Written evidence from TravelWatch SouthWest
(TWSW) (BUS 65)
This response is based on feedback from over 90 affiliated
organisations, either in writing or delivered orally at the annual
general meeting of the company held in Exeter on Saturday 19 February
2011.
TravelWatch SouthWest (TWSW) was established in 2001
as The South West Public Transport Users' Forum (SWPTUF) to promote
the interests of public transport users in the South West of England
government region (comprising the counties of Cornwall, Devon,
Dorset, Gloucestershire, Somerset and Wiltshire and the unitary
authorities of Bath and North East Somerset, Bournemouth, Bristol,
North Somerset, Plymouth, Poole, South Gloucestershire, Swindon
and Torbay)—the Forum became a Community Interest Company,
limited by guarantee, in August 2005. SWPTUF adopted the trading
name of TravelWatch SouthWest in June 2006 and the Community Interest
Company changed name to TravelWatch SouthWest CIC in November
2008.
Membership of the TravelWatch SouthWest CIC is open
to every "not-for-profit" organisation in the South
West England government region whose sole or principal purpose
is to represent the users of any public transport service or to
promote the development of public transport services.
Membership is also open to other "not-for-profit"
organisations in the South West England government region who
represent the interests of special and potential classes of public
transport users eg the disabled or the elderly. TWSW currently
has over 90 affiliated organisations.
TWSW, which is a social enterprise company, acts
as an advocate for passengers to lobby for the improvement of
public transport in the region and works closely with the South
West Councils, the South West Regional Development Agency and
the South West Strategic Leaders Board - with the dissolution
of the former Rail Passengers Committee for Western England in
July 2005, TWSW is the representative body for public transport
users throughout the South West England region. TWSW is currently
funded by the South West Councils, the South West Regional Development
Agency, local authorities and a number of public transport operators.
SUMMARY
TravelWatch SouthWest cic (TWSW) welcomes the opportunity
to submit evidence to this inquiry. The first three bullet points
in the terms of reference ask for evidence of the impact on bus
services of the "triple whammy" of Bus Service Operators'
Grant (BSOG) reduction, lower concession fare reimbursement and
reduced Local Authority bus support budgets.
The effects of the "triple whammy" will
take two or three years for the full effects to become apparent—this
very important issue therefore needs to be kept under regular
review.
In rural areas the "triple whammy" could
be life changing for some residents.
The impact of the changes needs careful monitoring.
Data needs to be collected over the next two or three years to
enable the issue to be revisited in an informed, evidence-led
manner.
The fourth bullet point of the terms of reference
asks how passengers' views are taken into account in planning
bus services and the role of Passenger Focus (PF) in that area.
Bus passengers are far greater in number than rail passengers
but feature less in transport discussions.
Many bus users have no alternative. The likely reduction
in service coverage will have profound effects on some. In the
South West around one in five households (20.2%) have no access
to the private car. This is highest amongst those living in unitary
authorities where around one third (30.2%) have no access. The
shire county areas vary from 16.1% to 20.5% with more than a quarter
of households having no access in three of the district authorities.
For these people there is little alternative for necessary transport
to work, training, shopping and leisure activities. Full attention
should be given to bus provision—or else to reliable and
regular alternatives.
TWSW welcomed the bus role given to Passenger Focus
(PF) and has found its research material to be of considerable
value in informing its day-to-day contacts with the bus industry
and local authorities in the South West of England. We are concerned
that budget cuts could adversely affect PF's research capacity
although we do not yet know how PF intends to match its expenditure
to its new budget.
TravelWatch SouthWest cic, its constituent Members
(who comprise several dozen users' groups throughout the South
West) and, we understand, our sister TravelWatches elsewhere in
England, are obviously willing to facilitate the use of their
own regional and local networks for the purpose of gathering passenger
information and ensuring that passengers' views are taken into
account. We have had preliminary discussions with Passenger Focus
to this effect. While our existing resources are nothing like
those previously available to PF, our organisations do have the
twin strengths of extensive local knowledge and the level of commitment
to community interest activities that frequently characterises
social enterprises and the voluntary sector.
The Committee are urged to press that the important
task of bus passenger advocacy is adequately resourced, particularly
during the next few years as the full effects of the "triple
whammy" become apparent. In particular, the Committee is
urged to ensure that adequate provision is made to measure and
monitor the developing impact of these effects.
DETAILED SUBMISSION
1. TWSW believes that there are five important
issues for the inquiry that are very timely and these are commented
on here:
— Firstly
it is important that the bus market, use levels and passenger
reactions are monitored over the next two to three years and that
the Select Committee revisits this issue at regular intervals
to determine what has happened.
— Secondly
the bus passenger, now more than ever, badly needs effective and
well-resourced champions, particularly at a sub-regional level,
capable of looking across local authority boundaries.
— Thirdly,
with the availability of diminished local authority funding, commercial
bus operators need to be innovative in developing way of promoting
and operating marginal services with less support from public
funds.
— Fourthly,
some local authorities are making cuts to bus support budgets
at a far higher level than the cut in their central government
grant.
— Last,
but certainly not least, bus fares need to be monitored and compared
with changes in car costs and rail fares.
Bus Monitoring
2. Each Local Authority used to collate bus use
and report it in the Bus Strategy within its Local transport Plan
(LTP). TWSW understands that there will be far less recording
of bus use but it is imperative that the Select Committee presses
government to ensure that the there is a consistent time series
of such data, geographically disaggregated, to observe the effects
of the "triple whammy". Passenger Focus's bus passenger
satisfaction surveys appear to have stalled but again it is vital
that the Select Committee press for a consistent time series of
such satisfaction levels over the next two or three years. The
one PF bus passenger satisfaction survey covered only 14 small
areas of the country with about 1,000 in each sample. There is
no sign of this being repeated. PF have also done some very useful
work on non bus users to help determine how to attract more passengers.
The projected severe cut in Passenger Focus budget may not allow
this useful approach to be continued. It is imperative that the
effects of the "triple whammy" on the bus industry for
bus users should not be disguised whether from Parliament or Government.
3. TWSW believes that the effects on the bus
market, use levels and passenger satisfaction from the "triple
whammy" will take a couple of years to fully manifest themselves.
TWSW doesn't attempt to quantify these effects at this time. We
do believe that the bus market and passengers will suffer greatly
over the next two or three years. TAS has estimated a cut of 8%
in bus mileage outside London and a 3% real increase in fares.
The effect in rural areas will be far more traumatic.
4. The effect on people's lives of a frequency
reduction on a busy urban corridor from 12 to 10 buses per hour
will be marginal. The removal of the only bus of the day to a
village or a reduction from four buses per day to two will have
life changing effects on the rural communities affected. The third
element of the "triple whammy", the cuts in local government
bus support budgets, will primarily affect rural areas.
Bus Champion
5. We greatly admire PF's early achievements
in this area and share profound concerns about the potential impact
on bus passengers and decision makers about the significant cuts
to PF's budget. Bus passengers need properly resourced and active
champions both nationally and at a local level. Perceived rises
in car costs, higher rail fares and low performance by rail attracts
great media coverage and there is no shortage of editorial criticism
and pressure on government to reduce fuel duty etc. However, the
plight of bus passengers rarely attracts media comment. Media
people seem to rarely use buses or only use them in London where
services are far superior. In the absence of a an adequately resourced
statutory body there is a need for established associations of
voluntary groups and social enterprises, like the regional TravelWatch
organisations, to bring the plight of bus users to the attention
of the public and their representatives and to lobby bus operators
and local authorities on behalf of passengers. The need for this
over the next two or three years is greater than ever.
Commercial Operators Step Up to the Plate
6. These comments will apply differently among
the large group operators. Some operators take the view that any
service not fully contributing to overheads and meeting group
profit targets should not operate without a local authority subsidy.
For any service operating at a time that adds to Peak Vehicle
Requirement (PVR) the desire to fully cover overheads is understandable.
Taking cross subsidy too far is not sustainable but an inter-peak,
evening or Sunday service that covers its marginal cost should
be considered differently. The danger is that operators have grown
accustomed to subsidy, even on non-PVR services that cover marginal
costs but only make a partial contribution to overheads.
7. The Select Committee should invite operators
to open their books to inspection of non-PVR services to consider
the fare and subsidy revenue and marginal costs of them. Some
operators may need to be reminded that a network with adequate
temporal as well as spatial coverage is needed to grow their business
and that lack of subsidy should not deprive passengers of a service
that covers its marginal costs
Local Authorites
8. Some councils in the South West have applied
larger percentage cuts to bus support budgets than the percentage
cut in their central government grant. Local Authorities in the
South West that are closing community facilities, including libraries,
should ensure that it is still possible for residents to reach
the available alternatives, including larger libraries etc by
bus when their local facility has closed.
9. TWSW hopes that the Select Committee may bring
this to the attention of local authorities and include in any
re-visit to the issue an analysis of changes in the level of council
support for buses.
Bus Fares
10. Recent above RPI rail fares increases have
attracted strong media criticism. Increases in fuel costs cause
outrage, even though overall car costs (in the long term) have
fallen. Bus fares over a couple of decades have seen continuous
above inflation increases, without any wider media reporting,
let alone protest. Data available suggests that in real terms,
between 1997 and 2009 overall motoring costs fell by 12%; rises
in running costs were more than cancelled out by cheaper car prices.
However, rail fares increased by 12% but bus fares increased by
22%. There is no central collation of bus fares and no regulation.
The negatives for bus passengers from the "triple whammy"
will work through as a mix of reduced service and higher fares.
It is imperative that the Select Committee presses government
to ensure that rises in bus fares over the next two to three years
are monitored and that the long term trends in overall car costs,
rail fares and bus fares are researched and studied when the Select
Committee returns to look at changes to the bus market and bus
passengers.
RECOMMENDATIONS
11. TWSW hope that the committee will revisit
this inquiry at regular intervals with particular reference to
rural areas but that in the meantime would consider making recommendations
to the relevant bodies on the following topics:
— (a) Continued
collection of consistent data sets on bus market indicators especially
passenger numbers and satisfaction.
— (b) Appropriate
funding to allow sufficient bus passenger surveys.
— (c) Appropriate
funding to ensure that the role of bus passenger champion is met,
either by a properly funded statutory organisation (PF) or by
established associations of voluntary groups and social enterprises
like the regional TravelWatch organisations.
— (d) Bus
operators to be encouraged to innovate with a view to running
non-PVR services that meet marginal costs with reduced local authority
subsidy.
— (e) Local
Authorities recognise that cuts to bus support budgets above the
general level of grant reduction is not compatible with closing
other local facilities.
— (f) Continued
collection of data on bus fares and their long term comparison
with rail fare increases and overall car costs.
February 2011
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