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ITEM CMDT5E
CABINET
MEMBER FOR TRANSPORT – 23 NOVEMBER 2006
REVIEW OF
SUBSIDISED BUS SERVICES LEWKNOR TAXIBUS (OXFORD TUBE CONNECTION)
Report by
Head of Transport
Introduction
- The bus subsidy
contract for the "Oxford Tube Connection" minibus service expires on
26 January 2007, and a review has been conducted in order that the Cabinet
Member for Transport may determine its future.
- On 22 December
2005 the former Transport Implementation Committee (TIC) re-considered
its decision from 17 November 2005 in respect of the "Oxford Tube Connection"
minibus service, otherwise known as the Lewknor Taxibus, that funding
for the service would cease because all the tendered proposals then
on the table would have required a high subsidy per passenger journey.
However, a late reconsideration by Buckinghamshire County Council as
to shared funding and an alternative proposal emanating from the service
operator prompted that decision to be reconsidered in the light of a
much lower cost to Oxfordshire County Council
- Accordingly, in
December 2005 TIC decided to continue to fund, for a further year, a
more limited "Oxford Tube Connection" service, on a peak-hours-only
basis, linking Watlington (Oxfordshire) and Stokenchurch (Buckinghamshire)
to Lewknor and jointly funded by a £16,000 contribution from Buckinghamshire
County Council.
Reasons for Exempt Annex
- This item should
be considered in exempt session because its discussion in public might
lead to the disclosure to members of the public present of the amount
of any expenditure proposed to be incurred by Oxfordshire County Council
and other local authorities and organisations under any particular contract
for the acquisition of property or the supply of goods or services and
information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular
person (other than the authority).
- The operational
costs must be treated as strictly confidential since they relate to
the financial and business affairs of the operator. All other prices
must be treated as strictly confidential until such time as the Committee
decides whether or not to provide financial support for each service.
Revealing operators’ prices before then would prejudice the County Council’s
position if tenders or propositions have to be sought again for any
of these services.
Subsidy Prices
- Because of the
short-term nature of the possible extension to service that is being
sought, it has not been necessary within the County Council’s procurement
rules to engage in a formal tendering process. Instead, a negotiated
price has been obtained from the current operator of the Taxibus service
that would enable a designated level of service to continue until the
implementation date of the Thame / Watlington / Wheatley scheduled Area
Review of supported bus services. This figure is shown in Exempt Annex
2, together with my recommendations. Local Members will be advised in
writing of recommendations affecting their Divisions one week before
this meeting and written comments sought from them. Any responses received
will be circulated in a Supplementary Exempt Annex 3.
- If further support
for any contract is not agreed at the meeting on 23 November 2006 then
the service concerned will cease after operation on 26 January 2007.
Call-in period for the
Award of Subsidised Bus Service Contracts
- The Council’s
Constitution makes provision for decisions by the Cabinet or by an individual
member or by a Committee of the Cabinet to be called in and considered
by the relevant Scrutiny Committee. In the past this has caused problems
in relation to decisions relating to the award of bus service contracts
because of the special circumstances, which apply to those decisions.
Legal requirements lay down a maximum period of three months between
the receipt of tenders and the subsequent introduction of the new bus
services, whilst a minimum of eight weeks notice is required to register
a new or revised bus service with the Traffic Commissioners. The timetable
for call-in does not allow for that procedure to be invoked without
causing the suspension of the contracts awarded which could then result
in the withdrawal of the bus services concerned from the expiry date
of current contracts. This would have been unacceptable to passengers
who would have been left with no bus service to access vital amenities.
Within the time constraints mentioned above it is not possible to allow
both one week for consultation and a further week, after the date of
the meeting for a possible call-in, before operators are notified of
the contract awards. Because of those circumstances it has been necessary
on a number of occasions in the past for this Committee to seek suspension
of the call-in period under the rules of the Constitution, which applied
at that time.
- That situation
was far from satisfactory and on 10 January 2006 Council agreed an amendment
to the Constitution which means that the call-in procedure should not
apply to any decision on the letting of a contract arising from termination
of an existing contract if the time available is such that allowing
for call-in would result in service discontinuity, provided that all
members of the relevant Scrutiny Committee have been informed of the
circumstances of the decision to be made and have had an opportunity
to make representations to the decision maker about it.
- With regard to
that provision local members and Environment & Economy Scrutiny
Committee Members will be advised of the recommended contract awards
as contained in Exempt Annex 2, one week before the date of a meeting
which will allow them the opportunity to put their comments in writing
or arrange to speak at that meeting. The operation of the provisions
relating to call-in and urgency shall be monitored annually and a report
submitted to Council with proposals for review if necessary.
Financial Position
- On 6 October 2006
I reported a predicted underspend of £124,000 on the total bus subsidy
budget of £4,884,000. Decisions taken at that meeting will change that
figure somewhat (the precise effect has not been calculated at the time
of writing) but expenditure will remain well within budget.
Lewknor Taxi-bus (Oxford
Tube Connection)
- The circumstances
leading to the service falling due for review are described in paragraphs
2 and 3. The service itself is described in Annex 1 (download
as .doc file) together with information on usage and the results
of consultation.
- This scheme originally
commenced operation on 31 January 2005, utilising two taxi-buses, and
funded in part by a Government grant under the Rural Bus Challenge scheme.
- The service utilises
one of two dedicated minibuses, owned by the County Council, but leased
to the operator of the service at nominal cost. At present the vehicles
are a little over four years old, but, in the fullness of time, will
need to be replaced if the service is to continue long-term. Alternatively,
they could be seen as representing a diminishing asset to the County
Council, which could be sold. The subsidy prices quoted in this report
cover only the operating cost. Arguably a value for depreciation of
the vehicles should be added to fully reflect the long-term cost to
the County Council if it were intended to award a long-term contract
for the continuation of this service. Given the short-term nature of
the recommendation this is not considered to be necessary on this occasion.
- The Oxford Tube
Connection originally operated feeder services to and from Stagecoach’s
Oxford Tube Service at the Lewknor interchange at junction 6 of the
M40 on Monday to Friday. In the peak hours journeys were operated with
two buses, one linking Chalgrove, Cuxham and Watlington to Lewknor Interchange
and the other Thame and Chinnor to Lewknor Interchange. The route during
the morning peak period was generally fixed and to a published timetable,
except that by pre-booking it was possible to arrange for the bus to
be joined within defined zones at or near one’s home. In the afternoon
peak the buses operated on demand for passengers arriving on the Oxford
Tube. Between the peaks one bus operated to/from Watlington and Chinnor
on a pre-booked basis (for journeys to Lewknor) and at set departure
times from Lewknor, whilst the other bus operated the former South Oxfordshire
Dial-a-Ride service. From 2000 hours in the evening one bus operated
on demand for passengers arriving at Lewknor on the Oxford Tube.
- Since the change
to the structure of the Oxford Tube Connection service in January 2006
arising from the decision of the former Transport Implementation Committee
in December 2005, the service has operated on a Monday to Friday peak
hours basis only. Between the hours of roughly 05.45am and 08.30am in
the morning peak and between the hours of roughly 17.00pm and 19.30pm
in the afternoon/evening peak journeys are operated with one bus, linking
Watlington to Lewknor Interchange and also linking Stokenchurch (Buckinghamshire)
to Lewknor Interchange, with the potential for cross-Lewknor journeys
to be made between the two villages. The route during the morning peak
period is fixed and to a published timetable. In the afternoon / evening
peak the bus operates on demand for passengers arriving at Lewknor on
the Oxford Tube coaches.
Car Parking at Lewknor
Interchange
- The minibus is
not used outside these hours, the former South Oxfordshire Dial-a-Ride
service for disabled and mobility-impaired people having ceased altogether
after January 2006 following the failure to obtain the financial support
of South Oxfordshire District Council towards its continuation.
- This scheme was
set up with the aim of reducing the volume of cars parking on the roadside
on the B4009 and in Lewknor village, reducing the amount of "Kiss and
Ride" car movements and of opening up a link to London for persons without
immediate access to a car.
- Parking surveys
undertaken in September and October 2006 by officers were designed to
partly replicate those undertaken in June 2005 by Jacobs Babtie at the
Lewknor Interchange and in the village of Lewknor itself. The 2005 surveys
showed a reduction in car parking at the Interchange site from 44 cars
in a comparable survey in 2004 to 35 in 2005 (although in part this
may have been affected by a small reduction in capacity caused by the
installation of fixed bollards). The report by Jacobs Babtie in 2005
concluded that "the introduction of the Taxibus service and passenger
facilities at Lewknor appears to have had some effect in reducing the
number of cars that otherwise would likely have been parked at Lewknor.
No cars are having to park in Lewknor village".
- The follow-up
survey in September and October 2006 showed that the number of vehicles
parked at Lewknor Interchange was increasing again, which can be presumed
to be a consequence of the reduction in the catchment area and hours
of operation of the Taxibus service.
- There remains
a risk that any further reduction or withdrawal of the Lewknor Taxibus
service will result in further pressure on vehicle parking at Lewknor
Interchange, which may begin to migrate into Lewknor village once again.
- Bus patronage
data has been provided by the current operators of the Oxford Tube Connection
(Lewknor Taxibus) service, in addition to information forthcoming as
a result of face-to-face interview surveys with Oxford Tube users, undertaken
by officers of the County Council in September 2005. The surveys, correlated
the operator data, show the greatest impact remains in the Watlington
area, from where 37% of Oxford Tube users now use the Taxibus. This
figure has, however, reduced from the figure of 64% of Watlington passengers
using Taxibus which was found in the comparable 2005 survey. As is summarised
in Annex 1, the actual average patronage for the 26 weeks from 13 March
to 8 September 2006 was 9.5 passenger journeys per day to/from Watlington.
- The Jacobs Babtie
survey in June 2005 identified that Stokenchurch was the second most
significant origin of Oxford Tube users after Watlington. Whereas Watlington
passengers were able to use the Taxibus, those from Stokenchurch had
no such provision and were therefore using cars or motorbikes (either
as drivers or as passengers) to access the Oxford Tube coaches, putting
pressure on the limited car parking spaces at the Interchange site.
- Patronage on the
Stokenchurch side of the motorway has been very limited. The reason
for this disappointing level of public use is not entirely clear. Certainly
significant steps to publicise the service in Stokenchurch were made
by both Buckinghamshire County Council and the local parish council
and the Stokenchurch & Radnage Community Action Forum. What is clear,
however, is that the poor patronage from Stokenchurch and the consequent
extremely high cost per passenger journey has led Buckinghamshire County
Council to determine NOT to renew its financial support for the Lewknor
Taxibus after the current funding period ceases after the close of business
on 27 January 2007.
Consultation
- Consultation with
Parish Councils and Parish Transport Representatives has taken place.
This encompassed the 12 Oxfordshire parishes affected by the original
extent of the Taxibus service and (at the invitation of Buckinghamshire
County Council) Stokenchurch Parish Council in Buckinghamshire. Notices
on the Taxibuses and in the Lewknor passenger shelters alerted service
users to the review and consultation and invited them to approach their
Parish Councils. A total of 12 replies were received, of which five
related to the Watlington service, five to the Stokenchurch service
and two which were from parishes no longer served by the Taxibus since
January 2006.
- Of the consultation
responses to the Taxibus, two were from Oxfordshire parishes – Thame
Town Council and Towersey Parish Council – and one from a Buckinghamshire
organisation – Stokenchurch & Radnage Community Action Forum. Of
the other nine responses, most were from individuals but one was from
Bus Users UK and one from a representative of Oxford City Primary Care
Trust.
- Thame Town Council
and Towersey Parish Council did not express any strong opinion but recognised
that the Taxibus service had ceased to directly benefit those communities,
without expressing a strong desire that these services should be resumed.
- The residents
on the Buckinghamshire side of the service, including the Stokenchurch
& Radnage Community Action Forum, expressed a desire for that service
to continue. However, this is really a matter for Buckinghamshire County
Council, and is something on which that Authority has already decided.
There was some criticism of the level of publicity given to the service
in Stokenchurch – criticism which in the view of Oxfordshire County
Council officers is unfounded – and of the cost of the Taxibus, which
was felt by some to be too high in relation to the length of journey
and in relation to the fare on the Oxford Tube coach service itself.
Questionnaire Survey
- In addition to
the formal consultation, Watlington Parish Council produced and arranged
distribution of a questionnaire survey, inviting respondents to send
their completed questionnaires direct to the County Council’s lead officer
for the project. A total of 76 replies were received in this way, the
vast majority (63) from residents of Watlington. Other respondents were
from Kingston Blount (2), Pyrton (2), Christmas Common (2) and one each
from Kingston Stert, Chinnor, Lewknor, Britwell Salome and Chalgrove.
Two respondents did not answer this question.
- Of these responses
all 76 were aware of the Lewknor Taxibus: 59 said that they had used
the Taxibus, 13 said they had not with four respondents not indicating
an answer to the question.
- Of the 59 respondents
who indicated that they had used Taxibus, five had used it once only,
21 had used it on a handful of occasions, 17 were regular users (1-2
times per month), eight used it more regularly (3-5 times per month),
one respondent used Taxibus frequently (1-2 times per week) and six
used it very frequently (3-5 times per week). One answer was unclear.
- Of the 58 respondents
who answered the question on their opinion of the Taxibus service, 1
answered "very poor", 3 "rather poor"; 1 "neither poor nor good", 18
"quite good" and 35 "very good".
- Respondents were
invited to tick boxes indicating how they had made the connection to
the Oxford Tube coaches before the Lewknor Taxibus. Many respondents
ticked more than one box, mainly indicating that they had either driven
themselves or obtained a lift from a neighbour or relative. The total
breakdown of responses to this question was as follows: 10 did not make
this journey before Taxibus; 1 used a conventional taxi; 27 obtained
lifts from neighbours or relatives; 36 drove and 4 used other means.
Nobody answered that they had used a conventional bus service.
Fares Charged
- There had been
evidence of criticism of the fares levied to use the Taxibus service.
The original level of service had specified fares of £1 single and £1.50
return. Since the current pattern of service was established from the
end of January 2006 the fares charged had been raised to £2 single and
£4 return. It was felt that this may have had an impact on suppressing
demand for the Taxibus. The operators of the service, Walters Limousines,
accordingly volunteered to experiment with a reduction of the fare to
£1 single, £2 return, with effect from Monday 18 September 2006. Publicity
for this fare reduction was arranged with Pyrton and Watlington Parish
Councils and appeared in the Watlington Times and Henley Standard newspapers.
At the time of writing this report it was too early to tell whether
this had had any impact on Taxibus patronage but officers will report
further on this at the meeting.
Stokenchurch Patronage
- It is clear from
patronage data that the expected Stokenchurch patronage failed to materialise
in anything like the volumes anticipated. This was despite significant
effort at road-side publicity, organised by Buckinghamshire County Council,
and two door-to-door leaflet drops to most addresses in the Stokenchurch
area, arranged by Stokenchurch Parish Council and the Stokenchurch &
Radnage Community Action Forum. Copies of the colourful Taxibus leaflet,
which had been produced to a high standard by Stagecoach buses, at their
own cost, were also distributed via local shops.
- This poor patronage
from Stokenchurch, and the consequent very high cost per passenger journey
for Buckinghamshire County Council, has clearly been behind that Authority’s
decision to cease its share of the funding for the Taxibus. Accordingly,
in seeking a price for the possible continuation of the Taxibus service,
the focus has been on providing the Cabinet Member for Transport with
a choice between either discontinuing Oxfordshire County Council funding,
in which case the service will cease in its entirety, or of seeking
a short-term continuation of a service focussed on Watlington – Lewknor
for some four months, sufficient to enable the Taxibus to be considered
‘in the round’ along with other supported bus services, as part of the
scheduled Area Review covering the Thame / Watlington / Wheatley area,
due for implementation in early June 2007.
Proposal for Short-term
Contract Extension
- To this end, local
parish councils and stakeholders were consulted on a draft timetable
which provided for an enhanced peak-hours only shuttle service between
Watlington and Lewknor Interchange. This did not find favour with the
local community preferring to see the spare capacity of the minibus
utilised by once again serving Aston Rowant, Kingston Blount and Chinnor.
Accordingly a price has been negotiated with the operator for a potential
four month extension of the service to June 2007 on this basis. This
is not intended as an experiment to restore service to Aston Rowant,
Kingston Blount and Chinnor but merely as a best-available utilisation
of the Taxibus vehicle during any extension of the Taxibus service contract
that may be agreed.
How the Project Supports
LTP2 Objectives
- Buses are at the
heart of the County Council’s 2nd Local Transport Plan. The
Bus Strategy, as part of the LTP, describes how the Council creates
the conditions in which commercial bus services can thrive, whilst ensuring
that subsidised services are provided where necessary to supplement
the commercial network and which best meet local needs and provide best
value for money.
- The bus service
considered in this report is one of those subsidised services and contributes
towards meeting the shared priorities of delivering accessibility and,
to a lesser extent, tackling congestion. The bus service also contributes
to a reduction in car parking at the Lewknor Interchange, which falls
within a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. A reduction
or withdrawal of the bus service might risk increased car travel and
adverse local environmental impacts due to more parking.
Financial and Staff Implications
- The financial
implications are dealt with in Exempt Annex 2.
- There are no staff
implications.
RECOMMENDATION
The
Cabinet Member for Transport is RECOMMENDED to:
- agree
an extension of the contract for the Oxford Tube Connection
(Lewknor Taxibus) service, on the basis of a peak-hours Monday-to-Friday
timetable linking Watlington – Lewknor Interchange – Aston Rowant
– Kingston Blount – Chinnor, for the period Monday 29 January
2007 to Friday 1 June 2007 inclusive, to enable future strategic
decisions regarding any public transport links to the Lewknor
Interchange to be made in the wider context of the scheduled
Area Review of supported bus services and on the basis of the
price set out in Exempt Annex 2;
- thank
Buckinghamshire County Council for its support for the experimental
Stokenchurch extension of the Taxibus service from 30 January
2006 until 26 January 2007 but to agree with them that this
part of the service should cease after the latter date;
- advise
Watlington Parish Council that the County Council sees little
prospect of the Taxibus Service continuing beyond the June 2007
Review and therefore strongly recommends that the Parish Council
and local community employs every effort into establishing a
Community Transport-based long-term solution to the provision
of public transport links between Watlington and the Oxford
Tube coach interchange at Lewknor.
(Statement of Decision)
STEVE HOWELL
Head of Transport
Background papers: Consultation letters and report and results of usage
and car parking surveys (available in the MRC and on request)
Contact
Officer: Neil Timberlake, Tel 01865-815585
October
2006
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