Driving forward bus services in Sheffield

The first few months of 2007 have been exciting and dynamic for South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive (SYPTE) in terms of improving bus services in Sheffield. This year two ground-breaking agreements have been put in place, both aimed at growing bus patronage within the sub-region.

In January history was made when a Statutory Quality Partnership Scheme was signed covering bus services in north Sheffield. This was the first Statutory Quality Partnership Scheme to be signed in the UK under legislation passed in the year 2000.

More recently SYPTE joined forces with bus operator First and Sheffield City Council to sign ‘The Sheffield Bus Agreement’ – a groundbreaking partnership approach to improve the stability, reliability and quality of bus services across Sheffield and beyond.

Both agreements are the culmination of a lot of hard work and negotiation but started with a joint vision to improve services for passengers. It has taken considerable effort, determination and partnership working, which has ultimately led to the finalisation of both agreements.

The signing of the Statutory Quality Partnership Scheme agreement was the first of its kind to be made in the UK under the powers made available in the Transport Act 2000. It is a joint agreement between Sheffield City Council and SYPTE/A.

The scheme is designed to make bus travel more attractive for customers and potential bus users. The Statutory Quality Partnership Scheme for North Sheffield, the first of its kind, will help deliver a step change in quality and reliability of bus services and this improvement will make buses an even better option. The investment by Sheffield City Council and SYPTE has allowed us to specify quality, environmentally-friendly vehicles for the area. If this scheme is successful it is intended to introduce similar ones in other areas of South Yorkshire.

The scheme covers a significant area in north Sheffield, following the A6135 between Spital Hill and Chapeltown, including Firth Park centre.

To enable the agreement to be put in place, SYPTE and Sheffield City Council have delivered a wide range of infrastructure facilities in north Sheffield, such as new bus lanes to improve journey times, raised kerbs at almost 100 bus stops to enable level boarding and bus stop clearways so that buses can pull right up to the kerb.

They are also introducing new bus shelters, better information, including some real time displays showing when your bus is due and new traffic detection technology to improve the management and flow of traffic.

The Statutory Quality Partnership Scheme allows the PTE and Sheffield City Council to specify minimum standards for buses using these facilities.

These will include low emission engines, low floor vehicles which feature CCTV cameras and high standards of cleanliness. Drivers will also be trained to NVQ standards for improved customer care. A performance regime for all qualitative aspects will be included in the ongoing management arrangements.

Councillor Jan Wilson, Leader of Sheffield City Council said: “The Statutory Quality Partnership Scheme will provide passengers with a higher quality of service, improved reliability and better punctuality. In Sheffield we are by far ahead of the rest of the country in providing our citizens with improved public transport facilities through regulation. We hope that by signing the Statutory Quality Partnership Scheme we can encourage more people back onto public transport in the city by giving them real choice. These measures will reduce the great variation in journey times caused by congestion at peak times.”

The scheme will be fully implemented this summer and key bus routes which will be covered provide more than 14 million bus passenger journeys every year. Raising the quality of bus services will benefit all these existing passengers, as well as offering new passengers an attractive alternative to the private car for some journeys.

SYPTE is already looking at introducing other Statutory Quality Partnerships elsewhere in South Yorkshire where it is the most appropriate mechanism for securing quality improvements where significant investment has improved highway and customer infrastructure, for instance where new multi-million pound interchanges have been provided.

The second agreement signed this year is the Sheffield Bus Agreement – a Voluntary Quality Partnership (aVQP) – that will also benefit millions of passengers in Sheffield.

This unique partnership agreement will make improvements that benefit the region’s bus services and infrastructure. What is unique in South Yorkshire is that it pushes the boundaries of partnership working to the extreme, compared with other VQP agreements. It also builds on the Statutory Quality Partnership by addressing areas not already covered for instance networks and stability.

To improve stability of the Sheffield bus network First, Sheffield City Council and SYPTE will review the existing Sheffield bus network and agree the optimum use of all existing resources in order to put in place a network best suited to delivering the objectives of sustainable growth and accessibility. This network will then remain stable and any changes will be mutually agreed by all three parties.

Reliability will be addressed through the established Punctuality Improvement Plan incorporating a list of target hot-spot improvements and quality will be enhanced through £16.9 million worth of investments. Bus operator First will invest £10 million in new vehicles in Sheffield over the next two years, extra CCTV cameras on buses and training programmes for staff are included in the investment programme.

In return SYPTE and Sheffield City Council have invested £4.4 million in 2006/7 and have agreed to invest £2.5 million in 2007/8, which will be used to fund infrastructure improvements that will help to improve bus services. The money already spent went towards improving customer facilities and bus priorities for example new information, Real Time Passenger Information and bus priorities in north Sheffield.

The agreement will mean greater stability for bus users as there will be fewer changes to timetables and will enable them to make decisions about using the buses with greater confidence. An agreed investment programme will mean customers having greater belief in bus services and an improvement in customer facilities and bus quality.

‘The Sheffield Bus Agreement’ will initially be signed for two years but with scope to last much longer if all parties agree to continue. As part of the agreement, any changes to First’s bus network in Sheffield will be mutually agreed by the operator, Sheffield City Council and SYPTE. This agreement is dynamic in that it allows additional investment and customer improvements to be added during the contract period.

A performance regime to measure progress against a set of indicators will be put in place and will be used as a basis for discussion during the agreement duration.

Bob Hamilton, First’s Managing Director in South Yorkshire, said: “This is the most comprehensive Voluntary Quality Partnership ever agreed between a bus company and a PTE and will significantly benefit millions of our customers.

“The signing of this agreement shows that partnership working is the way forward to ensure that the people of Sheffield get the best bus service in the UK. This in turn means that the numbers of people using our buses will continue to grow.

Public transport has a crucial role to play in the renaissance of South Yorkshire and in improving the quality of life for our residents, workers and visitors.

These agreements demonstrate SYPTE is keen to push the boundaries of both legislation and partnership working in order to improve bus services for the benefit of the people of South Yorkshire. This approach takes partnership in the bus industry to a new level and it shows just how SYPTE is driving forward improvements to public transport.

SYPTE and its local partners are keen to explore all options to improve services and believe that a number of these innovations will influence the forthcoming draft Local Transport Bill in the UK.