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Intalink Enhanced Partnership Consultation 2019 APPENDIX E
1. Responses
There were 2460 survey responses received for the Intalink Enhanced Partnership consultation. Of these, 2395 questionnaires were completed on the internet, 42 paper versions of the questionnaire were returned, there were 14 easy-read responses and 11 documents/letters were submitted in different formats, 2 of which were in addition to an internet questionnaire response.
The questions in the easy-read document differed from those in the main questionnaire. Responses to the easy-read document have been matched to the main public questionnaire questions as far as possible and included in the analysis. Copies of the main questionnaire can be found in Appendix C and the easy-read document in Appendix D to this report.
30 responses were on behalf of groups or organisations. These were:Dacorum Borough CouncilEast Herts District CouncilHertsmere Borough CouncilWelywn and Hatfield Borough CouncilNorth Hertfordshire District CouncilStevenage Borough CouncilWatford Borough CouncilNorth Mymms Parish CouncilRoyston Town CouncilTewin Parish Council
ABFLY – Abbey Line User GroupAPTU, Association of Passenger Transport Users (note: A Rail User Group)Bus Users Group StevenageElstree and Borehamwood Transport ForumNorth Herts Bus User Group (NHBUG)Potters Bar and St.Albans transport user groupSmart Mobility UnitTransport for London
CMA Competition Markets AuthorityHarpenden ConnectHertfordshire Chamber of CommerceHemel CampaignersHVCCG (Herts Valleys Clinical Commissioning Group)intu WatfordMarshalswick North Residents AssociationMinibus operatorSt Albans MuseumsThe Potters Bar SocietyTransition Town LetchworthWatford Sheltered WorkshopWest Herts College Travel Trainer
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2. Demographic Information
The questionnaires from individuals were analysed to provide a better understanding of the demographic characteristics of respondents. This took into account home postcode area, age, gender, disability and caring responsibilities. Responses on behalf of groups were not included in the demographic information totals.
2.1 Home Location
Individuals responding to the consultation lived in all areas of the county and some from outside. The postcode districts with the most responses were SG1 (Stevenage), HP2 (Hemel Hempstead NE), AL1 (St Albans), SG2 (Stevenage and area East of Stevenage) and SG4 (Hitchin and area South of Hitchin). 28 respondents did not provide a postcode area, or it wasn’t complete.
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
not provided
out of area
HA postcodes
LU postcodes
CM postcodes
EN postcodes
HP postcodes
WD postcodes
AL postcodes
SG postcodes
Q2. What is your postcode?
% of respondents
The following map shows the geographical spread of respondents to the consultation. Respondents from out of the area e.g. Bletchley, Cambridgeshire or West or South East London are not included.
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2.2 Age
There was a good spread of ages of people responding to the consultation. The most common age group of respondents was 25-34, then the 65+ and 18-24 groups. These three groups make up 61% of the total.
2.3 Gender
62% of respondents were female, 36% were male and 1% said non-binary or other.
Male 866 35.67%Female 1513 62.31%Non-binary 18 0.74%Other 15 0.62%Not provided 16 0.66%Total 2428
2.4 Disability
21% of the individuals responding to the consultation considered themselves to have a disability. Respondents were also given a number of options to select the kind of disability from and an open Other Conditions option to write something else. Respondents who completed the easy read version were asked to indicate whether they had a disability by selecting Yes or No but were not asked to specify the kind of disability.
As the online questionnaire only allowed a tick against one option some respondents provided information in the open question about having more than one kind and these were allocated to the list of disabilities during analysis.
5
1329
4
31
58
58
86
127
179
198
0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400
No disabilities
Multiple conditions (no details)
Partial or full vision loss
Partial or full hearing loss
Learning disability
Other conditions e.g. Autism
Long standing illness or condition e.g. cancer
Physical disability
Mental ill health
Please tell us what kind of disability you have
number of respondents ticking or writing type
2.5 Caring Responsibilities
10% of respondents reported that they had a caring responsibility for an adult and/or a child with a disability, 85% said they didn’t, 4% preferred not to say and 1% did not answer the question.
3. Bus Use
Respondents were asked how often they used the bus in order to assess how many of the responses would have been based on practical experience of the service.
57% of respondents used buses daily or weekly and so could be classed as frequent users. 31% used buses monthly or less often and 12% never used buses.
788
598260
483
283 16
DailyWeeklyMonthlyLess oftenNevernot answered
Q7. How often do you use the bus?
68% of the respondents travel by bus at least monthly but this varies by their age group. The most likely to travel by bus at least monthly were the 65+ age group (84%) and under 18 age
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group (80%). The least likely to travel by bus at least monthly were the 35-44 age group (58%) and 45-54 age group (56%).
There was also a question about the main purpose of using the bus with answer groups of Commuting, Leisure, Personal business and Other. As quite a lot of respondents wrote more than one purpose in the open Other answer area another group was created in the analysis. Those without a car, or without the use of a car on the days they travelled by bus, were included in this multiple purpose group.
People taking their children to school on the bus were included in the Commuting group. Those attending voluntary jobs or tasks were also grouped in Commuting. A few respondents mentioned taking the bus to the airport. Unless this was written in the context of commuting these answers were classed as Leisure use.
Commuting to work or education
889
Leisure (including visiting friends or
relatives) 488
Personal business (including shopping)
624
use bus for multiple
purposes, or can't use car
100
not answered 327
Q8. What is your main purpose for using the bus?
4. Consultation Questions
The following analysis of consultation questions includes responses from individuals and organisations.
4.1 HCC Working with Bus Operators and Local Councils
The questionnaire asked ‘Do you agree Hertfordshire County Council working more closely with bus operators and district and borough councils will achieve a more attractive bus network in Hertfordshire?’ 89% of individual respondents agreed or strongly agreed.
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941
1219
15669 43
Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree
not answered0
200
400
600
800
1000
1200
1400
Q9. Do you agree Hertfordshire County Council working more closely with bus operators and district and borough councils will
achieve a more attractive bus network in Hertfordshire?
num
ber o
f res
pons
es
4.2 Main Objectives of the Partnership
Respondents were asked if they agreed with the five main objectives of the partnership. Responses are shown in the graph below.
Ideas 1 to 5 in the easy-read document broadly corresponded with the five actions in question 10 of the main questionnaire. Respondents to the easy-read document had the option of ticking Yes, No or Not sure to whether they agreed with the idea. When combining all the response methods Yes answers were recorded as Agree and No answers as Disagree. Not sure answers were added to the totals for No response.
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
10.5 Smarter use of data and information
10.4 Closer integration of the bus network
10.3 Upgrading bus infrastructure
10.2 Improving the image of bus travel
10.1 Prioritising bus services in traffic
Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree not answered
Q10. Do you agree with the five main objectives of the partnership?
The objective with the highest level of agreement was Upgrading bus infrastructure (94% strongly agree or agree). There were also 94% agreeing with the objective Closer integration
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of the bus network but slightly less strong agreement than the first. Objectives for Smarter use of data and information and Prioritising bus services in traffic both received 90% strongly agree or agree. Improving the image of bus travel showed 86% strongly agree or agree.
In the additional comments question at the end of the survey some respondents referred to these topics. There were differing views on the prioritisation of bus services in traffic with some supporting it to help bus services run on time but others warning of traffic jams and driver frustration. 165 respondents commented on either current buses or bus stops and stations. Some respondents mentioned wanting bus routes or times to connect with other bus services or tickets working on other operator networks. There were requests for more electronic screens and more accurate real time information.
Respondents using the bus at least monthly were noticeably more likely to support the objective to prioritise bus services in traffic than respondents using buses less often or never. The bus users also showed more support for improving the image of bus travel, and smarter use of data and information than those using buses less often or never.
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
less often or never
at least monthly
less often or never
at least monthly
less often or never
at least monthly
less often or never
at least monthly
less often or never
at least monthly
Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree not answered
Q10 answer differences based on bus use
4.3 Facilities, Measures and Requirements Proposed by the Partnership
94% of respondents agreed or strongly agreed with the requirement to raise and enforce quality standards. The measure with the greatest number of respondents strongly agreeing was to expand real time information, overall this had 93% agreeing or strongly agreeing. 92% agreed or strongly agreed with the measure to facilitate public transport operator co-operation.
There was less support for non operational measures. 28% of respondents disagreed or strongly disagreed with the requirement to develop and implement a five year marketing plan. 22% of respondents disagreed or strongly disagreed with the requirement to take a consistent branding approach.
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The requirements that were most often not answered were those to share development planning data and to pilot emerging technologies.
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
11.15. Pilot emerging technologies
11.14. Share development planning data
11.13. Upgrade website and app
11.12. Expand real time information
11.11. Co-ordinate publicity and information
11.10. Facilitate public transport operator co-operation
11.9. Increase the range of multi-operator and smart tickets
11.8. Protect and enhance bus interchange capacity
11.7. Co-ordinate infrastructure improvements along core corridors
11.6. Develop and implement a five year marketing plan
11.5. Mitigate the impact of roadworks
11.4. Identify opportunities for bus priority packages
11.3. Address bottlenecks impacting services
11.2. Take a consistent branding approach
11.1. Raise and enforce quality standards
Strongly Agree Agree Disagree
Q11. Do you agree with the facilities, measures and requirements the partnership proposes?
Although most of the facilities, measures and requirements of the Partnership were mentioned in the easy-read document there were no questions specifically addressing them so no responses could be recorded in Question 11 for these 14 responses.
Respondents that use the bus at least monthly were more likely to agree with the requirement to develop and implement a five year marketing plan than those using buses
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less often or never. They was also more support for identifying opportunities for bus priority packages, coordinating publicity and information, and taking a consistent branding approach than those infrequently or never using the bus.
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90%100%
less often or never
at least monthly
less often or never
at least monthly
less often or never
at least monthly
less often or never
at least monthly
less often or never
at least monthly
less often or never
at least monthly
less often or never
at least monthly
less often or never
at least monthly
less often or never
at least monthly
less often or never
at least monthly
less often or never
at least monthly
less often or never
at least monthly
less often or never
at least monthly
less often or never
at least monthly
less often or never
at least monthly
Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree not answered
Q11 answer differences based on bus use
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4.4 Additional Comments from Respondents
A section for providing any additional comments was included to enable respondents to comment further on the consultation. Some of the answers were related to paragraphs or sections in the documentation but a lot were general comments on bus services. The responses were recorded under 19 categories and there could be positive or negative comments within each. Respondents often gave comments on more than one topic. Comments given in the open answer boxes of the easy-read document were added to this section.
There were some common themes in the comments. Some respondents requested before spending money on any changes that we make the current buses arrive on time. There were complaints that sometimes buses showed on display screens or other real time services then disappeared from the screen without turning up. There were reminders that good information about buses is still needed on paper as not everyone uses the internet. People want to use any bus on a route, regardless of operator, with the ticket they have bought. Passengers want to be able to easily find out how much a ticket will be to compare operators, know what ticket to buy and for when planning a new journey. There are problems with providing space for wheelchairs, pushchairs and shopping on existing buses. Later buses are wanted to allow for homeward commuting and leisure trips. Coordination of bus times was requested to avoid leaving long time gaps between buses on the same route, and to coordinate with train times and other bus connections.
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70
27
10
18
39
55
129
166
297
48
120
80
82
345
260
70
14
308
390
1304
0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400
Strategy process/survey
Ownership and regulation
Behaviour
Operator customer services
Other highways issues
Bus stops and bus stations
Ticketing and passes
Evenings, early mornings and Sundays
Frequency
Traffic congestion
Current vehicles
Environmental issues
Journey duration
Cost
Technology (i.e. apps, real time, payment etc)
Drivers/staff
Cross boundary issues
Network changes (i.e. destinations served,...
Reliability
no Q12 response
Topic of Comments from Respondents in Q12
Provided below are examples of the comments given to illustrate the topics
Topic of comments
Number of respondents commenting
on topic
Example comments
Reliability 390 I am fed up of being left at bus stops with my disabled 4 year old for a bus that never turns up.
Buses are running late or being cut out of the timetable on a daily basis. I use the bus service 6 days a week and on average 4 times a day over serval different routes. At least one bus out of 4 is late by anything up to 20 minutes.
I would like to see an improvement in the punctuality of the buses. They are not always on time. They
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randomly become out of order causing locals to be late to school, college and work.
The buses don't always turn up or are very late therefore appointments at Out Patients are missed.
Network changes (i.e. destinations served, types of service)
308 New bus routes need to be put in place from the new housing developments e.g. Stortford Fields to the station ASAP.
More bus services needed in villages because of ageing population finding it harder to travel to city centre shopping and remote hospitals.
I have to drive to work as it’s impossible to get a bus from Berkhamsted to Hemel industrial estate and I know many other people who have the same problem.
Small shuttle buses at key commuter times from villages to rail station would then allow onwards travel by train to work.
Cross boundary issues
14 You need to look at where people in each area actually want to travel to. The problem with having county-based bus services is that people don't only want to travel within their own county. I live in Croxley Green where we are close to the borders of both Middlesex and Buckinghamshire and the places I want to travel to are Northwood, Harefield, Ruislip, Pinner, Sarratt, Amersham, the Chalfonts and Chorleywood.
Please remember Hertfordshire isn't an island. You need to coordinate with TFL and should consider increased options for travel towards London, and more crucially, becoming part of the Oyster network.
A key priority, that has not been mentioned so far, is the need to work with adjacent local authorities. The transport needs of the population do not neatly align to county boundaries, and the needs often cross county borders. There is no point investing in Hertfordshire's bus infrastructure if it does not seamlessly meet London, Cambridgeshire, Essex, etc.
Drivers/staff 70 Some of the bus drivers are rude - most of them are very good at their job, kind, and polite.
Some drivers can be rude to clients, shouting at them to sit down quickly and being unnecessarily rude when they are late.
More polite bus drivers that have change for tourists for their bus fare would be a brilliant start. Instead, they tell you to get off and go and find some change.
14
Give better training to drivers on passengers with invisible disabilities.
Technology (i.e. apps, real time, payment etc)
260 The introduction of contactless on the network has been a positive thing I believe and makes the service more accessible in an increasingly cashless society
Ensure adequate printed timetables are published, distributed & displayed. The internet is not used by all, or appropriate to answer all queries easily.
It would be excellent to see real time updates to know if a bus is stuck in traffic or was running early, since I have missed more trains than I have caught when getting buses to the station in Stevenage.
Cost 345 Bus travel is expensive, even for students and single tickets should be cheaper because often people only get the bus going to work because the buses don’t run late in the evening.
The bus will never be an attractive form of transport while the fares remain so high.
Reduce the cost of bus travel- 10 miles away in Barnet a bus trip costs £1.50- here I couldn’t even travel a mile for that cost.
Address fares. It's generally cheaper and more convenient to use the car.
Journey duration 82 I would use the use the bus to get to work if it was more direct and accessible. I work in Hemel Hempstead but the bus is not direct, would take over 90 minutes.
Please consider providing an express type of commuter bus services in peak times to encourage commuters to use buses. An example, a car journey from Cheshunt to Hertford takes 12 minutes but takes a staggering 50 minutes or 1 hour on a bus!
Bus links around potters bar are awful. Why does it take 2 hours to get to Watford when it’s a 20 minute drive?
I have given up using buses to get to my many hospital visits. Regularly experiencing a journey of two plus hours, including waiting time, after chemo and other treatment makes it impossible.
Environmental issues
80 If an evening service could be provided (albeit limited) I believe this would help enormously not only with the general climate change issue but also with the social mobility of some of the elderly generation.
Too many people think it's embarrassing or a lower class thing to be seen using a bus, when really with so
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many strong view about climate change and the environment, younger generations need to be made aware that using the bus is a tangible way to help. They could then act as the agents for change by talking to their parents/carers etc. Eco messages should be shared on the sides of buses in the form of infographics or short facts.
I would like to see the introduction of electric buses to mitigate further the climate emergency.
Improving public transport is so important to tackling the high carbon emissions from private car usage - this is quite extreme in Herts and the low quality of bus services does nothing to encourage people to use their cars less.
Current vehicles 120 I have a pram which sometimes hard to get a space on as only space for one max two prams or a pram and wheelchair.
Ensure that bus operators maintain their vehicles properly to ensure fewer breakdowns.
Buses lately that I have been on are rickety and uncomfortable.
All buses should have easy access for wheelchairs, shopping trolleys, buggies and passengers. Also friendly drivers willing to help and adequate storage space.
Traffic congestion
48 Traffic is causing daily delays on the bus services between Hemel and St Albans, to the extent that people are having to wait over an hour to get a bus.
Off highway bus stop layby would reduce avoidable congestion caused by buses.
Main target should be school children which would significantly reduce traffic congestion caused directly by parents dropping kids at school.
Generally where buses are given priority it just slows down traffic causing tailback which also slows buses behind that priority point. Improved traffic flow for all should be planning objective.
Frequency 297 Many bus stops around my area are only serviced by a single bus route. If one bus is cancelled it can mean people are over an hour late for work.
My 2 children use the bus daily to travel to school in Stevenage. There needs to be more services at peak times to avoid overcrowding and also better routes taking in locations outside of the town centre to get between villages and towns.
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I want to use the bus to get to and from the station in the morning and evening, however the buses provided are not frequent enough to make it plausible.
We need more frequent buses. That should be number 1 priority. Until that happens people cannot rely on the bus and will continue to drive.
Evenings, early morn and Sundays
166 The focus should initially be on ensuring that all areas have an adequate bus service including after hours, in South Oxhey we are completely cut off and I have to walk for over an hour home at night with two or more children.
The lack of buses in the evening makes it impossible for people to visit nearby towns and enjoy theatres, cinemas etc. leading to a deterioration in their quality of life.
Withdrawal of evening/Sun services severely affects viability of offering a service to paying customers. No bus services to/from Hitchin on Sundays is a prime example.
Please have more than 2 buses running a day and before 9am and after 5pm for people that work.
Ticketing & passes
129 Force different bus companies to accept each others tickets on 'shared routes' (e.g. for return journeys between major centres).
Every effort should be made to ensure that ticket integration includes rail travel, so the same technique (App, Smartcard, Scannable image etc) can cover a single journey from home / business via bus, train and TfL bus, underground, tram etc
You need to implement an oyster type travel card system for automated payment and ease of travel that is also the most cost effective for the traveller.
Clearer ticketing info - e.g. different fares available, price of journeys. Simplify fare.
Bus stops & bus stations
55 Better maintenance of bus shelters is needed. For example, the light in my local bus shelter has not worked for five years to my certain knowledge. There should be a real time indicator in every bus stop.
Display boards confirming live bus arrival times be good. Benches at all stops for the elderly.
More official bus stations with time boards and ticket kiosks would officialise the service.
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Passengers have difficulty finding the right bus stop at interchanges. They have to visit numerous stops, to examine timetables, or ask drivers for information. Interchanges should signpost destinations on bus shelters.
Other highways issues
39 Sawbridgeworth needs a bypass. There is no other option. Without this, traffic will build up, as trucks use this instead of the M11.
There is insufficient room for bus lanes in St Albans. Giving buses priority over other traffic will just increase traffic jams. Proper enforcement of the district's traffic weight limits would help bus and wider traffic flow, especially if combined with restricted time deliveries for city centre shops.
Ensure there are parking restrictions at ALL bus stops during operating times and ensure they are adequately policed.
Regarding road works? Information in advance would be great for telling public of diversions and bus stop closures so you don't wait for buses that won't turn up
Operator customer services
18 Operators customer service appalling beyond words.
The bus service is unresponsive to complaints and at the cost of the tickets this is frustrating and inefficient.
Access to customer service lines (usually unanswered).
A local helpdesk or support with complaints including penalties for bus companies who do not improve services would be a great improvement.
Behaviour 10 The drivers need to stand up and correct the people on swearing and nasty behaviour or kick them off the bus.
School children should be educated on the importance of letting elderly people and people who may have learning difficulties on the bus first as on many occasions they have pushed in front and made vulnerable customers at risk of falling over or causing problems for other customers.
I would like to be able to use the bus more easily my parents are scared that it is unsafe also it is quite expensive I think people with disabilities should have a free bus pass.
Get people to fold up buggies ...... they take up 3/4 seats at the front of bus making it difficult getting off/on bus + toddlers/shopping taking up seats.
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Ownership and regulation
27 I would prefer a transport authority that takes charge of bus transport in Hertfordshire. Something akin to Transport for London. It should be a not for profit organisation as should all public services. The Privatisation of bus services has merely brought cuts to services and inflated fare prices.
If you wish to encourage more people to travel by bus you must oversee the bus operators more carefully and take action on poor service.
Bus operators need to be controlled more, they are currently doing as they please missing services whenever they want or running services extremely late with no reason. Contacting the bus services gets you no where so it's time the council step in.
Strategy process/survey
70 This was a bad survey. No explanation about any of it. Questions weren’t thought out and of course people will select ‘agree’, people aren’t going to disagree with any form of upgrade.
This was a pointless survey. No opportunity to give information about anything relevant. Nothing about bus services etc.
You need to tell us if we can leave blank or give us "don't know" / "neither" / "don't understand" options.
The accompanying documents make heavy reading at 31 and 40 pages long. This will put a lot of 'average' people off filling in form - so the consultation becomes biased.
This questionnaire is full of industry jargon and I would suggest your results will be skewed because of this. Half of these phrases won’t mean anything to the average person. It was poorly constructed and lacking detail.
5. Group Responses
The following information shows responses to the final question in the internet questionnaire about any additional comments, or summaries from documents/letters submitted in different formats. Full responses from documents/letters are available on request.
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Dacorum Borough Council
Dacorum Borough Council strongly supports the vision to enhance and integrate public transport systems and bus services. We consider this a key element of supporting the unprecedented growth in Dacorum over the next planned period. However we would like a clear strategy led by HCC, clearly defining what modal shift would look like in a particularly area, identifying clear priority projects and their impact and identifying suitable funding and timescales to deliver these measures.
The funding should not solely rely on developer contributions as viability is unlikely to allow for all the infrastructure required to be funded by developers. It will be essential that the different departments within county work together to prioritise their infrastructure requirements and produce funding strategies for each of the priorities to ensure that the projects and strategies are deliverable. These should be based on evidence and national policy now require that scheme are viability tested at the Local Plan stage and not just as a planning application stage.
Further comments on emissions and air quality submitted.East Herts District Council
Ref. 042 East Herts Council fully supports proposals for the expanded Intalink partnership. We feel this will provide much needed governance and oversight to encourage modal shift (as outlined in LTP4) and encourage more sustainable travel.
Hertsmere Borough Council
Hertsmere Borough Council support the principles of sustainable transport identified in HCC document LTP4 and the associated initiatives of the Intalink partnership.
North Hertfordshire District Council
North Hertfordshire District Council would welcome the opportunity to be consider for a future bus corridor upgrade scheme or schemes in 2021-22; (schemes in Watford, St. Albans and Stevenage are planned for 2020-21). As a local authority we would welcome the opportunity to meet with officers at HCC to discuss further the opportunities for appropriate scheme identification in 2020-21 for implementation in 2021-22, especially in light of the strategic developments sites that will be coming forward during the next twelve to eighteen months.
We would welcome the roll-out of additional real-time information at key bus stops in the District to provide passengers with more confidence of using the bus.
We would welcome the introduction of local multi-operator ticketing schemes for the main towns in the District, especially the Hitchin-Letchworth-Baldock combined area which are common for other similar size conurbations in Hertfordshire.
Stevenage Borough Council
Our feeling looking at the consultation documents was that they were really geared to individual members of the public; bus users in particular, rather than for a response from a Local Authority partner.
I can confirm that Stevenage Borough Council is content to remain part of the Intalink partnership and is supportive of the aims of the new enhanced partnership. We have ambitions to become a Sustainable Travel Town and see improvements in bus infrastructure and service as a key component of this.
More specific comments given in relation to elements of the Draft Enhanced Partnership Plan and Scheme given concerning sections 2.1, 6.2, 10.1, 11.4 and Appx 1.
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Watford Borough Council
Many of the bus services in Hertfordshire and Watford in particular are infrequent and stop running by 7pm in the evening. Since Arriva closed their bus garage down in Watford there have been more incidents of bus services being cut. Many people in the peripheral parts of Watford such as Meriden do not use the bus services as the services are considered infrequent and too expensive.
As Watford becomes increasingly densified, having a reliable, regular and affordable bus service that runs to time and when people want to use it will be essential. Working together to review the network will require political determination and resourcing in order to meet community aspirations. At present for many, as shown by the poor usage rates in Hertfordshire, bus services areinadequate and need long term investment which enables a growth in services.
Further comments on the topics covered in questions 10 and 11 also submitted.North Mymms Parish Council
Paragraph 9 - It is very important that the needs of the villages are taken into account when shaping future transport services especially as older members of the communities and school children rely on buses to a very large extent.
Royston Town Council
Buses not being held up by traffic should be a priority. There is no reference to Cambridgeshire. Royston is near to the border and cross border co-ordination should be encouraged. There is a need for interchange between different types of transport e.g buses waiting at the train station. Tickets should be able to be used across different services and bus providers.
Tewin Parish Council
Irony to see plans to increase public transport only four years after rural services were decimated. Community transport services are not the whole answer. Workers also need a solution, with local station car parks already full by 9am. As report says ‘ Bus trips can replace unnecessary single occupancy car journeys'.
Bus passes are not valid on community transport. New powers under 2017 legislation should be carefully considered even if difficult. A new demand-response service for villages, allowing use of bus passes, should be considered seriously. The elderly still want and need to maintain independence.
Modern, low floor, low emission vehicles should be introduced wherever possible (example - Harrogate).
Bus shelter outside Morrisons, Welwyn Garden City is on the same side of the road but the 204 both arrives and departs from the opposite side. A new crossing has recently been installed at this point, so a new shelter would be welcomed.
Welwyn Garden City bus station. Stands become very congested and buses can stop in the wrong place. This may be safer than before but is not less stressful.
Plusbus, Explorer and other integrated ticketing initiatives are no use to rural areas with such a limited service. Smart services and real time information are not always usable by older people unless they have access to a smart phone.
Criteria listed on page 38 include cost per passenger and number of elderly and disabled passengers. It is important that accurate means of measuring these criteria are in place.
ABFLY – Abbey Line User Group
We have no adverse comments on the main proposals set out in your various documents. The Strategy makes the reasonable and laudable case for improving public transport services to attract people out of cars and thereby
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reduce traffic congestion (section 1.1), improving air quality (Section 2.8) and closer service integration (section 3.4).
Yet there is no reference to rail transport and how it inter-relates to (and is inter-dependent with) bus transport. We offer three examples:-The importance of the bus in providing strategic links between rail stations and hubs – such as between St Albans Abbey and St Albans City stations and the city centre-The importance of bus availability in providing essential cover for planned rail engineering works and rail service disruptions-Conversely, the value of rail routes in the county in providing a public transport alternative when bus routes are disrupted through congestion, traffic accidents etc. The Abbey Line between St Albans and Watford – one of the county’s most congested road routes -is an example.
You rightly mention the increasing importance of Smart Data to exploit the benefits of electronic communication systems. ”Real Time” information are very helpful for passengers but this must also cover the whole public transport system – rail as well as bus if we are to encourage people out of their cars.
We would like to add that Abbey Line users have expressed appreciation for the bus maps displayed at rail stations and bus stops and we hope that Intalink continues to offer this service.
APTU, Association of Passenger Transport Users
3.4: Every effort should be made to ensure that ticket integration includes rail travel, so the same technique (App, Smartcard, Scannable image etc etc) can cover a single journey from home / business via bus, train and TfL bus, underground, tram etc - ie supporting Action 9.
3.4: We would like to see Plusbus retention; moving it to 'smart' technology would be a positive.
3.5: Real time information via App is important for rail travellers who use Smart phones etc in order that they can be aware of the bus timings before arrival at the station. Consideration should be given to an App that shows real time train and App information (eg do I need to move promptly at the station, do I have time for a hot drink etc). On a personal note, it is often more important that I know that real time reporting of next shows buses due in x & y minutes than them running regularly late to timetable - it is time wasted waiting that is the more important.
Bus Users Group Stevenage
Section 8.6 - Roadworks managements - BUGS would like to see that local ward councillors and local bus user groups are informed of roadworks management issues. Councillors and bus groups may be the first point of contact for local residents impacted by works, and can mitigate against frustration which may discourage use of bus services.
Generally BUGS welcomes the proposals, and would welcome any collaboration in helping to improve bus services and level of use.
In respect of Stevenage, we would suggest that Stevenage New bus station is considered as a monitoring site for services - it is not noticed in Appendix 1, but the new proposed station provides an excellent opportunity.
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Elstree and Borehamwood Transport Forum
The forum shares Hertfordshire county council’s view that current road transport trends within the county are unsustainable, given existing levels of congestion and the likely impact of projected population growth. It endorses the county council’s aim – where practicable – of reducing the need to travel, and of promoting behavioural shift in favour of more environmentally-friendly, socially-inclusive and energy- and space-efficient modes, including cycling, walking and public transport. It therefore welcomes the council’s intention to use for this purpose the powers awarded to it by the Buses Act 2017.
Additional comments provided on a further 15 points.North Herts Bus User Group (NHBUG)
The ideas are fine and long overdue, however it is difficult to see how they will be delivered faced with the inherent deficiencies in the UK bus system.Fares are extremely high. There is no financial incentive to use a bus if you own a car. Fares would have to be drastically reduced.
Currently bus services are virtually non-existent at evening and weekend times. Also, In North Hertfordshire taxi fares are high due to lack of effective competition. Competitive services like Uber have a part to play in supporting travel for non-car users.
The current deregulated system for commercial bus services places no obligation on the operator to maintain a level of service. People cannot plan their working pattern around a bus route that may be axed without warning. The new Enhanced Partnership needs to address this issue with strong enforcement, something that has been very lacking to date.
There needs to be a lot more investment in supporting non-viable routes for villages and remote areas, rather than the continual cuts we are seeing at the moment.
Traffic congestion in town centres is a problem. Maybe make centres bus-only with environment friendly electric vehicles?
Potters Bar and St.Albans Transport User Group
ALL; The bus strategy needs updating to take account of the climate emergency and a more strategic approach to bus like York, who have electric park and rides and new well used 24/7 express services, and replaced low use rural services with on demand.
Currently we have a 'no change' parochial approach to our bus and coach services. Unless we boost the economy, the rest simply won't happen as changes need to be user driven, not council and operator driven.
Hertfordshire needs strong airport and rail links. Luton airport Dart next year is a start, but Europe is already 10 years ahead of us with contracted regular frequency microbuses and taxi-buses supporting commercial networks.
Smart Mobility Unit
It is not our role to comment on the structures you have negotiated with the operators to oversee and manage the enhanced partnership except to say that the arrangements set out in the Plan and Scheme v4.5 look to be thorough. The Partnership Plan objectives and approaches look in keeping with developing good practice.
Additional comments provided on schemes and membership.
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Transport for London
We recognise the importance of bus services in Hertfordshire and are pleased to see the Intalink Enhanced Partnership Plan and Scheme. We support the strategic objectives of prioritising bus services in traffic, improving the image of bus travel, upgrading bus infrastructure, closer integration of the bus network and smarter use of data and information as part of a strategy of prioritising active travel and public transport modes, as well as the targets for increasing reliability and reducing vehicle emissions.
CMA Competition Markets Authority
The Intalink Bus Strategy proposes the creation of an Enhanced Partnership across the administrative county of Hertfordshire. This Partnership is a continuation and development of the previous Quality Network Partnerships and the Intalink Quality Partnership.
Under schedule 10 of the Transport Act 2000 the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) must consider whether a proposed Enhanced Partnership meets the ‘Competition Test’.
It is the CMA’s view that the Enhanced Partnership as presented meets the Competition Test. We set out some observations which members of the Enhanced Partnership may wish to consider prior to commencement. We would be happy to discuss these in further detail.
Hemel Campaigners
In Kings Langley there is free parking off the main roads to encourage people to shop. This would help if used it keep the main roads clear. We would like free accessible information on the 3pm not on 15:00 timetables. Bigger writing. Information on screens at bus stops. Split the timetable book into am/pm sections that are different colours. Then use 3pm rather than 15:00. We still need paper information. Most people can use apps or internet, but we cannot (mostly). So if you are printing less maybe you can make the paper information easy read. Not everyone can use computers, phones and social media. We still need this information in the best way for me. Travel training would help us learn how to use the bus information. Stop overcrowding on buses. Running more buses to stop this.
HVCCG The proposals and strategies seem sound, we would very much like to kept informed of progress so that we can support these within our own organisation's travel plan with a view to encouraging more staff to use the bus services.
intu Watford Objective 1 - Priority for bus services is important, but recent reports of worsening town centre gridlock raises the question as to how this would be delivered without having wider detrimental impacts - hence us 'agreeing' not 'strongly agreeing' at this stage
Actions 5 & 11 - intu Watford would glad join the Intalink forum and/or business partnership meetings, plus explore joint marketing campaigns
Action 12 - intu Watford would happily explore host arrangements of future RTI screens within the centre
Marshalswick North Residents Association
We support the principle of promoting a shift to sustainable forms of transport in line with LPT4, not least because our area (Marshalswick North) is plagued with severe traffic congestion along its through routes during rush hours and major planned development in the vicinity will only make this considerably worse.
We also support the principle of using the Bus Services Act 2017 to address some of the deficiencies of the current de-regulated system of bus provision, which has led to services that are operator rather than customer focused. Any change in direction towards greater co-ordination of bus service availability and information is to be welcomed. Our local evidence (gathered for the Sandridge
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Neighbourhood Plan) shows that lack of reliability and continuing cuts to services are some of the main reasons why residents do not use the buses as much as they would like to.
We were pleased to see that there was a commitment in the Introduction to the Strategy to continue to support ‘important services’ which cannot be operated commercially. However, the Strategy/Partnership proposals are deficient in concentrating on improving only commercially viable services. In our area, only 1 bus service out of 4 (Uno 653) is currently commercially viable. (The S6, S8/9 and 357 all currently receive subsidies or are funded by developer contributions.) These services equally need investment to boost their use. It is disappointing to see there is no HCC commitment to improving bus services to residents who have no alternative form of transport, may live in outlying settlements and rely on the bus to maintain their independence and prevent social isolation. This leaves these services open to further budget cut decisions. Once a service disappears, it is even harder work to get people to use public passenger transport again. Once a service frequency is ‘cut’, the number of users diminishes rather than increases – exactly the opposite of the intention expressed in LPT4.
Finally, there seems to be an absence throughout the documents of any attempt to involve bus users properly and to make use of the valuable information they can provide. As the customers, they seem to have very little say? Perhaps HCC and the District Councils could think through how this might best be achieved – for example, through interested bodies representing residents, or parish councils, channelling information?
Further comments on sections 1.2, 2.1-2.3, 2.5-2.8, 3.1- 3.5 and 8.13.St Albans Musuems
The people who use the bus networks need real time information. Many are older and have no access to smart phones. Having reliable real-time information at bus stops and stations is critical.
The Potters Bar Society
Paras 1,3,4 and 5 are not relevant to submission by an organisation.Para 8 Objectives are fine but rather nebulous - what people want is ACTION like more buses on existing routes, greater punctuality and more useful routes (e.g.re-instating the Potters Bar to Barnet Hospital service now that some clinics have been moved to Barnet).
Para 9 Does 'raising and enforcing quality standards' mean buses will run as scheduled and on time? Bus users want clean, safe, reliable services that arrive on time and are not cancelled (e.g.the 10.12 am 313 to Chingford frequently fails to arrive at Potters Bar Station). No amount of branding, marketing, data collection and information will increase bus use unless and until the services improve.
'Co-ordinate infrastructure improvements along core corridors' what does this actually mean?
Transition Town Letchworth
Transport choices have a big effect on every persons contribution to climate change. If bus services can be improved to deliver an effective alternative (both in journey time and cost) to the private car this should make a significant contribution to tackling climate change. Transition Town Letchworth (TTL) considers that some elements of this Interlink Enhanced Partnership Strategy could be more ambitious in order to achieve more significant carbon savings through both improving and growing the bus service so it can meet the needs of more of the County’s population.
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Further comments on vehicles, services, blockages, technology and marketing.
