Issue - meetings

Cabinet Member: Highway Management

Forward Plan Ref: 2021/072

Contact: John Disley, Infrastructure Strategy & Policy Manager Tel: 07767 006742

Report by Corporate Director – Environment & Place (CA11).

This report updates Cabinet on the Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP) being prepared for submission to Cabinet at the end of October. 

Cabinet Members are RECOMMENDED to

a)             Approve the Bus Service Improvement Plan, including the bidding list of schemes and other interventions proposed for inclusion in the document, to be submitted to Government by the end of October 2021, subject to further refinement before submission. 

b)             Support the increased priority and investment to promote buses and the need for much closer joint working required in the forthcoming Enhanced Partnership, recognising the requirements for increased Council staffing and budget to support this area. 

c)             Delegate authority to the Corporate Director Environment and Place to make any necessary changes to the Bus Service Improvement Plan in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Highways Management and the Cabinet Member for Travel and Development Strategy.

Recommendations agreed

Cabinet received a report which supported the increased priority and investment to promote buses and the need for much closer joint working in the forthcoming Enhanced Partnership, recognising the requirements for increased Council staffing and budget to support this area.

Mark Hull, Labour party Candidate for Oxford’s Summertown Ward, presented a submission on behalf of the Oxford North and Greater Marston branches of the Labour Party.  The biggest concern many people had about Oxford’s buses was their price.  Urban bus services had become both dear and scarce, except along a few main roads.

Mark Hull pointed to what happened in London in the 1980s when Ken Livingstone increased the frequency of buses and the underground while simultaneously lowering fares. This created revenue gains for London Transport that offset the increased costs of more frequent services.  To reduce the potential costs and risks of radical proposals he also urged the Council to try revenue-sharing models in which risks and profits were shared in pre-agreed ratios between the Council and the operator.  His groups also proposed electric shuttle buses inside the hospital campuses and a free school bus service.

Danny Yee welcomed the Plan and the proposals to be introduced in Oxford by summer 2023 including bus gates and the workplace parking levy.  He was concerned that public engagement on these plans needed to be much better.  He believed that the backlash on Low Traffic Neighbourhoods illustrated this.  The plans represented the biggest changes to Oxford in centuries and the Council needed to explain the benefits better in order to resist the protests from those who feel their livelihood is under threat.

Councillor Andrew Cole declared an interest in that he was an employee of Stagecoach and a founder member of West Oxfordshire Community Transport.  He asked the Cabinet Member to consider retaining the 100% concessionary fare rebate for community and not-for-profit operators.  He described them as a life-line for many routes such as the Witney town routes in his division.

Cabinet Members raised a number of issues:

·         Councillor Bearder should respond to the comments of the Place Overview & Scrutiny Committee.

·         There had been little opportunity to consult on the proposals.

·         The delegation in recommendation c) was to sign off on this bid only.  The decisions on how to spend whatever funds are ultimately allocated would still come back to Cabinet.

·         For some people it was impossible to get to their nearest bus stop.  The Council needed to work with bus companies to ensure that transport is as inclusive as possible.

·         The plans should not be seen as radical but are absolutely necessary.  When you make transport services quick, safe and frequent, people switch to them.

·         Public transport for rural villages had been decimated and there was too much focus on urban areas in the proposals.

Councillor Tim Bearder, Cabinet Member for Highway Management, responded that it was Cabinet’s aspiration to retain the concessionary rebates but central government would also have a say on the matter.  He agreed to respond to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 104