New bus punctuality guidance published

Bus punctuality partnership guidance for local authorities and bus operators has been published today on the Department for Transport’s website. The guidance can be found at http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/regional/buses/buspunctuality

The guidance is the result of collaboration between local authority, operator, enforcement and passenger representatives, and all of those involved are keen that authorities use and act upon the advice it contains.

Punctuality is invariably cited as one of the prime requirements in keeping existing bus passengers and attracting new ones. Buses have a key role to play in meeting the challenge of rising congestion on our roads, supporting local economies and sustaining future travel growth while respecting the environment. ATCO has been working in partnership with the Department for Transport and other key stakeholders, through the Bus Punctuality Working Group, on a strategy for securing high levels of punctuality and reliability to the travelling public across the country. All parties agree that if this is to be achieved a partnership approach is needed. To encourage the development of effective and constructive punctuality partnerships, the Working Group has produced a set of shared partnership working principles and supporting guidance. These have been endorsed by the Bus Partnership Forum, the main stakeholder group for the bus industry.

The Working Group consists of representatives from the Department for Transport (DfT), Association of Transport Co-ordinating Officers (ATCO); Confederation of Passenger Transport UK (CPT); County Surveyor’s Society (CSS), Local Government Association (LGA), Passenger Focus, Passenger Transport Executive Group (PTEG), the Senior Traffic Commissioner and Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA).

The guidance sets out the shared principles on which all bus punctuality partnerships should be based, and includes real world good practice examples. If punctuality partnerships are to work these principles should become embedded as standard everyday practice for operators and local authorities. All operators and local authorities should work in partnership regardless of the level of punctuality in their area.

The guidance is not intended to be prescriptive and contains a model for a bus punctuality partnership which has been developed for use ‘off the peg’ or which can be developed for use according to local circumstances. One of the major barriers to creating constructive bus punctuality partnerships has been the sharing of data between parties. The guidance therefore contains a model data sharing agreement which takes account of the obstacles experienced by operators and authorities and offers a path around these. The model data sharing agreement has been developed by ATCO, CPT and PTEG.”