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Claremont House, 130 East Claremont Street, Edinburgh, EH7 4LB,
Tel: 0131 54 5150
Chairman: Cllr !ussell "mrie #artnershi$ %ire&tor: 'le(
)a&aula*
+ 'ugust 013 ur !e-eren&e: SES.Bus
"ain /ra* )S#S&ottish #arliamentEdinburghEH 1S# DRAFT 22
August
%ear )r /ra*,
Bus Regulation (Scotland) BillResponse by SEStran
SEStran el&omes this o$$ortunit* to &omment on the Bus
!egulation2S&otland Bill This -ollos earlier dis&ussion ith
*oursel- and *our sta--
SEStran is the Statutor* Strategi& Trans$ort #lanning
'uthorit* -or South EastS&otland, &oering the eight
lo&al authorities in and around Edinburgh 2Cit* o-Edinburgh,
Cla&6mannanshire, East Lothian, al6ir6, i-e, )idlothian,
S&ottishBorders and 8est Lothian
"n res$onse to the s$e&i-i& 9uestions in *our
&onsultation do&ument eould res$ond as -ollos:.
1. Do you support the general ai o! the proposed Bill""n the
main, SEStran su$$ort the general aim o- the $ro$osed Bill
"t must be stressed that the &urrent $osition di--ers 9uite
&onsiderabl* beteenthe arious $arts o- S&otland
"n larger &ities and dense larger urban areas, *ou ill -ind
that most o- thenetor6 is &ommer&iall* o$erated and there
is a -re9uent and dense; busseri&e netor6, 9uite o-ten inoling
seeral o$erators but ith a strong;
main o$erator, "t &ould there-ore be argued that there is a
lesser need -or nelegislation -or these tons and &ities
although there are still &ertain ga$s; that&ould be
im$roed, su&h as a better integrated ti&6eting
arrangements
"n the most remote rural areas *ou ill -ind that more or less
the holenetor6 is tendered so, arguabl*, mu&h o- the
arrangements outlined in theBill ma* alread* to a large e(tent be
in $la&e
8e ould suggest that the greatest $otential bene-its o- the
$ro$osedregulations ould be in rural and semi.urban areas here
there is a relatiel*signi-i&ant $resen&e o- both
&ommer&ial and -inan&iall* su$$orted seri&es,
9uite o-ten sering in the same &orridor, here there
&ould be s&o$e -orgreater e--i&ien&ies and
&o.ordination
S E S t r a n i s a S t a t u t o r * # a r t n e r s h i $ o -
t h e C o u n & i l s o - C l a & 6 m a n n a n s h i r e ,
E a s t L o t h i a n , C i t * o - E d i n b u r g h , a l 6 i r 6
, i - e ,
) i d l o t h i a n , S & o t t i s h B o r d e r s a n d 8
e s t L o t h i a n
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"t ma* there-ore be that the $ro$osed tools; $ro$osed in the
legislation ouldbene-it some users and ould bring legislation into
line ith that o- the rest o-England
S E S t r a n i s a S t a t u t o r * # a r t n e r s h i $ o -
t h e C o u n & i l s o - C l a & 6 m a n n a n s h i r e ,
E a s t L o t h i a n , C i t * o - E d i n b u r g h , a l 6 i r 6
, i - e ,
) i d l o t h i a n , S & o t t i s h B o r d e r s a n d 8
e s t L o t h i a n
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Some disadantages o- -ran&hising ould in&lude:.
Could &onsiderabl* in&rease &osts to lo&al
authorities, in $arti&ular heresigni-i&ant seri&e
9ualit* < seri&e -re9uen&* < added seri&es are
beingsought
Some Coun&ils that ould &onsider -ran&hising on a
larger s&ale ma* haeto $ro&ure additional e($ertise to
$re$are and manage the -ran&hise ? hi&hould in&ur
&osts
Could lead to a rebalan&ing o- seri&es ith high -re9uent
seri&es in dense$o$ulated areas being redu&ed in order to
$roide higher -re9uen&ies in lessdensel* $o$ulated areas 2ie a
disadantage -or the -ormer and anadantage -or the latter
8hole seri&e netor6s $ro&ured through a single
-ran&hise $a&6age ouldmost li6el* restri&t the
tendering to onl* the largest o$erators 2and in man*
areas the* do not &om$ete against ea&h others, leading
to single tender&ontra&ts hi&h ould not be best alue;
2See aboe ho smaller tender$a&6ages &ould im$roe the leel
o- &om$etition
"t is the &ase that een ith a relatiel* small s&ale
&orridor; -ran&hise, it ma*not be $ra&ti&al
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manner and here the $ubli& ould &learl* bene-it -rom a
-ull* integratednetor6
. o$ can counity transport be better utilised to ser%e
localcounities and lo$ passenger %olues"
The $rin&i$le o- greater utilisation o- Lo&al 'uthorit*
ehi&le -leets should be$ursued a&ross the ider se&tor
in&luding so&ial or6, edu&ation, health,&ommunit*
trans$ort and demand res$onsie trans$ort se&tor
)ost Coun&ils in the SEStran area o$erate 2and
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. 's the proposed Bill li,ely to ha%e any substantial positi%e
or negati%eiplications !or e/uality" '! it is li,ely to ha%e a
substantial negati%eiplication0 ho$ ight this be iniised or
a%oided"
ran&hises ould onl* be introdu&ed ith the $ur$ose o-
im$roing seri&e$roision, seri&e 9ualit* and
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#artnershi$ %ire&tor
CC !ussell "mrie, Chairman o- SEStran
S E S t r a n i s a S t a t u t o r * # a r t n e r s h i $ o -
t h e C o u n & i l s o - C l a & 6 m a n n a n s h i r e ,
E a s t L o t h i a n , C i t * o - E d i n b u r g h , a l 6 i r 6
, i - e ,
) i d l o t h i a n , S & o t t i s h B o r d e r s a n d 8
e s t L o t h i a n
