2006-2011 LTP Annex 2

Introduction

The purpose of this strategy is to set out what is needed in Warwickshire to ensure excellent public transport information is made available to address the needs of both current and potential passengers in Warwickshire and deliver the transport objectives of the Government and the County Council.

The Bus Information Strategy sets out what we consider is needed, in consultation with others, to comply with the bus passenger information requirements set out in the Transport Act 2000.  

The Transport Act 2000 requires each local transport authority to determine what local bus information should be made available. The authority must consult such organizations appearing to the authority to be representative of users of local services as they think fit and the Traffic Commissioner covering the traffic area covering their area, prior to deciding how this information should be provided.

Local bus information can include:

• Information about routes and timetables of local services to from and within the authority’s area;
• Information about fares;
• Information about facilities for disabled persons, travel concessions;
• Connections with other public transport services; and,
• Other matters of value to the public as the authority considers appropriate in relation to their area.

The Government's view is that information is important and it has taken the lead in developing the national Traveline telephone enquiry service. 

The County Council has for a number of years provided comprehensive information on local bus and rail services, a countywide map and before the Traveline service it had an in house telephone enquiry line. 

The Government requires local authorities to provide information on the performance of the services it provides and public satisfaction with these services. This information is compiled as Best Value Performance Indicators (BVPI) allowing different authorities performances to be compared. The BVPI for satisfaction with local bus service information provision is BVPI 103.

The County Council has the powers under Sections 139 and 140 of the Transport Act 2000 to make formal arrangements under which the bus operators agree to make the required information available in the appropriate way and, in the event it does not succeed, to provide the information at the cost of the defaulting operator. 

However, it is important that the Strategy recognises that a careful balance must be struck to ensure that the cost of the information provision that operators will be required to bear are realistic.  The placing of many new financial burdens on operators in a short space of time may result in cost cutting elsewhere, possibly with the loss of some commercial services. 

We therefore recognise that we share a responsibility with operators to ensure the delivery of information is accurate, correct and available. We consider the aims and requirements of the strategy can be met by a consensus approach with the County Council and operators reaching agreement in advance on standards and targets. This may also require a commitment from all stakeholders in partnership to joint working and investment.

The County Council recognises it is necessary to consult with the bus operators to agree achievable and sustainable standards and targets.  It also recognises that it has a responsibility under section 140 of the Transport Act 2000.

The County Council reserves the right to use those powers under the Act to recover from the bus operators, where necessary, reasonable costs incurred in the provision of information through the strategy. Whilst the County Council believes in the importance of high quality information for the user, it considers the recharge of costs to operators as a position of last resort. As mentioned earlier the preferred way of working is to joint development of improvements to passenger information

The County Council will act fairly and not discriminate in any way against any operator, either by imposing unreasonable demands on the information provided or by setting unachievable standards and targets in the way in which information should be provided.

Bus Information Strategy Objectives

The starting point for this Bus Information Strategy is the overall transport objectives of the Local Transport Plan 2006 which have been developed to reflect national, regional and local policy which are:

• To improve accessibility to the transport system in order to promote a fairer, more inclusive society;
• To seek a transport system which will promote full employment and a strong, sustainable local and sub-regional economy;
• To reduce the impact of transport on the environment through the management and control of adverse impacts;
• To improve the environment and safety of people when they are using the transport system; and
• To encourage the integration of transport, both in terms of policy planning and the physical interchange of modes.

The Bus Information Strategy will contribute to achieving the objectives in the LTP by promoting a transport network, which:

• Offers accessibility to the widest cross section of the population;
• Gives people (including those who do not have access to cars) more travel choices to access work, services and leisure activities;
• Provides an attractive and sustainable travel alternative to the car thereby helping to reduce traffic congestion and pollution levels and improving air quality and the environment; and,
• Encourages integration with other modes of transport.

Existing Bus Information Provision

For a number of years the County Council has provided passenger information on local bus and rail services in the form of area/route based timetable books, a countywide map and an in-house telephone inquiry service.

The County Council has continued to improve its passenger information provision to raise awareness of public transport services and it was recognised that more could be done to improve roadside publicity, by the creative use of media material, to make the design, format and distribution of publicity material more effective and easy to use.

At a local and regional level, local authorities (including the County Council) have worked in partnership over the past four years to deliver the Public Transport Information 2000 project. This is a network of regional call centres established to provide details of all bus and coach services through a single national telephone enquiry number (Traveline). This has involved the sharing of existing data bases and new forms of partnership working. 

Existing provision of roadside information has varied with both the County Council and the bus operators providing roadside information.  This has offered a level of coverage in the  County which on occasions has meant an over provision and duplication of information or a lack of it on some bus routes.

It is the purpose of the Bus Information Strategy to offer not only improvements in the type, style, format and distribution of information but also to make its distribution consistent and comprehensive.  The aim of this improvement is to achieve a growth in the bus market and to raise awareness of bus services to both existing and potential public transport users. Table 19.1 shows the existing provision and arrangements for the production and distribution of  passenger information.  It is divided into the stages of travel and type of information and who is currently responsible for its provision.

Consultation & Customer Research

Ongoing consultation, market research, data collection and monitoring is conducted in order to gain a better understanding of people’s needs and expectations. The interview research has provided a detailed picture of the different issues that influence the way people value public transport services. This has helped to produce of a Bus Information Strategy which addresses the needs of current and potential users and which will deliver the desired outcomes.

The Strategy

The vision of Warwickshire County Council’s Bus Information Strategy is:

‘An affordable, accessible, safe, convenient, environmentally friendly and integrated public transport network, capable of attracting an increasing market share for public transport thereby contributing to the achievement of the objectives in the Warwickshire’s Local Transport Plan 2005’.

The aim of the Bus Information Strategy is to grow the market for public transport by making the product attractive both to existing and potential users alike. It will achieve significant improvement in the provision of public transport services and facilities to the people of Warwickshire by following a customer-driven approach designed to identify and overcome barriers to the use of public transport.

The Bus Information Strategy Policies

Details of the specific policies are provided below. 

Simple to Use

Timetables, routes and fares should be readily available, easy to understand, be simple to use. Information systems should enable passengers to plan their journeys and provide increased public confidence as to the availability and reliability of bus services consistent with the Bus Information Strategy. Full and timely information should be provided or be easily available to customers in case of disruption to services.

Table 2 Printed information

Printed Information
Minimum requirement	Responsibilities
Printed passenger information should be available for every bus service and route in Warwickshire.  Timetables should be of a high quality and include service numbers, route map and when the timetable came into effect. They should comply with the printed public transport information – A Code of Good Practice produced by ATCO. Changes to routes/services and timetables shall be minimised.  The County Council will consult operators on the Bus Partnership Forum Code of Conduct on service stability.	The County Council will take responsibility for producing leaflets for wholly or substantially subsidised services or groups of services. The County Council will continue to develop its network to distribute and market passenger information to libraries, tourist information centres, shopping centres, major employers, leisure sports & recreation centres, swimming pools, and other suitable locations. The Operators will produce timetable leaflets for commercial bus services and those journeys where the County Council has specified in its tender documents that the operator will be responsible.

Table 3 On-bus information

On-bus Information
Minimum requirement	Responsibilities
Buses/ Public Transport vehicles should display/have clear, accurate route destinations & service numbers. Quality Bus Corridor route buses to have a branded livery and have route maps, timetables & fares Information publicised on the buses  On other bus routes the County Council will seek the agreement of operators to phase in route maps, timetable and fares information publicised on the buses.	The County Council will work in partnership with the bus operators to seek an increase and improvement in the quality of on-bus information in accordance with the minimum requirements. Bus operators will be responsible for the minimum on-bus information requirements on Quality Bus Corridor route buses as described.

Table 4 Roadside information

Roadside Information
Minimum requirement	Responsibilities
The responsibility for roadside information has varied with both the County Council and operators providing roadside information.  This arrangement has offered a level of coverage in the county which has either created an over-provision and duplication of information or a lack of information. To improve the situation, and provide consistency of coverage it is proposed to put into place the following minimum requirements:- Bus stops to have bus flags Bus stops to have timetable cases Bus stops to display timetables Bus flags to display the service number/s Bus flags  to display the name of  the operator Bus flag to show the Traveline enquiry number	The County Council will seek to improve and increase roadside information provision throughout the County. Timetable cases at bus stops in rural areas will be considered as a priority to complement the information provided by the County Council and the  operators in the main towns. The County Council will also be responsible for the provision of timetable cases at key interchanges, railway stations, bus stops on Quality Bus Corridor Routes, main village/rural stop locations where agreement is reached with suitable partners.  The County Council will consider the role of bus information points (BIP) with a view to provide improvements to information including up to date information displays with London Underground style bus route maps and maps showing where to find your bus stop. The County Council will seek to co-operate with District Councils and Parish Councils to provide timetable cases/displays in bus shelters. District Councils, Town Councils and Parish Councils will be encouraged to continue to secure the provision and maintenance of bus shelters where appropriate.  Various sources of funding will be investigated for the provision of bus shelters and route upgrades for Quality Bus Corridors, including the Parish Transport Grant.  Operators will be encouraged to participate in this process by agreement and partnership investment in all aspects of roadside information.

Table 5 Telephone line information

Telephone Line Information
Minimum requirement	Responsibilities
The National Traveline telephone number  is the single contact point for the public to access timetable information. All published timetable information refers to this telephone number.  In Warwickshire the Traveline service is provided under the auspices of  the West Midlands Travel Information Services Ltd (WMTIS). The minimum requirements are to ensure that the travel information database is maintained and kept up to date. The future improvements to be considered for the Traveline service include: an extension of the service to the internet;  The provision of information through digital television; electronic enquiry systems at key locations including travel centres; providing information about taxis and airline services; fares and booking information service; SMS text messaging to mobile phones with passenger information	Operators providing bus services in Warwickshire are required to provide up to date timetable information to comply with West Midlands Travel Information Service (WMTIS) requirements. Operators are also responsible to reimburse WMTIS the costs of providing information about their commercially operated services.

Table 6 Electronic information

Electronic Information
Minimum requirement	Responsibilities
Investigate and develop Real Time Information accessible by mobile phone by a Countywide Short Messaging System. Local bus travel information to be available through the Warwickshire County Council Website including timetables for all bus routes operating in the County.	The County Council will investigate developments in Real Time Information (RTI), electronic display panels, other electronic and telecom technology. The County Council will make improvements to the Warwickshire County Council Web site to include comprehensive timetable information for all bus routes operating in the County including Community transport services.  The County Council will improve links to bus and train  operators web sites Operators will be encouraged to participate in the development of the RTI process by agreement and partnership investment.

Bus Information Points

The County Council seeks to improve the provision of roadside passenger information in the main urban centres, market town centres and key villages and at key bus interchanges. This will be achieved by using a Bus Information Point (BIP) which is designed to provide public transport information, which is accurate, comprehensive and impartial. A BIP will offer

• full details of the bus boarding points;
• full information on both the core bus network/connecting services in the local area;
• London ‘tube style’ bus route maps and timetables;
• Traveline telephone enquiry line number; and,
• Map of the local area.

 A BIP will be located in sites which are safe, secure, well lit and in urban areas where footfall is relatively busy. 

Delivery of the Strategy

This section of the strategy sets out the County Council’s actions in delivering the policies of the Bus Information Strategy in a way which recognises the existing problems and opportunities outlined earlier in this document.

The delivery of Bus Information Initiatives involves a wide range of stakeholders both national and local and can often depend on strategic decisions which are taken in the context of the national legislative framework.  In these circumstances, the timescales for the schemes and measures set out below will need to be flexible to take advantage of the implementation opportunities as they arise.

Partnership

The key role of the County Council, working in partnership with bus operators and other stakeholders, is as initiator and promoter of bus information improvements.  The Transport Act 2000 places a duty on local transport authorities to set out required standards of passenger information after consultation and to ensure these standards are met. The delivery of the strategy sets out the minimum standards for each type of required information and who will be responsible for its delivery, see below. 

In addition, where necessary the County Council will work with its partners to secure funding from the Local Transport Plan settlement and from other appropriate sources of funding, including developer contributions.

For each specific initiative the likely timescale for delivery is identified as either short term, medium term or long term.  For the purposes of this strategy, short term will be the period to 2011, medium term will be the period from 2011 and 2016 and long term will be the period 2016 onwards.

'Simple to use'

Table 7 Simple to use

'Simple to use'
Action	Schemes & Measures	Timescale	Responsible
Provide information which should be readily available, easy to understand and be simple to use.	Continue to produce accurate, comprehensive, impartial public transport timetable information	On-going	WCC/Operators
	Continue to maintain the public transport information pages on the County Council’s website	On-going	WCC
	Continue to promote the National Rail Enquiry Service	On-going	WCC
	Continue to improve signage at interchanges to promote more convenient transfer/travel between different transport modes	On-going	WCC
Raise public awareness about the public transport  network and the travel choices that it provides	‘TravelWise’ and Green Travel Initiatives	On-going	WCC
Work in partnership with bus operators, Centro, other local authorities and suppliers to deliver real time information accessible by mobile phones	Countywide Short Messaging System	Short	WCC/operators/WMTIS
Investigate opportunities of real time information displays on Quality Bus Corridors and at key interchanges	Work in partnership with bus operators, train operators, Centro, other local authorities and suppliers	Short	WCC/Operators
Provide ‘Bus Information Points’ in town centres, bus stations, main railway stations and larger villages	Warwick Bus Interchange	Short	WCC
	Atherstone Bus Station	Short
	Leamington Spa Centre	Short
	Leamington Spa Rail Station	Short
	Kingsbury	Short
	Kenilworth	Short
	Stratford upon Avon	Short
	Rugby	Short
	Nuneaton	Short
	Bedworth	Short/Medium
	Coleshill	Short/Medium
	Alcester	Short/Medium
	Polesworth	Short/Medium

Indicators and Monitoring

The Bus Information Strategy has established a range of desired standards, indicators and implementation targets for enhancements to the public transport network. Monitoring the delivery of the actions outlined in the Bus Information Strategy will be an important part of the management and control process. Progress against the identified actions and standards will be reviewed on a regular basis to make certain that the Strategy is achieving the desired outcome.

All monitoring, benchmarking and measuring will allow changes to be identified, incorporated and update. The aim of the targets is to create a virtual circle of continual improvement.

Table 8 Indicators

Bus Information Strategy - Indicators
Indicator	Performance Indicator	Source of Data	Frequency of Analysis
Provide ‘Bus Information Points’ in town centres, bus stations, main railway stations and larger villages	Completion	WCC	Annually
Provide an increase in the quality and quantity of roadside information in town centres, bus stops on Quality Bus Corridors and key village and rural bus stop locations	Completion	WCC/Operators	Annually
Improve and maintain the public transport information pages on the County Council’s website	Completion	WCC	Annually
Deliver Real Time information accessible by mobile phone by a Countywide Short Messaging System	Completion	WCC/Operators	Annually