Harry Barker is Chairman of The Omnibus Society and regular contributor to the professional bus press and media.
We may have to accept that it is unlikely that a major increase in the number of services or frequency will be seen in the foreseeable future for financial reasons, both the commercial operators and the Council being restricted in this regard.
Therefore any improvement will require to come from better practices within the current network which are not expensive to implement.
Passengers should expect the following minimum standards to be available:
Easily accessible timetable information in a standard format
This would mean that EVERY bus stop will have timetable information displayed on it for services passing that stop AND information on return services – not just passing times. (This is not the case at present with few having both directions and a number having nothing at all).
In addition the Council website should provide easily accessible bus information on every service within the County. The current East Lothian Council website is poor and assumes you actually know which operator runs the services, which of course is not the case. A full discussion on the Council website is I believe to be held at the next RELBUS meeting.
There is a strong case for the production of a small booklet with ALL bus services provided within East Lothian being made available, possibly for a small charge properly indexed. The basis for this could easily be adapted to provide a better Council website.
Reliability
Some operators are reliable and others are not. Reliability can be affected by many things, including traffic congestion and staff issues, and also breakdowns. However the senior UK Traffic commissioner has set standards of buses not being early and no later than 5 minutes. Bus Users UK are used in Scotland to monitor the general service levels of buses.
Driver courtesy and safety
Passengers have a right to expect to be treated politely. The bus should always stop for them close to the bus stop and wait until the passenger has sat down or proceeded upstairs before moving off. Heavy acceleration or braking can not only be dangerous it is also uneconomic for the bus operator.
Cleanliness of buses
Passengers have the right to expect their bus to be clean both inside and outside (within reason). It is all too often the case that newspapers, bottles, cans and other detritus are found on a bus and chewing gum on the seats is another issue. Operators should ensure buses are swept out each day (First I understand do NOT do this in our area) and the driver should ensure during layover that his/her bus is free from excessive litter and the bus company should provide them with bags to collect it. They already ought to inspect their vehicle items left on the bus by passengers.
Fares
Passengers should know the fare of their journey before embarking if they desire to do so. This is particularly important where an exact fare system is in operation with no change provided. Lothian are good in this regard and publicise all their fares at stops and on the buses, plus on their website. First do not do so despite having an unfriendly (and expensive) graduated exact fare system. It is possible to find out First fares on the internet if you know where to look, but that is useless to most passengers. First’s service is akin to going into a supermarket, finding no prices on the shelves and when you get to the till being told there is an exact payment policy with no change. It is not something you would do twice and discourages new or first time passengers to travel again.
Operators with change giving facilities do not face similar problems although there is no reason why they too cannot publicise fares at bus stops.
Although not perhaps part of a future passenger charter, there are a number of other ways that some East Lothian services could be improved, for little or no cost, encouraging use.
Tickets
Although there is some discussion on provision of swipe cards that store value and can be used on any public transport service (such as London’s Oyster card), the fragmented number of operators providing services in the County mean that where a change of operator requires to be made continual re-booking is required. There is a case for an East Lothian travel card and for the provision of specially advertised tourist tickets say from Edinburgh to North Berwick Seabird Centre or Tantallon Castle, and other attractions. (See below)
A minor timetable revision of the current 120 Dunbar – North Berwick service could see journeys extended in North Berwick to run Quality Street – Seabird Centre – Station (terminus) and leaving the Station (terminus) to Seabird Centre – Quality Street and back onto the current route. This could meet certain trains and provide the much wanted direct link from Station to Seabird Centre, and for that matter to Tantallon Castle and Preston Mill. No extra buses will be required and the cost ought to be marginal only (fuel). Tourist tickets could then be sold for a train journey, bus journey etc. to the places desired and return, including entry fees. It would also provide a direct service to Dunbar from the Western side of North Berwick. Tourist leaflets (with timetables showing the relevant journeys) could also be produced and widely distributed both in Edinburgh and elsewhere. Both Tantallon Castle and Preston Mill should be timing points in all timetables – presently they are not. Glenkinchie distillery is another potential tourist attraction which can be reached by bus but which is not capitalised upon at all.
Accessibility of younger people who do not have or cannot afford a car in rural areas
This is a phenomenon which is increasing every day where young people, especially teenagers and those in their early twenties, are unable to afford to run a car, many because of the horrendous insurance costs. They do not have to live in a remoter part to be denied a bus service to their place of work (which may be on another route with no connecting timings etc. and many simply cannot even consider applying for a job due to lack of available public transport at the correct times.
Many years ago there were numerous workers’ bus services specifically run to ensure factories ran smoothly and that their employees got to work on time and were able to leave for home. Even in Haddington we all remember the Ranco workers buses that specially came in from Ormiston and Pencaitland, Gifford and Port Seton/Prestonpans and Longniddry. Miners buses ran three times a day from all parts of East Lothian to the Midlothian coalfields and importantly these were specially timed to inter-work with other commitments – 6am mine bus, then a school or work journey, 2pm mine bus, another school journey followed by an evening peak from Edinburgh, and then a 10pm mine bus. All that remains today are the school journeys which because other work buses no longer run are now expensive as all costs fall onto that service provision.
There must be a case for undertaking a survey of employment hotspots where bus travel for youngsters is not a realistic option and seeing what can be done efficiently. That may involve changing starting and finishing times of co-operative employers. The Council itself has a large fleet of green smaller midibuses which might be useful here as these do not seem to be fully or efficiently employed. In other words, marginal costing is again a real possibility.
There is a psychological issue also with young people. They will almost certainly live with their parents and if they have to move away from home simply to get work, the cost involved is prohibitive and there are also other problems as many may not be sufficiently mature to successfully achieve that transition.
A recent study by an English University (I do not know which one) highlighted the fact that the availability of bus services both to work, and in the evening at weekends and Fridays, was the MAIN concern of young people living in rural and semi-rural areas. It has to be addressed if these people are to avoid slipping into an unemployment rut and/or future becoming non bus users. If we and the Council are able to improve things here we will be the first to do so and achieve substantial positive publicity in the process.
It is not only youngsters who may benefit. Where a family has to have two cars, one for a wage earner to reach the workplace that may not be accessible by public transport, it may be possible to sell one car and save money by getting the works bus. The financial savings would prove attractive to many.
