Minutes:
Councillor Cramoysan addressed the committee on this item.
In summary, Councillor Cramoysan made reference to the following points:
· The dependence of residents in The Worthys to access city centre amenities and the need for reliable and frequent bus network links to ensure accessibility.
· Referred to the Number 6 bus (formerly known as The Spring), which was the primary service serving the residents of Kings Worthy and stated that since the Summer, regular bus users had reported improvements to the punctuality of the service.
· Would welcome a two-way dialogue approach to help enforce messaging with the local community to manage expectations and establish how best to assist Stagecoach in the continued delivery of punctual bus services.
The matters raised by Councillor Cramoysan were addressed during the discussion of the item.
The Chairperson and the Head of Programme: Place welcomed James O’Neill, Commercial Director for Stagecoach South to the meeting who provided an update from Stagecoach as the largest bus operator in the area. The update included details of the following:
· Network performance and focussed changes to routes over the evenings and weekends.
· Changes to demand and frequency of bus services during the day in the working week.
· Investment in longer distance service routes.
· The use of HVO fuel in local business and the cost implications of this.
· An overview of the current position including passenger numbers, differences in the way people travel and trends pre and post pandemic.
· The background to the most recent changes including Hampshire Bus Service Improvement Plans (BSIP) and Park and Ride.
· Future challenges and opportunities including plans for the long-term fleet such as seeking electrification of the fleet.
The committee proceeded to ask questions and comment on the following matters which were responded to by James O’Neill and the Head of Programme: Place.
(a) Opportunities to work collaboratively with Stagecoach and Hampshire County Council to ensure the success of the bus network in the city centre going forward.
(b) Targets to change and modernise the fleet to reduce the use of diesel buses, improve emissions and work towards electrification.
(c) Advice, direction and signage to keep residents aware of the cancellation of services and assistance for elderly and vulnerable residents accessing the Stagecoach app on mobile devices.
(d) Plans to introduce new bus routes to accommodate areas where there were growth areas of development.
(e) The number of users required to make a service route viable.
(f) Concessionary rates, fare caps and the return rate from concessionary pass holders and fare payers.
(g) The fare cap and transferrable tickets.
(h) Reviews of financially sustainable routes.
(i) Commercial viability.
(j) Planned works for the maintenance and repair of the bus station.
(k) Longer distance routes in the southern parishes.
(l) Future bus development and dialogue with Stagecoach to feed into the planning process.
(m) Transport mitigation and Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) payments to support bus services.
(n) The retention of bus services at Teg Down.
(o) Public notification of changes to bus services. The need to regularly update bus timetables and issue timely notifications of changes to bus schedules.
At the conclusion of debate, the forum thanked James O’Neill for attending the meeting to provide an informative update and welcomed further updates from Stagecoach in the future.
RESOLVED:
That the update be received, and the comments raised by the committee, as summarised above, be noted.