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Delivering Through Partnerships

Stephen Rhodes

Passenger Services Director

EMTA General Meeting

10th November 2011

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“ Any Good Partnership

is greater than the

sum of its parts”

BUSES......TRAINS......TRAMS

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•1985 deregulation

•Transport Act 2000

•Local Transport Act 2008

•Commercial operators’ role

•Centro’s role

•Highway Authority’s role

The UK bus environment

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• 92% of our bus network is commercial

• Network carries over 305 million passengers

per annum

• Largest operator has approximately 80%

share

• Second largest has 10% share

• Remaining 32 operators have 10% share

Commercial Network

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• 8% subsidised network costs £8.5m per annum

• Centro Access Standards

• Operate 400 contracts with operators

• Approximately 40 routes contracted

Tendered Network

• Employment patterns have changed significantly

• Development growth

• Shopping patterns and times have evolved

• Changing conurbation

• Rise in car ownership

• Increasing congestion

• Major developments in and outside of the area

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Challenges

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Network Modernisationa wholesale review of where services operate to and from, leading to a new network that is more relevant to today’s travel patterns

Total Qualitya shift in culture from all involved in service delivery to a greater focus on the passengers and their needs – alongside quality improvements and product differentiation.

Supported byeffective bus prioritieseffective marketing and sellingcomplementary services that meet our social inclusion aims

Transforming Bus Travel

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• Patronage increases on partnership routes

• Positive passenger feedback

“ …what I like most is the improved reliability…”

“…the in service cleaning does make a real difference…”

“…the timetable is working and the buses are noticeably cleaner…”

TBT Partnerships

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• Local Transport Act (2008)

• Highway investment

• New Vehicle Investment

• Real time Information

• City Centre Infrastructure

• Cleaning and Quality

• Joint monitoring

Voluntary Multilateral Agreement (VMA)

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Wolverhampton Interchange

TBT – Recent Achievements

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• Centro a co-signatory of the West Midlands rail franchise until September 2007

• No contractual relationship since this time other than for ticketing, procurement of incremental subsidised service enhancements, etc

• The West Midlands is also served by 3 other franchised train operators

The Local Rail Environment

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• Centro can only deliver its objectives for rail through effective partnership with train operators

• On 20 September 2011 we signed our first partnership agreement with London Midland

• The partnership agreement vision is “to truly understand our passengers and deliver to their expectations through effective partnership in planning and delivery”

Delivery Through Partnership

• Joint working on developing train services to meet the needs of the West Midlands

• Integrated passenger information

• Joint attendance at public meetings

• Joint marketing

• Building on Direct Sales approach to ticketing

• Secure Stations Accreditation

• Joint working on smartcard

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Partnership Successes

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• Aspirations to take over the management of local rail stations

• Seeking to make the case for a devolved, locally specified, locally managed franchise for the West Midlands region, possibly with Centro as the franchising authority

• Delivery through partnership would continue to be the norm for longer-distance operators

The Future

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•Line 1 - Wolverhampton – Birmingham operated on a long term concession agreement for Centro

•Partnership working is still important – added benefit by working together and it doesn’t always cost more!

Midland Metro

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• Partnership working provides a means by which Centro, Local Authorities and Operators can;

understand each others challenges establish clear commitments work together for mutual benefit deliver excellent customer service ensure a sustainable network Influence each other

• “Better than the sum of parts”

Summary