Parish Transport Champions Project

Parish Transport Champions Project 1

The East Riding of Yorkshire Large rural Unitary Authority with population of 338k; Outside of main towns very sparsely populated - 77 parishes with less than 500 residents (46%); 90% of the bus network is commercially operated; 3 medium-sized Community Transport Operators (28 vehicles/140,000 passenger journeys per year); Some urban, rural and coastal areas experience significant levels of deprivation; Major challenges for transport delivery outside core interurban networks. 2

The Council s Statutory Duties General duty: It must act fairly, rationally and within the law. Specific public transport duty: Secure public passenger transport services as the Council consider appropriate to meet unmet need which would not otherwise be met. Implement relevant policies in the LTP Have regard to Equality duty Have regard to climate change. 3

ERYC Review of Bus Service Provision Why undertake a review of the supported bus network? Pressures on local authority budgets mean all service areas need to review provision to ensure best value; Some services may no longer be relevant to current needs; There may be significant unmet needs for which there is no current provision; We have a duty to ensure that strategic needs are addressed. 4

Parish Transport Events: key aims To encourage all 168 Town & Parish Councils to nominate a Parish Transport Champion ; To explain our Statutory responsibilities, ensure parishes were aware of existing transport options, and explain how we intended to undertake our bus service review; To secure support to undertake local transport surveys to assess unmet transport needs, including needs of the elderly, the disabled and protected groups. 5

Parish Transport Events: key outcomes We held a series of 6 Parish Transport Events and recruited 72 Parish Transport Champions; We held training sessions for the Champions, and allocated a dedicated officer to support their local work; We helped them to develop bespoke local transport surveys (online and/or printed), and undertook detailed analysis of results; 60 local transport surveys were carried out, plus other methods of local enquiry undertaken. 6

Parish Transport Needs Assessment We secured 3,398 individual responses to local transport needs surveys, and 1,042 un-met needs were expressed; We produced a detailed summary of our analysis of these responses for each parish; 597 needs were expressed by 10 or more residents; 445 needs will be considered on a case-by-case basis with individual PTC s. 10

How will this work influence future decisions? The Parish Transport Needs Assessment process has been designed to secure wide and active community engagement and to ensure that the council has due regard to its Statutory Duties in taking forward bus network review: - To carry out a Transport Needs Assessment with specific reference to the needs of the elderly and disabled; - To then reflect on the results of that needs assessment to develop a proposal which also has regard to the Local Transport Plan objectives ; the Council s Equalities duty and the Council s duties under the climate change act, and to ensure that this offers mitigation for any adverse impacts, particularly on the elderly and disabled. 11

How will we work with Champions in the future? Discuss the detail of our proposals for their communities and ensure that any adverse impacts can be effectively mitigated; Help them to form local groups that can bid for external funding to pilot new services where un-met needs that cannot be served by the current network are identified; Support them to provide better local information about what public and community transport services exist in their area; Establish Community Bus Partnerships giving them a direct line of communication with local bus and CT operators. 12

Case Study: Burton Pidsea Better Transport Group 13

Case Study: Burton Pidsea Better Transport Group A peak commercial bus service linking the village to Hull was withdrawn by the operator; 80 people attended a public meeting to discuss the implications of the operator s decision; It was agreed that a Better Transport Group should be formed to research and more fully understand local transport needs; The group met and designed a transport survey with help from the Council. 14

Case Study: Burton Pidsea Better Transport Group The survey received 140 responses (c 30% of households); Analysis showed 75 people needed an off peak bus link to Hedon (no service of this type has ever been provided); 15 of these wanted a replacement peak bus service via Hedon to Hull, but return times varied considerably; A further local transport survey was carried out in the neighbouring village of Roos 22 people needed an off peak link to Hedon. 15

Case Study: Burton Pidsea Better Transport Group Pilot a weekday peak minibus link to Hedon to connect with EYMS services to Hull? not enough evidence of, or confirmation of, need; Pilot a 2 day per week off peak minibus shuttle service to Hedon confirmation of need from 45 people; Given likely passenger numbers, community transport minibus provision was seen as the best option for providing these services. 16

Case Study: Burton Pidsea Better Transport Group The Group adopted a constitution, opened a bank account and successfully applied to two local Wind Farm Community Energy Funds; Funding for an 8 month pilot service was secured and further funding is being sought; A Section 22 Community Bus service started on 1 st March 2015; In March and April 2016 this delivered 216 passenger journeys in 18 days of operation. 17