

38A-Z

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Could be the red buses or orange and black. Who knows.

‘Transforming Transport for Strathclyde’... there’s little on there about transforming travel!

Just looking at Glasgow, the ‘transforming‘ is changing bus stops in Glasgow city centre and lanes in Paisley Road West, is that it??

I’m sure First Glasgow used ‘transforming travel’ or something like that when they brought in new buses but quickly dropped it as they were still running really old buses.

Transforming Transport for Strathclyde maybe need to sort out Glasgow city centre and outskirts/ bus lanes first before promoting eg A71/ A73 junction improvements.

I think First do an alright job in Glasgow, maybe not great (to some) but I think that report shows the challenges they must face!
 

Scotrail314209

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Bring the Strathclyde train services into the mix as well as a touch and go system similar to London’s oyster and SPT may be on a winner with this.
 

route101

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Bring the Strathclyde train services into the mix as well as a touch and go system similar to London’s oyster and SPT may be on a winner with this.
Multi modal fares, contactless, proper day ticket etc. SPT needs to be stronger.
 

jacksmithyton

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I'm guessing if this happens SPT's boundaries will shrink, would the citizens of Glasgow be happy paying for buses in far away Ayr and Kilmarnock?
 

awsnews

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Yes, SPT is already the tendering authority. The many constituent authorities have no public transport officers/teams.
Argyll & Bute is certainly an exception, SPT only cover the Helensburgh and Lomond area with the authority managing the rest themselves.
 

GaryMcEwan

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Don't First own the name 'Strathclyde Buses' or did SPT hold onto back in the 90s? Either way, it would be good to see that name back in operation.
 

317 forever

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Could be the red buses or orange and black. Who knows.

‘Transforming Transport for Strathclyde’... there’s little on there about transforming travel!

Just looking at Glasgow, the ‘transforming‘ is changing bus stops in Glasgow city centre and lanes in Paisley Road West, is that it??

I’m sure First Glasgow used ‘transforming travel’ or something like that when they brought in new buses but quickly dropped it as they were still running really old buses.

Transforming Transport for Strathclyde maybe need to sort out Glasgow city centre and outskirts/ bus lanes first before promoting eg A71/ A73 junction improvements.

I think First do an alright job in Glasgow, maybe not great (to some) but I think that report shows the challenges they must face!
The main operator in Glasgow, First, of course already have experience in transforming travel. :lol:

Although local transport in Scotland is of course devolved to the Scottish Parliament, I wonder whether they will watch developments in Manchester with a view to seeing how to make network design and franchising work in Strathclyde.
 

route101

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I wonder if First will be happy to have their buses repainted in 'Strathclyde Red'? That said Glasgow and SPT needs to be brought into the 21st century.
 
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route101

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I think that Lanarkshire should have it’s own transport authority for bus services covering both North & South Lanarkshire
Monklands is a bus black hole. I would like more integration of ticketing, such capping and contactless payments.
 

KGGXXXY

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More developments, this time from the operators:

Operators from across the Glasgow region have joined forces to create Glas-Go, a new bus alliance formed to improve sustainable travel in and out of the city while increasing bus patronage by 25% over the next five years.

As part of The Glas-Go Bus Alliance, a manifesto has been created which captures a multi-operator vision and lays out a commitment to delivering and investing in sustainable, reliable and customer focused bus travel. Operators involved include: Stagecoach, First Bus, JMB Travel, McGill’s, Whitelaws and West Coast Motors, operators of Glasgow Citybus and Glasgow City Sightseeing. All city region bus operators will be invited shortly.

In its five year plan the bus operators vow to continue to invest in greener and cleaner vehicles, improve service connections; including seamless travel with other modes of transport.

Meaningful engagement with current and potential customers, affordable and easy to use ticketing, and improved and simplified travel information will be instrumental in encouraging more people to ditch the car and use the bus, according to the alliance. Glas-Go believes the launch of free bus travel in Scotland for under 19s and 22s later this year and early next year respectively is expected to be a major driving force in encouraging more bus travel amongst younger people.

To deliver in areas out with the bus operators’ control – congestion, road infrastructure, bus priority measures and on street travel information – the Glas-Go Bus Alliance will work in partnership with the region’s local authorities and SPT through the Glasgow Bus Partnership Steering Group.

In addition to improving those areas, the Glasgow Bus Partnership Steering Group is well underway in its application to secure funding from the Scottish Government’s £500m Bus Fund, a fund established to enable local authorities, in partnership with bus operators, to use bus priority measures to tackle the negative impacts of congestion and increase patronage.

The Glas-Go Bus Alliance is chaired by Fiona Doherty, Managing Director of Stagecoach West Scotland, with Andrew Jarvis, Managing Director of First Glasgow, as Vice Chair.

“If the City is to deliver it’s green ambitions, we all have to challenge our travel patterns and having a bus network that everyone wants to use is our ambition” – Fiona Doherty, MD of Stagecoach West Scotland

Fiona said: “This is the right time for bus operators in the City region to join forces and launch the Glas-Go Bus Operator Alliance manifesto. We look forward to working with all of the key stakeholders in the city region as we move to work together to make bus services better for our customers.

“No one organisation has all the solutions, so if buses are truly to be successful and provide what customers need, then they need greater support from stakeholders, particularly with critical matters such as tackling congestion which undermines the delivery of reliable services, results in inefficient running and adds to the cost of travel.

“Buses only contribute 4% of all transport related emissions, which means buses are great enablers for green and active travel as well as playing a huge role in the economic and environmental wellbeing of the city region, both of which, will be critical as we continue our recovery out of the global pandemic. If the City is to deliver it’s green ambitions, we all have to challenge our travel patterns and having a bus network that everyone wants to use is our ambition.”

Andrew Jarvis, Vice Chair of the Glas-Go Bus Alliance said: “We are pleased to launch The Glas-Go Bus Alliance, which captures a multi operator vision and pushes forward sustainable bus travel for the city and its neighbouring authorities.

“Like most industries our world will be a very different place as we step back out, the alliance – and our collaborations with local authorities and SPT – presents a fantastic opportunity to truly understand people’s new travel requirements and design a transport system befitting to a world class city.”

Joan Aitken, former Traffic Commissioner for Scotland and the independent chair of the Glasgow Bus Partnership Steering Group, added: “The Glas-Go Bus Alliance is great for the people of Glasgow. Bus travel is crucial to so many people in the city and I am so pleased bus operators across the city region have come together to make such bold commitments. The alliance is a very significant development and without doubt these operators are offering a vision which very much puts the customer at the heart of its thinking.”

The Glas-Go Bus Alliance Manifesto can be accessed here.

The Glas-Go Bus Alliance Manifesto here https://online.flippingbook.com/view/155644020/
 

Bletchleyite

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To me this still misses the point because it ignores Strathclyde's extensive local rail network and persists in trying to compete, not integrate, with it.
 

johncrossley

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What is the situation regarding funding in the medium term in Scotland? Presumably most bus routes will not be profitable for some time, if ever, so will require funding. In England, funding will soon only become available for operators who join partnerships with local authorities. What is happening in Scotland?
 

TheGrandWazoo

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To me this still misses the point because it ignores Strathclyde's extensive local rail network and persists in trying to compete, not integrate, with it.
For the umpteenth time, buses do not compete with rail. Look at the expansion and improvements with rail services and see how it mirrors the decline of bus services.

The issue in Glasgow has been the headlong rush to improve links for car drivers - see the amount of motorway building in the last 30-40 years.

At least there are some demonstrable targets in improving patronage, improving journey times etc. Rather than the Manchester way of vague wiffle and jam tomorrow.
 

XAM2175

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To me this still misses the point because it ignores Strathclyde's extensive local rail network and persists in trying to compete, not integrate, with it.
For the umpteenth time, buses do not compete with rail. Look at the expansion and improvements with rail services and see how it mirrors the decline of bus services.
For the most part they're neither integrated nor co-ordinated so they very much are in competition, even if one side isn't doing very well of it.
 

Stan Drews

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To me this still misses the point because it ignores Strathclyde's extensive local rail network and persists in trying to compete, not integrate, with it.
If you read through the document, there are actually quite a number of references to the other forms of public transport around the city. I can’t actually think of too many current bus services that directly compete with the local rail network.
 

Scotrail88

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Nope. Can I presume though it's because such a service was at some point or another in competition with the railway?
So now the express is off and the local network feeds into a frequent rail network - why is their so much upset and political involvement?

surely the removal of the X1 creates interchange and working together so why the issue?

fundamentally, people want option of both but it’s just not sustainable
 

mb88

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More developments, this time from the operators:



The Glas-Go Bus Alliance Manifesto here https://online.flippingbook.com/view/155644020/

What exactly do they mean by the 'Glasgow city region'? Is it just the city itself or the entire SPT area?
 

mb88

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More than just the city but with wider conurbation so stretching out to Lanarkshire and Renfrewshire but not Ayrshire or Arran?

Quite possibly. The fact that JMB Travel are involved suggests it's more than just the city itself. Would be helpful if they had included a map in the document so we knew where they were actually talking about implementing their plans!
 

johncrossley

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For the umpteenth time, buses do not compete with rail. Look at the expansion and improvements with rail services and see how it mirrors the decline of bus services.

The issue in Glasgow has been the headlong rush to improve links for car drivers - see the amount of motorway building in the last 30-40 years.

At least there are some demonstrable targets in improving patronage, improving journey times etc. Rather than the Manchester way of vague wiffle and jam tomorrow.

There is surely a clear disincentive to make a connecting journey between bus and train because multi-modal tickets are more expensive. So some people who might find the bus and train connection attractive are put off. These people will either get the bus the whole way, get the train the whole way (maybe by parking at the station) or drive the whole way.
 

TheGrandWazoo

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There is surely a clear disincentive to make a connecting journey between bus and train because multi-modal tickets are more expensive. So some people who might find the bus and train connection attractive are put off. These people will either get the bus the whole way, get the train the whole way (maybe by parking at the station) or drive the whole way.
You're suggesting that people are likely to get the bus "all the way" rather than a multi-modal journey and that's how competition takes place? If so, that's just not true. On short journeys, the b*ggeration factor of changing is a disincentive. On longer journeys, the direct bus journey just can't compete on time. And that's the point....buses can't and don't compete.

We have seen countless times that rail reopenings or tram schemes (not a bad thing) are often accompanied by a resultant cut in bus services.
 
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