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Quality Assurance Author PGH Peer Review PT Team Leader Director PGH

Stagecoach Manchester

A new vision for buses:

Maximising the potential for innovative bus solutions in South

Manchester

THE TAS PARTNERSHIP LIMITED SPECIALIST CONSULTANTS IN PUBLIC TRANSPORT

Stagecoach Manchester A new vision for buses: Maximising the potential for innovative bus solutions in South Manchester

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Contents

Section Page

1 What Is This Document About?.................................................................................................... 3

2 The Work We Are Commissioning............................................................................................... 4

3 Bus Transit .................................................................................................................................... 5

4 Streamline...................................................................................................................................... 8

5 Greenways ................................................................................................................................... 10

6 Integrate....................................................................................................................................... 12

7 Bus On Demand .......................................................................................................................... 14

8 What Happens Next?................................................................................................................... 15

The TAS Partnership Limited Specialist Consultants in Public Transport

Guildhall House, Guildhall Street Preston, Lancashire PR1 3NU

Telephone: 01772 204988 Fax: 01772 562070


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1 WHAT IS THIS DOCUMENT ABOUT?

1.1 Stagecoach is a major provider of public transport in Greater Manchester, and in the UK as a whole. Our fleet of 640 buses carries 78 million passengers in Greater Manchester every year. With substantial capital investment, management skill and marketing effort, as well as the positive support of Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive, we have managed to increase our adult full fare passenger numbers by 25% since we purchased the business in 1996. This contrasts markedly with the previous periods when the Passenger Transport Authority directly controlled bus services – see Figure A. Stagecoach has achieved average annual growth of 2.5% from adult passengers but concession passengers – whose fares are set by the PTE – fell by 1.1% per annum. Stagecoach’s success compares with a decline of 4% per annum in the late 1970s and 2% in the early 1980s, when the PTE controlled all services.

Figure A: Average Annual Growth 1975 to 2005

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1.2 With this level of growth we believe we can claim success in attracting people to our bus services, many of who previously travelled by car. However our experience in other parts of the UK leads us to believe that we could, in partnership with GMPTE, make a larger contribution to meeting the transport needs of the conurbation.

1.3 The Greater Manchester draft Bus Strategy document is a disappointment. It offers no new ideas or initiatives and appears to seek a downgrading of buses to a secondary role of feeding rail stations. Although interchange with Metrolink and rail is important this only accounts for 4% of our customers and all our passenger growth


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has occurred on ‘core routes’ which give the customers what they want – frequent, direct and reliable services. Action is needed to improve services for the other 96% of our customers and to make improvements that will attract more people from cars.

1.4 This document sets out some ideas about how we believe Stagecoach, and other bus operators in Greater Manchester, could maximise its contribution to reducing congestion, expanding the economy and reducing social exclusion. It also identifies how we could work more effectively with our local authority partners to deliver against this agenda.

2 THE WORK WE ARE COMMISSIONING

2.1 Stagecoach has commissioned consultants to come up with new ideas on how we can jointly achieve more from our bus services. The consultants have examined successes and failures in bus services in all parts of the UK, and elsewhere in the world, and have related these experiences to the challenge facing Greater Manchester and the strategies of both national [Department for Transport] and local [Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Authority] government.

2.2 The initial research has identified five principal themes each of which offer significant potential, and which are now subject to detailed evaluation. A pilot scheme is being specified for each of these initiatives to allow a full evaluation of its potential. Subject to the Business Case analysis now being undertaken Stagecoach is ready to fund investment in these initiatives

2.3 The themes are set out in Table 1 below and are described more fully in the text that follows along with an illustration of the concept.

Table 1 : Innovative Proposals for a Greater Manchester Bus Strategy

Concept Description

High Quality ‘Bus Transit’ Providing a stable, reliable high quality public transport operation on major radial corridors using advanced technology to create ‘bus transit’ operations in partnership with GMPTE

Streamline Park & Ride A ‘congestion-busting’ initiative that will offer workers, shoppers and visitors in Manchester City Centre a fast, cost effective and attractive alternative to City Centre parking – improving the competitiveness of the regional centre

Manchester Green Routes More effective management of the precious resource represented by major roads, combined with more effective enforcement, learning from London’s ‘Red Routes’ making buses more reliable and attractive, without any significant disadvantages for other road users

Local Integrate Better integration of bus with rail and Metrolink where this offers a better service to users and where this can be achieved without denying passengers choice or dictating how they should travel.

Bus On Demand Demand Responsive’ local minibus services fully integrated with trunk bus, rail and Metrolink services


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3 BUS TRANSIT

Bus Transit - High Quality Optically Guided Vehicle on Segregated Alignment


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The Problem

3.1 Plans for Metrolink expansion, which Stagecoach supports, will provide high quality segregated public transport on several key corridors. The plans will still leave many major corridors wholly dependent on buses. Although Stagecoach has had considerable success in increasing bus passengers it is restrained by increasing traffic congestion. Some relief from this congestion would provide the basis for a business case for investment in new bus technology, including electronic guidance, level access, new ticketing technology, alternative power systems and higher quality interiors that would permit a complete upgrading of the service offered.

3.2 This scale of upgrading can only be achieved within a strategic partnership of the operator, highway authority and Passenger Transport Executive. The Bus Strategy is the logical focus for ambitions to achieve this upgrading and Stagecoach would welcome being challenged to meet the aspirations of transport users in Greater Manchester as part of such a partnership.

The Concept

3.3 The concept of ‘Bus Transit’ has been successful in other parts of the world in allowing a phased approach to improvement. It is particularly appropriate for corridors with ‘intermediate’ flow levels – greater than those typically satisfied by conventional bus but lower than those needed to justify rail based systems. The value of this type of approach has been acknowledged in GMPTE proposals for the Manchester – Leigh corridor but there are currently no proposals to exploit its benefits in the south of the conurbation.

3.4 Sections of segregated alignment can be used by specially equipped high-quality buses, like that illustrated above. This grows the public transport market, improves services in the short term and allows the investment in segregated alignments to be used effectively immediately. In the longer term consideration can then be given to further upgrading to a wholly ‘fixed track’ system, such as Metrolink.

The Issues

3.5 Provision of a high quality service that would attract substantial numbers of car users depends on achieving a quantum improvement it overall service quality. This would be achieved with articulated, multi-door buses using an established optical guidance system. A high quality vehicle, with air conditioning, additional space and full level access for all members of the community would be required. It may be appropriate to move ticketing off-bus [using similar ticketing systems to Metrolink] at the same time.

3.6 Greater Manchester PTE would need to be assured of quality standards and of a high level of co-operation from the operator. This would be achieved through a ‘statutory’ Quality Partnership and through a ‘licence’ to use the segregated non-highway alignments. This would ensure that the PTE was able to convert the alignments for Metrolink if at some future date it became appropriate to extend Metrolink to these additional corridors..


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3.7 In many ways – fares, ticketing, use of tram stops etc. - the service offered would be closer to a Metrolink operation than a traditional bus service. It could, however, be in operation in around 12 months and could be achieved at relatively low cost. We envisage that Stagecoach would fund the vehicles on a wholly commercial basis and that they would be cascaded to another corridor if a decision was later made to opt for upgrading to Metrolink.

3.8 Our consultants will test a Bus Transit approach using the example of the Princess Parkway corridor.


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4 STREAMLINE

Streamline - Optical Guidance on Princess Road Median Strip Guideway


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The problem

4.1 The volume of cars on many of Greater Manchester’s radial roads is at and above ‘saturation’ point at peak times. This causes substantial delays for all road users and imposes significant extra costs on bus operators. Everyone’s journey is delayed and the economy of the regional centre suffers as a result.

4.2 ‘Park and Ride’ has been successfully developed for rail operations in Greater Manchester but, unlike other areas, bus-based Park & Ride has not been pursued at a meaningful level. Park & Ride is more difficult to deliver in larger urban areas but its success in Nottingham, Bristol and Edinburgh leads us to believe that it could offer great potential in Manchester, and possibly other urban centres in the conurbation.

The issues

4.3 The Stagecoach experience of our highly successful Ferrytoll Park & Ride operation in Fife, which serves Edinburgh shows that it is possible to attract users for longer distance travel and improve the service for existing bus users with effective partnerships. Attractive buses, a relatively congestion-free operation, high frequency and effective marketing are critical, as is the all-important aspect of parking site location.

4.4 Traditional approaches to Park & Ride have concluded that it is not possible to offer an attractive frequency for longer-distance operations but the Stagecoach experience in Edinburgh shows that it is possible to do this by effectively combining mainstream services with Park and Ride in a partnership with local authorities.

4.5 The pressure on existing highway space can also present problems as, not surprisingly, the places where buses need to have some traffic priority are those that have the greatest traffic volume. It can be very difficult to provide priority at these locations. Innovative approaches, for instance using central reservations to provide ‘tidal flow’ lanes, use of guided bus systems (which need less space) and creation of junction ‘throttles’ (which allow buses to get to the head of the queue) are proven solutions to this type of problem.

4.6 Our consultants will test the potential for a Streamline Park and Ride approach on the heavily congested Princess Parkway corridor in conjunction with bus network development that would deliver improved services to Wythenshawe as part of the proposed Bus Transit concept.


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5 GREENWAYS

Wilmslow Road Greenway – Ultra High Capacity Concept Bus with Extensive “Greenway” Bus Priority


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The Problem

5.1 Bus operators recognise that they are just one user of the busy local highway network. Local transport authorities are faced with increasing pressures on highway space and must take special account of vulnerable road users – pedestrians and cyclists – as well as frontagers who need access.

5.2 Most of the Greater Manchester highway network does not have sufficient width to consider provision of bus lanes. This is particularly significant on some of the major radial routes into the regional centre. It is, however, on these routes that the greatest delays to bus services and unreliability occurs. New approaches need to be considered that recognise the conflicting needs of all road users but which deliver overall benefits within a clear hierarchy of priorities.

The Issues

5.3 Buses suffer greatly from urban traffic congestion but in some cases are part of the problem itself. An effective solution to improving bus delays and reliability must therefore start from an ‘holistic’ approach of considering all aspects of the operation [including those that the operator is responsible for] and relating this to the broader transport objectives.

5.4 Considerable success was achieved in London’s ‘Red Routes’ programme and in the similar Edinburgh ‘Green Routes’ in improving traffic flows for all road users. In many cases bus services became more reliable and faster whilst other traffic flows also benefited. These successes were achieved by combining a strategic focus for the chosen key road links with more effective enforcement regimes. The strategic focus applied a logical hierarchy of needs and priorities and ensured that, for instance, a small inconvenience for a single delivery vehicle did not take priority over peak delays to several hundred road users.

5.5 Stagecoach recognises that its operating strategy for buses – including fare structures, ticketing systems, vehicle layout, scheduling and service simplicity has a direct bearing on the efficiency of highway use and would wish to address all aspects of this problem within a single ‘holistic’ package.

5.6 Our consultants will test the Green Route concept by examining bus operations and highway arrangements in the Wilmslow Road corridor looking at what bus operators, the highway authority and GMPTE could together do in partnership.


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6 INTEGRATE

Integrate – High Quality Interchange at Key Local Hubs


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The Problem

6.1 Integration of bus services with rail and tram takes two forms. ‘Positive’ integration gives passengers the opportunity to make connections with good interchanges, through ticketing and co-ordinated timings. ‘Negative’ integration forces passengers to change, whether they want to or not, by truncating bus routes, even where many passengers want to make the journey by through bus. ‘Integrate’ projects maximise the former whilst avoiding the latter and may have much greater potential.

6.2 Stagecoach wants to work with GMPTE and local authorities to improve integration where this is what is wanted by a significant number of our customers. Achieving this integration without disadvantaging other passengers represents a significant challenge.

The Issues

6.3 Currently only 4% of our passengers go on to use rail or Metrolink when they leave our bus. In transport systems where barriers to integration are removed twice or even three times this number of passengers might be expected to make this type of journey. Even on these systems the vast majority – typically around 90% - of bus users have no requirement for an onward connection by another transport mode. Enabling easy connections between bus and rail / Metrolink is good for our customers and good for our business. Enabling this whilst making travel more difficult or less attractive for the 90% of bus users who do not want this facility would damage bus services and have more disadvantages than advantages.

6.4 Stagecoach is keen to see greater integration where this can be delivered without disadvantaging the majority of our customers. Integration needs to take the form of safe and attractive interchange locations, simple and effective through ticketing, co-ordinated timetables and connectional facilities and active marketing and promotion of the integrated facilities.

6.5 Our consultants will investigate the implications of achieving a greater level of route, timetable, ticketing and information integration by developing proposals for services in the Stockport area.


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7 BUS ON DEMAND

Bus on Demand – Yellow Taxibus Serving the Heart of the Community


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The Problem

7.1 Research in several parts of Britain has shown that simple, ‘main road’ high frequency bus services have the greatest impact on attracting car users to bus services. These ‘modal shift’ objectives can sometimes be seen to be in conflict with ‘accessibility’ objectives, which may require buses to get much closer to people's homes and destinations in some cases. This conflict of objectives can lead to a failure to fully satisfy either objective.

7.2 An optimum approach would deliver the benefits of high frequency ‘core route’ services to ‘the many’ whilst still providing for full accessibility for ‘the few’. Demand Responsive Transport, fully integrated into mainstream provision, may provide the potential for doing this.

The Issues

7.3 Demand Responsive Transport (DRT) has been shown to have an important role and Stagecoach has pioneered DRT in the largest commercial operation in the UK with its Yellow Taxibus product. This pilot project has shown the potential for passenger growth at much lower cost than other DRT schemes, but with the need for some funding support. ‘Bus on Demand’ would be fully integrated with bus, rail and tram operations in Greater Manchester and would bring the substantial Stagecoach experience to bear on exploring the potential.

7.4 Our consultants will explore the potential to link a ‘Bus on Demand’ service into a ‘core’ high frequency service to demonstrate the potential and benefits.

8 WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?

8.1 Work is now proceeding on the evaluation of pilot projects that could be used to test these concepts. We will share this work, and the data analysis supporting it, with all those with an interest in improving bus services in Greater Manchester.

8.2 We anticipate having a report on the evaluations by January 2006. This work is being carried out independently by a team with many years experience of developing public transport.

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