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Spt Bus Alliance

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overthewater

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16 Apr 2012
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I just don't see how this can even be archived? SPT has tried its fastlink but that just been dire, where buses can be waiting for a while at lights, Mcgill buses pulled of its main services because there was no demand for a bus every 3mins to new Hosptial from the City Centre, of course not if there are new direct links from else where in the city. I wonder when and how the northern fast link will be like ( to SECC and Transport museum)

Every time SPT does something is costs alot more, often late and never sees the increase in traffic its claims.

http://www.spt.co.uk/documents/sp200516_agenda7.pdf

1. Object of report
To recommend approval of a proposal to establish a Strathclyde Bus Alliance, whose membership would include SPT, councils, operators and other relevant parties, and whose key priority would be to arrest the decline in bus patronage in the west of Scotland.

2. Background
2.1 While bus remains the dominant public transport mode in Scotland with a market share of around 77% , the west of Scotland has seen a decline in bus patronage of 49 million passengers (22%) over the last 10 years (2004/5 – 2014/15)
.
2.2 There is no single reason for this significant and worrying fall. The impact of the financial crisis of 2007-08, cheap car deals, out of town/internet shopping, easy access to free or low-cost parking, and the growth in rail patronage in Scotland over the same period (29m, 45%)3 will all have contributed to it. The shrinking of the bus network has also obviously played a major role – over the same 10 year period, bus kilometres have decreased by 24 million (15%)
.
2.3 Furthermore, there are other statistics which give grave cause for concern as to the future of the bus market: operating costs per passenger over the last 10 years have gone up by 35% ; the number of operators in the west of Scotland has reduced from around 120 five years ago to about 60 now; and, while 45% of operators revenue comes from central or local government subsidy6 , all government support for bus services has decreased by 15% over the 5 years to 2014/157 . For comparison, 56.1%
of the rail industry in Scotland’s income comes from government sources.8
2.4 The impact of this for SPT has been that we now subsidise around 30% of services in whole or in part in the west of Scotland, subsidise around 7% of bus kilometres, and



3. Outline of proposals
3.1 Members will be aware that SPT has always sought to take a positive, pro-active stance to improving the bus network in the west of Scotland. Be it through significant investment in bus infrastructure, continued support for socially necessary services, or innovations such as the first 5 Statutory Quality Partnerships in Scotland, Fastlink, the West of Scotland Community Transport Network or the ‘Ten Point Plan’, SPT has, where possible, sought to help those with a stake in the bus market – always with a focus on our key priority, the travelling public.

3.2 It is therefore appropriate that SPT seeks to lead the way in helping to address the current situation in the west of Scotland, which could possibly be described as experiencing market failure. To this end, SPT have therefore informally approached major operators in the area to seek their views on the establishment of a Strathclyde Bus Alliance (SBA), based on current Statutory Quality Partnership legislation, which would have two clear priorities:

• Arrest decline in bus patronage in the west of Scotland by 2020
• Achieve 3% year on year growth post-2020.
Further information on the proposed membership and initial key themes of the SBA is
attached at Appendix 1; the key themes are noted below:
• Delivering a comprehensive network
• Maximising network performance and standards
• Integrating the network
• Promoting the network
• Ensuring a safe and secure network
• Delivering a greener network

3.3 SPT acknowledge that achieving the priorities set out above will be very challenging, but would highligh that the current perilous state of the bus market in the west of Scotland needs a co-ordinated effort by all partners to fully address the reasons for such decline. The response from the majority of operators to SPT’s approach has been very positive.


Conclusions
The decline in bus patronage in the west of Scotland over the last 10 years of 49 million passengers paints a bleak picture of a faltering market. Should the decline continue at a similar rate, the economic, social and environmental impacts for the region will be significant. It is for these reasons that SPT, as the Regional Transport Partnership for the west of Scotland, proposes the establishment of the Strathclyde Bus Alliance, tasked with firstly, arresting decline, and secondly, achieving growth. It is also worth emphasising that
SPT will continue to seek to improve the bus market in the west of Scotland through the capital and revenue programme, and initiatives such as the Glasgow and Clyde Valley City Deal Strathclyde Bus Investment Programme. Members will be kept informed of the progress of the SBA through reports to future Committees.

Whos who in the Bus Alliance

Proposed Alliance Members
• Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (lead)
• First Glasgow
• McGills
• Stagecoach
• West Coast / Glasgow CityBus
• Traffic Commissioner for Scotland
• NHS boards
• Scottish Roadworks Commissioner
• Bus Users Scotland
• Police Scotland
• Transport Scotland
• ClydePlan
• Glasgow & Clyde Valley City Deal
 
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