John Teed SAAT 22 September 2013 15:57 us Bil Response to Consultation Jam a private individual who makes use of First Bus services in Glasgow. Below are my thoughts on this consultation. 1. support the Bill for the following reasons: ‘© gradually over time the level of service provided in Glasgow has worsened. + Tlive in an area where only one bus service is available that can get me to work. I do not have easy access to rail services, so the bus is the only option available to me. + The bus service in the morning when most people are trying to get to work or school is less frequent than that after 9am. + One time when a concert was on at Hampden, the bus service Tuse to get home from work was removed in order to provide transport to those attending the concert. + The timing of the buses is incorrect. Most of the time the buses are ahead of their official timetable and they stop at various bus stops for around § minutes at a time in order to get back onto their proper time. I feel that because this happens to every bus then the timetable itself must be incorrect and more intelligent use of data to set timetables should be implemented. + Drivers are often rude to passengers. + The buses are not cleaned often enough. + Anti-social behaviour is rife on the buses, including smoking which is illegal but for which there is no enforcement. + Competition between different bus companies lead to many roads in Glasgow being blocked with many buses. See Union Street in Glasgow for a good example. + Fares get increased with no explanation, An example was when First Bus started charging for night buses, even to those with transcards. + First Bus use the same service number for buses that sometimes go to different destinations. 2. The main practical advantages of the legislation will be improving public transport and the accessibility of it. Disadvantages may be that some bus providers may find that existing profits may be eroded, however I think the need for a good, reliable public transport network outweighs the profits of individual companies. However, if they can provide good services as determined by authorities, then they could still operate profitable businesses. 3. See point 8 which answers this question and provides further general suggestions over and above the bill. 4, Timproving the interconnectedness of the network would be one way to serve local communities and low passenger volume routes. [t's not essential for all buses to go to all destinations, but by making intelligent use of transport hubs including providing lots of passenger information, people in more remote or rural areas should still be able to connect to local and national services. People in low passenger volume areas still need access to schools, health services, shops and employment, so it is essential that these people are catered for by services connecting to higher volume routes. 5. Lagree that the Traffic Commissioner should be able to impose greater financial penalties on operators not meeting the terms of a franchise, 6, Asan individual, I would expeet fares to be set at a more affordable level, therefore I feel I would benefit financially. There could be financial implications for bus providers, especially those currently operating,7. Lfeel that reregulation could improve equality, especially when the needs of different bus users are considered. Provide fast, regular, comfortable services for those getting to and from work, including people ‘who work at night and who are often currently not provided with easy to access public transport, Improve access fo health services for everyone, but especially for perisioners, the disabled and those with mobility problems or for those having (o travel to specialist hospitals in unfamiliar areas - intelligent online services and/or electronic boards at bus stops to help people plan these journeys. The bus services should also be affordable for those on low incomes, and the use of interconnected services including with rail, should enable people to be able to travel to a place of work. 8, Here are my suggestions for improving the bus services, including how regulation will help: «Enforcement of the law with regard to anti-social behaviour and smoking in particular. Detectors should be installed on the buses that alert drivers to smoking, Conductors or regular inspections should be present on the buses. If a bus passes close to police stations, then the police should make their presence felt in order to enforce the law. + The buses should be cleaned more regularly - passengers are also responsible for not leaving rubbish on the buses, but the bus should be inspected and cleaned at each end of a journey. Where a bus ends at a bus station or terminus, inspectors should be available to clean the buses. + Bus timetabling should be more intelligent. + Hubs where two or three different services converge should be set-up, and passenger information should be improved to help inform passengers where the buses at these hubs go to, much like happens on some rail services. Timetabling should be set-up to minimise the waiting time between departing one bus and another arriving at these hubs - with good quality bus shelters and passenger information at thie stops. + Use of big data and passenger surveys to analyse the routes used most often to improve these services, particularly with regard to enabling access to health care (hospitals and health centres) + Where some services follow similar routes but diverge at some point, give these services different numbers to make it clear where they go. + Improve electronic noticeboards at bus stops to provide live travel information rather than the time buses are due according to the timetable. Have these boards available at all bus stops. At hub areas or busier routes, provide interactive screens that allow passengers (including tourists) to work out which bus service would suit them. This would include full route information about buses from that stop rather than just times when they are due or the ultimate destination for buses. + Provide a minimum level of service for all routes, and do not allow buses to be removed from a particular service or route in order to provide a service for concert/sports attendees. Concerts and sports events should be provided by additional services and/or the existing services should be frequent enough to provide a suitable service in their own right. + Provide smart card payments for travel rather than use of transcards. Enable these to be paid for electronically through direct debit or some other means which removes the need to attend travel centres to renew, Allow contactless payment using mobile phones and/or debit/credit cards for those without cash or smart cards, This would be particularly useful for tourists using public transport. + The smart cards should also be usable on trains and ferries. + Have standardised pricing across the country, Scotland is not a big country and it shouldn't be made difficult to use public transport in different local authority areas. ‘+ During bad weather especially in winter, alerts should be set-up on public transport websites and also available as text messages or mobile apps to immediately inform passengers of changes to services or when a service has been temporarily withdrawn. The electronic noticeboards at all bus stops should be conveying this information as well. Disruption to rail services are publicised in the national media - buses should also be included in these alerts. + While I agree with the principle of buses switching off their engines when at bus stops to prevent emissions, during summer this just results in buses getting ineredibly hot. ‘Therefore use more hybrid and/or electric buses which get charged at a bus station/terminus allowing air conditioning systems to continue to operate while engines are switched off, or minimise the time a bus stops to no more than five minutes.+ Improve customer service training for drivers so that they are not rude to passengers or can provide quality information not only about their own bus but about other services on the network. Interaction with drivers could be minimised by employing conductors. + Long distance routes also need to be considered. For the most part these services are well run and Tve got mostly positive experiences with them, but there are some areas where improvements are needed - for example, it's not possible to catch the earliest ferry services from Oban using bus or rail services from Glasgow without staying overnight in Oban, + Public transport in and around national parks should also be improved, especially to help improve tourism without the use of cars. One time 1 was waiting for a bus from Balloch to Balmaha and the local service just did not tun up. The signage on the bus stops was also very poor and difficult to interpret,