Bristol buses: First must deliver quality

Liberal Democrat group leader Gary Hopkins says mayor must arm himself with new powers to control local bus companies and give residents better services

Bristol’s public transport system is a mess, despite the good work done by the Liberal Democrats when we ran the council. Although other companies have been getting a toehold over recent years, First still dominates the market; in 2011 they accounted for 88% of bus journeys.

The Liberal Democrats have been working hard over the summer to make the case for both the Mayor and First to get on board with Bus Quality Contracts and to get things moving again.

Quality Contracts were introduced as part of the Transport Act 2000 and Local Transport Act 2008. Other cities are looking to Bus Quality Contracts to solve their public transport problems. The West Yorkshire (Metro) and the Tyneside (Nexus) Integrated Transport Authorities have recently said they are intending to make a Quality Contract Scheme. In Leeds the scheme has received overwhelming support from the public.

In Bristol the cabinet commissioned a report in October 2012 on introducing “quality bus contracts”. These would allow the council to control routes, timetables and fares, and let out routes on a commercial basis. This could crucially be used to get cross subsidies within companies so that we get away from companies, like First, who rake it in on some routes and get out the begging bowl as soon as they lose a few pounds on other routes.

Unfortunately, since the Liberal Democrats tried to move forward these plans, nothing has happened. The report is still outstanding and First continue to run rings around the mayor despite him applying the big stick to those that might travel by car.

There is of course a parallel here. Sometimes the act of warning companies you are going to implement something is enough to force them to come to the negotiating table. For example, councils were previously handed the option of licencing and controlling access for utility companies to dig up our roads.

In March 2013 I got unanimous support for a motion at Council that said the Mayor should take these powers if needed. The utilities companies flocked to the table and a ‘behaviour contract’ was agreed. Being prepared to use the stick was what was needed and we now await the official report that will confirm the progress that was made after the Council showed the Mayor what to do.

The mayor should therefore build on the early successes that were laid down by the Liberal Democrats when we ran the council a few years ago. The city had previously become synonymous with a vicious circle of rising fares, cuts in services and declining passenger numbers. Without the Mayor’s support for Bus Quality Contracts, things will only get worse.

Astonishingly, he has failed to capitalise on the early progress we made from the Greater Bristol Bus Network (GBBN). Completed in 2012, the GBBN was developed to enhance bus passenger experience with better buses and improve information and reliability. It is unforgiveable that the Mayor has not taken advantage of his role to sort out the city’s chronic public transport problems.

The latest excuse for First given by the Mayor for not taking action is a supposed shortage of drivers. But this company, much “loved” by the Bristol public, is now going to benefit from being associated with the European Green Capital as “a major sponsor”. We will no doubt see some low emission buses and a lot of mutual backslapping but in the end it is the Bristol public being short changed.

For example, it is shameful that First have again rerouted the No. 20 bus route along Kellaway Avenue without meaningful consultation, or consideration of the vulnerable and elderly people who use the route. Your local Liberal Democrat councillors and campaigners have always maintained that this service is a valuable one. Anthony Negus, one of the Liberal Democrat councillors for Cotham ward, has already met with Paul Matthews, First’s CEO, to lobby for a solution. First have confirmed that they would not change their decision for stopping the route for financial reasons as the route does not carry sufficient passengers – which many believe is at least partly due to its unreliability.

In contrast to this year’s Quality of Life in Bristol Council report, which said that Bristol was “a city where public transport provides an affordable quality alternative to the car”, it is obvious for all to see that the quality and reliability of bus services in Bristol are largely at the mercy of First.

We should not settle for a second-class service, when a better service could be achieved. First’s plea of a lack of interest in the No. 20 route from residents is, quite frankly, bizarre. Bus usage in Bristol has risen 15% following national and council investment in infrastructure and continues upward.  However, usage is lower than it could be partly because of the unreliability of First’s buses and Bus Quality Contracts would address this problem. People are not going to trust the service instead of their cars when individual buses fail to turn up and routes are cancelled without any warning.

It is not as though First cannot afford to make changes. Quite staggeringly, First Bus Bristol made a return on capital of 17.7% in 2011/12, making the company one of the most profitable operations in the UK. Passenger use on buses in Bristol has increased too. After years of decline, bottoming at 25.86 million in 2005/06, passenger numbers have shown five years of continuous growth since 2007/08. In 2011/12 they stood at 28.49 million, up 9.2% on their low point. Those travelling to work by bus has also increased by 40% from 2010-11 alone. Why then are First cutting services like the 20? The answer unfortunately is because the Mayor refuses to even contemplate taking effective action to make them act in the public interest.

To stop this sort of situation happening again, we propose that the Mayor introduces Bus Quality Contracts. It was the Liberal Democrats who challenged the Mayor of Bristol to arm himself with new powers to control local bus companies and give residents better services. It is the Liberal Democrats who believe the Council must pursue any reasonable option to give all our residents a fair opportunity to move around this city of ours, and with as small an environmental impact as possible.

Ultimately I want the Mayor to work with and for the Bristol public and we are showing him how he can do this. We will support positive action but will continue to criticise the lame failure to act.