Bus Service: Timetable: Winter 2014/15: Confirmation

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A decision made 29 August 2014:

Decision Reference: MD-T-2014-0094
Decision Summary Title :	Winter 2014 Bus Service Confirmation		Date of Decision Summary:	21 August 2014
Decision Summary Author:	Public Transport Planner		Decision Summary: Public or Exempt?	Public
Type of Report: Oral or Written?	Written		Person Giving Oral Report:	N/A
Written Report Title :	Confirmation of Bus Services from 29 September 2014		Date of Written Report:	21 August 2014
Written Report Author:	Public Transport Planner		Written Report : Public or Exempt?	Public
Subject: Confirmation of bus services to take effect from Monday 29 September 2014
Decision(s): The Minister approved: The revised bus timetable to run from Monday 29 September 2014 until the end of March 2015; and The changes to bus routes as detailed in the report.
Reason(s) for Decision: A number of comments from members of the public were received following advertising in the Jersey Gazette and on the LibertyBus website. As a result it is considered that the revised timetable will provide an overall improvement in services for the public, representing a further stage in a series of improvements aimed at generating additional public transport patronage which will contribute towards the achievement of Sustainable Transport Policy targets.
Resource Implications: The proposed bus service timetables vary from the provisional timetable included within the HCT Group’s final tender submission, approved by the Minister on 06 July 2012 (MD-T-2012-0052 refers). However there are no additional costs relative to the agreed contract price.
Action required: Inform LibertyBus of the decision and issue Omnibus Service Licences, where relevant, to take effect from the first day of the winter timetable period. LibertyBus to prepare a media release outlining the service changes that will take effect from 29 September 2014.
Signature:		Position:
Date Signed:		Date of Decision (If different from Date Signed):

Bus Service: Timetable: Winter 2014/15: Confirmation

TRANSPORT AND TECHNICAL SERVICES

CONFIRMATION OF BUS SERVICES FROM 29 SEPTEMBER 2014

Purpose of the Report

To seek the Minister‘s approval of a revised bus timetable from 29 September 2014, to be operated by LibertyBus (the trading name of CT Plus Jersey Ltd).

Background

The Minister approved ‘in principle’ the proposals for the revised bus timetable on 07 August 2014 (MD-T-2014-0086 refers). Under Article 24 of the Motor Traffic (Jersey) Law 1935, the Minister had to consult on the proposals prior to a final decision being made.

Discussion

LibertyBus proposed the following changes:

Adjustments to bus timetables including frequency changes and route alterations
New services

Adjustments to bus timetables

The detail of the proposals can be summarised as follows:

Service 1 – Daytime frequency to be three buses per hour. Evening service to be two buses per hour with every second bus routed via Georgetown, as described in ‘New services’ below.
Service 1A – Mon-Sat frequency to be hourly with five buses a day on Sunday. Morning peak journeys via Bagot Road to be numbered 2B.
Service 2 – Extra late night service from Gorey Pier towards St Helier. Peak hour journeys via Rue des Pres renumbered 2A.
Service 3, 4, 8, 19, 21 – Adjustments to departure times.
Service 9 – More direct daytime route to St Peter via Beaumont Hill.
Service 12, 12A, X12 – Buses to operate anticlockwise to/from Corbiere. Hourly service on 12 with reduced service on 12A.
Service 13 – Operates every two hours with Sunday service withdrawn.
Service 15 – Daytime frequency to be three buses per hour. Due to rising demand, an additional Friday/Saturday late evening departure from St Aubin to St Helier.
Service 19 – Daytime frequency reduced to two buses per hour and evening services withdrawn after 2000.
Service 23 – Summer seasonal service continued for winter 2014. Hourly frequency except for Sunday with buses running once every two hours.

New services

Service 1G – hourly evening variant of service 1 replacing existing evening journeys on service 16 to Georgetown and Greve d’Azette.
Service 22 – new route operating every two hours between St Helier, St Peter’s Arsenal, Red Houses, Corbiere, and L’Etacq. Replacing sections of current services 9 and 12A.

2. An advertisement was published in the Gazette section of the Jersey Evening Post on 13 August 2014, with a deadline for comments of Wednesday 20 August. A press release was issued, and all Constables contacted with details.

3. A public meeting took place at St Mary’s Parish Hall prior to the above consultation period. Attendance was low, and as with previous meetings discussions focused more on suggestions for future developments or perceived shortcomings with the existing services than on the specific proposals.

4. LibertyBus received numerous comments from individuals, summarised in Appendix 1. Some of the issues raised would already be resolved by the proposed changes and LibertyBus contacted those respondents to clarify the provisional timetables. However, there was a significant quantity of negative feedback concerning the alterations in the St Peter’s Arsenal area which has prompted reconsideration of the proposed timetable.

Comments

Further to the consultation, and following the opportunity to review current / past passenger demand, LibertyBus recommend that some further small amendments to the proposed timetables be made as follows:

Service 9 to continue on its established route for winter 2014. Further investigation into the potential for operating faster journeys between St Peter’s Village and St Helier, while maintaining a suitable level of service to the St Peter’s Arsenal area, will be conducted during the winter period with a view to proposing revisions with effect from the Spring timetable.
Service 22 to be operated via Beaumont Hill rather than St Peter’s Arsenal, to minimise the number of bus movements on the narrow roads between Jersey Rugby Club and La Haule. Appendix 2 illustrates this change.
An additional evening peak departure on service 12 to St Brelade’s Bay.
Service 2B to be identified instead as 1B, in recognition of the fact that other service 2 journeys call at Grouville Church and Grouville Arsenal. Appendix 3 shows the routes followed by these services.
The direction of buses at Corbiere to remain unchanged for the time being, i.e. clockwise.

There is no additional cost to TTS associated with the proposals. The level of service to be provided is equal to the resource levels allowed for within the bus operating contract.

It is recommended that the Minister approve the proposals for implementation with the incorporation of the additional changes at point 1 above. These revisions represent a further overall improvement to the public transport network. LibertyBus officers are currently working to accommodate these revisions and they will be included within the publicity material that will appear in due course.

Recommendation:-

The Minister is recommended to approve the following:

That the revised bus timetable will run from Monday 29 September 2014 until the end of March 2015; and
The changes to bus routes as detailed in this report.

Reason(s) for Recommendations

A number of comments from members of the public were received following advertising in the Jersey Gazette and on the LibertyBus website. As a result it is considered that the revised timetable will provide an overall improvement in services for the public, representing a further stage in a series of improvements aimed at generating additional public transport patronage which will contribute towards the achievement of Sustainable Transport Policy targets.

Actions Required

Inform LibertyBus of the decision and issue Omnibus Service Licences, where relevant, to take effect from the first day of the winter timetable period.
LibertyBus to prepare a media release outlining the service changes that will take effect from 29 September 2014.

Resource Implications

The proposed bus service timetables vary from the provisional timetable included within the HCT Group’s final tender submission, approved by the Minister on 06 July 2012 (MD-T-2012-0052 refers). However there are no additional costs relative to the agreed contract price.

Written by:

Public Transport Planner

Approved by:

Director of Transport

Attachments:

Appendix 1: Summary of consultation responses

Appendix 2: Services to the west showing the relative routes of 9 and 22

Appendix 3: Variants of services 1A and 2