Working for bus passengers in the West Midlands, Cornwall and Liverpool
04 October 2016
Over the past few years, we have built a really strong relationship with the bus operators in the West Midlands, and now, West Midlands Combined Authority as well. Examples of this include my colleague Linda McCord sitting on the West Midlands Bus Alliance and our Bus Passenger Survey (BPS) being used as a consistent benchmark for success.
Andrew Jones MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at Department for Transport, who is responsible for buses, came to an alliance meeting to hear for himself about our progress. To explain what we have been doing collectively, Linda took part in a short video:
We also approached Cornwall County Council last year when it became clear that it was going to be looking again at the way in which it provide bus services.
We meet regularly with officers from Cornwall County Council, Parsons Brinkerhoff, bus operators First Group, Plymouth Citybus and also Great Western Railway. We will be looking at some broad topics including customer focus, one network, timetables, tickets and brand.
Our current work includes understanding the potential market for bus services, setting a benchmark for information at bus stops and reviewing the quality of bus services at train stations across the county. The bus companies and council have signed up to the BPS to provide a baseline against which future performance can be measured.
All parties are keen to see what can be achieved through closer partnership working. Soon we are also starting work on a similar basis with bus operators and the council in the Liverpool city region.