8 Establishing a Formal Management Structure
8.1 It is important that a formal management structure is put in place to deliver the requirements of the BPIP. Strong commitment and leadership is essential to the success of the partnership as it will depend on the key partners to continually drive it forward. The partners will be required to establish regular liaison meetings to discuss progress against targets; identify causes of punctuality and reliability problems and discuss measures to overcome these problems.
8.2 Before the commencement of the BPIP, the main partners of the local authority and bus operator should form an Operational Group to agree and commit to a regular programme of meetings. It is recommended that the group establish a structured process for reporting back to the liaison meetings. A suggested approach is given below, although individual partnerships may wish to establish a different methodology.
Procedure for reporting issues
8.3 It is suggested that at least ten days before a meeting, the bus operator should submit monthly performance reports for their service(s). At the same time, they should provide a statement explaining operating conditions over the previous monthly period including delays caused by factors both within and outwith the operator's control.
8.4 Bus drivers and other staff should also be encouraged to regularly report any areas of concern and their comments should be collated to be provided at the meeting. The feedback from bus users is also important and so any complaints or comments on timekeeping issues that have been received from passengers should also be made available.
8.5 In advance of the meeting (again suggested at least ten days before), the local authority should provide details of any road or traffic issues that may affect operational reliability for the forthcoming quarter.
8.6 Once the meeting has taken place and partners have identified any problems, it is suggested that the bus operator formally write to the local authority with suggestions for addressing congestion-causing delays. The local authority should endeavour to investigate within a month, the causes for delays and any suggestions made by the operator, and provide a formal response; within a further month, defining how and when the delays can be addressed.
8.7 At the next meeting, an update can be given on the corrective action that was implemented as well as identifying any new issues that have occurred. Appropriate before and after monitoring will be required to take place to gauge whether corrective action has been successful. Therefore, the BPIP encourages a cyclical process to ensure that problems are always being identified and commitments given to resolving them.
8.8 It is very often outwith the direct control of the Operational Group partners to rectify problems and this is where collaboration with others becomes important.
Collaboration with other partners
8.9 As discussed in Chapter 4, many of the outcomes of the BPIP will depend on the collaboration within the local authority and partnership with external stakeholders, therefore obtaining their support for the BPIP will be critical to ensuring its success. The local authority representative should seek to identify who the relevant individuals are within each department or organisation and establish contact with them at an early stage.
8.10 It is important to explain to all partners what the aspirations of the BPIP are and what it hopes to achieve within the lifetime of the agreement. The objectives of the BPIP will link to those of other local authority departments or external organisations and it is beneficial to highlight this.
8.11 Once a list has been prepared of the preferred partners, it is recommended that they are invited to join a Working Group which would also meet regularly, preferably as soon as possible after an Operational Group meeting. The Working Group is likely to comprise of the following members, in addition to the Operational Group:
- Local authority network management: managing road works, planned events, temporary diversions/restrictions etc.
- Local authority traffic management: traffic signal and bus priority measures.
- Local authority parking: enforcement of non-moving traffic offences that impact on bus movements.
- Local authority development planning: any major development issues that may impact on the road network.
- Regional Transport Partnership: production of RTP Delivery Plan to help achieve the RTS vision and objectives.
- Transport Scotland and the Operating Companies of the trunk road network: due to their management and maintenance of the trunk road network in Scotland. The three Operating Companies covering Scotland are BEAR Scotland (North East/South East), Scotland TranServ (North West) and Amey (South West).
- Police: enforcement of moving traffic offences that impact on bus movements and management of traffic flows during events or incidents.
8.12 CPT and representatives of the Scottish Government Transport Division 2 are interested stakeholders within the transport sector that should be considered for inclusion within a BPIP Working Group, or at least included within the distribution list of the Group's work and findings.
8.13 The Transport (Scotland) Act 2001 enables local authorities to have responsibility for bus priority enforcement. As part of the BPIP, and if appropriate, local authorities should discuss with police colleagues the potential for decriminalising moving traffic offences, where they indicate that their wider crime prevention and enforcement responsibilities prevent them from allocating resources to bus priority offences.
Decriminalisation of bus lane enforcement
Glasgow City Council, Aberdeen City Council and City of Edinburgh Council are all in the process of acquiring powers to decriminalise bus lane enforcement in 2009 and undertake the enforcement using CCTV cameras.
The Scottish Traffic Commissioner supports the principle of using cameras to enforce yellow boxes and other bus priority offences.
With regard to yellow box offences, powers to decriminalise offences to enable local authority enforcement, requires primary legislation and this will be taken forward when an appropriate Bill is available.
Additional Stakeholders
8.14 Previous chapters have highlighted the need to inform the Scottish Traffic Commissioner of the existence of the BPIP. The Traffic Commissioner will have an interest in the outcomes of the partnership due to her enforcement responsibilities and acknowledgement of measures being taken to actively improve performance.
8.15 Referring back to Chapter 1 and the impact of road works on punctuality and reliability of bus services, and the associated responsibilities of the Scottish Road Works Commissioner ( SRWC), it is appropriate for the local authority to contact the SRWC to advise of the scope of the BPIP.
8.16 The Scottish Government and Transport Scotland should be kept appraised of outcomes of the BPIP as they are responsible for policy, legislation and delivery under which public transport operates. As mentioned in Chapter 1, BPIPs contribute directly to one of the tangible outcomes required as part of the Bus Action Plan.
8.17 The Confederation of Passenger Transport ( CPT) as the trade organisation representing the bus and coach industry will be used as advisors by its member operators. Therefore, bus operators involved in BPIPs with local authorities may wish to consult with CPT and involve them in discussions regarding the BPIP. They will also disseminate information to interested members on relevant issues and initiatives and are committed to working with local authorities to adopt BPIPs.