To receive the above presentation from Reading Buses.

The Chairman stated he had been involved with transport for many years. Local Authorities were set targets to meet for clean air and good bus services were an integral part of the solution. Cities were grinding to a halt and challenging how people travelled was the way forward. He added there was a need to tackle UK air quality as currently, the UK’s clean air zones were breaking European standards.

The Chairman explained that diesel cars accounted for 41% of air pollution and testing of Euro 6 buses and retro fitting equipment to standard buses meant the emissions produced were 95% cleaner than current buses which meant ultra clean solutions. Buses could provide the solution for tomorrow.

The Chairman stated companies needed to make a profit so collaborative working with the Council was the way forward; passengers wanted lower fares, convenience and comfort but, currently, train fares were cheaper than buses and patronage of buses had decreased as buses were not competitive. This meant that buses would continue to lose passengers.

Martin Gilbert, Reading Buses gave the Panel a presentation on a possible Click and Demand Service that Reading Buses could provide to the Borough. The main points of his presentation were as follows:

Ø  Martin Gilbert, Reading Buses wanted to introduce a new local bus operating partnership with the Borough.

Ø  Reading Buses was a council owned company but, it was not run by Reading Borough Council. The bus company was apolitical.

Ø  Reading Buses provided a comprehensive bus network

Ø  Reading buses provided a service which supported economic growth of the region.

Ø  They provided services which aligned to congestion busting initiatives

Ø  Reading Buses had a long history and award winning service

Ø  Lots of investment and growth as an organisation with 600 employees, 200 vehicles in their fleet and they also provided apprenticeships

Ø  They ran a colour coded network and used corporate colours for their contract with Vodafone

Ø  In November 2017, First Group left the 702 Greenline route and Reading Buses felt there was potential to run the service

Ø  Reading Buses took on the Greenline Service which serves commuters and tourists

Ø  1 December 2017 The Royal Borough officers asked if Reading were interested in taking on other opportunities

Ø  Reading Buses were active in Slough and Bracknell and wanted to work with RBWM

Ø  Reading Buses had a micro-depot in Slough

Ø  They wanted more people on buses and were actively trying to get more people on board

Ø  They offered vibrantly coloured buses with bright coloured timetables

Ø  They looked at taking on the No. 2 route and ran it at a slightly less than a half hourly service

Ø  Reading Buses were the first operator to offer contactless payment for customer outside of London

Ø  They were a large enough company to deliver a large service and small enough to still take on smaller routes

Ø  Their mission was to connect people with places and people were a very important part of what they did.

Ø  Air quality was very important and they were developing cleaner technology. They had launched gas powered vehicles and recently launched a Euro 6 vehicle and fully electric double decker bus; they had also developed a natural gas powered bus.

Ø  Reading Buses were working with their local Chamber of Commerce and other partners to make sure all they keep their products at the forefront of all were underpinned by strong partnerships.

Ø  Technology was changing as was transport, such as the introduction of Uber and the bus industry needed to wake up to be more of a dynamic demand bus service.

Ø  Independent organisations could also deliver technological solutions

Ø  Reading Buses launch an app that could book tickets and plan journeys. 76% of users gave positive feedback. It was a far more popular way of interacting with bus companies.

Ø  Reading Buses still maintained traditional avenues as a large cohort of passengers still preferred traditional ways of using buses such as printed timetables

Ø  Reading Buses worked with Ready Bus which was a Dial-a-Ride type bus service; the principals could be transferred over to a main bus route with the latest technology

Ø  A technology laboratory had been installed in their bus depot to develop software to enable a click and demand service

Ø  Reading Buses could offer a value and cost driven arrangement; they were a locally based organisation which focused on the region and they were setting out to do the right thing in the area

Ø  Reading Buses would work with partners to provide technology to enable click and demand services. They were also happy to look into using different branding for the service.

Ø  Reading Buses felt a smaller Mercedes Sprinter type vehicle would work in the Borough to access smaller streets. Wifi and USB charging would be built-in

Ø  A click and demand style service could help with budget pressures and changing demand

Ø  Funding was the number one challenge

Ø  Reading Buses said they needed to run a service which did not impact negatively on other bus services and taxi operations in the area

Ø  The click and demand service could be aligned with the end of existing contracts

Ø  Customer accessibility – needed to address whether or not it would be a door to door service or, if there would be specific meeting points to meet the bus

Ø  Any potential service would need to address how far the bus could deviate from the route to collect passengers

Ø  There were currently only four operations of click and demand in the UK

The Chairman stated she believed in competition but, lower bus fares were needed with better terms of employment for workers. Councillor Lion enquired as to whether or not there would be wheelchair access. Martin Gilbert, Reading Buses, confirmed there would be wheelchair access.

Martin Gilbert, Reading Buses, confirmed that Reading was developing a click and demand service. However, the challenges for Reading were different to the royal Borough. There was higher density bus users, but they were give it serious thought and looking to develop the service in the evenings and at weekends.

Councillor Da Costa queried what were the experiences of other operators where the service would be implemented. Martin Gilbert responded that it was a new; where the service had been implemented in areas such as Kent, another operator saw their customer numbers decline so there needed to be a blend of services. There needed to be a genuine need for the service so that customers were not taken from an already existing service.

Councillor Shelim suggested a click and demand service could be used for school runs. Martin Gilbert stated it could be used as schools were a very important part of a cohort of users. There were a whole host of journeys that could be covered to stop people using cars; there was no reason why buses could not incorporate home to school transport.

Councillor E. Wilson said one of the issues was the number two was run by two bus companies and residents thought the Council ran the buses. He thought there was still a gap around running to Legoland with connections to London and Bracnkell. He wanted to know how Reading Buses were communicating that to residents and promoting the route. He also wanted to know what Reading Buses were going to do to encourage more people onto the buses. Martin Gilbert responded a change in opportunity for routes came round very quickly as he had only been approached on 1 December 2017. Due to negotiations the start of the service did not start until 1 January 2018, so there was more to come to the service. Reading Buses had vehicles brightly branded with full colour timetables and a dedicated website which were all separate from the app. Martin asked if there were any partnerships they could form with businesses, schools and the local authority.

Martin Gilbert explained that the extension to Legoland was a school days extension only but that was a short term solution. The route was about serving Dedworth and not Legoland. He was now at the listening phase to help routes progress and grow. If anything changed, they would run a consultation.

Councillor Hunt stated the A4 between Reading and Maidenhead in the evenings was very heavy with traffic. She wanted to know if Reading Buses were thinking of introducing a bus service there to reduce the traffic. With the addition of Crossrail, that could mean there would be even more traffic, a bus service could be an alternative way to get into London instead of the Train. Martin Gilbert responded Reading Buses did run a London Service every hour. Commuting to London was a tough area and difficult to compete with the train as the train service was reliable with greater capacity as well as having cheaper fares. Reading Buses did try and look after their bus passengers and they were looking to evolve the service and improve it.

Martin Gilbert stated in terms of traffic on the A4, he had not been previously aware as the Maidenhead corridor was usually rung by First Group, but Wokingham were looking at introducing a Park ‘n’ Ride scheme. He added that Reading Buses would work with anyone in any area under the right circumstances.

Councillor Sharpe said he was interested in the economics of the bus service. It seemed there were a lot of buses with fewer people on them and prices were very high. If the Borough moved to smaller buses, what would the difference in price be compared to a double decker or larger bus; could smaller buses reduce prices? Martin Gilbert stated he did not want to run empty buses. The single biggest cost was the driver and that cost did not change regardless of the size of the bus. There were some savings in running smaller buses and they were cheaper to buy and maintain.

Councillor Story asked if the 702 route could be rerouted to go through Ascot; a lot of people in ascot worked at Heathrow, he had been enquiring about a service for that area to Heathrow for years. Martin Gilbert stated the 702 was a very long journey as it was approximately four services in one, so it would be difficult for a trunk route to serve that area. He may look to separate the service into two routes but, it was still unlikely to service that area. He added that he believed that Heathrow now had a service at key shift times which ran from Bracknell which might be able to service that area.

Martin Gilbert confirmed that Reading Buses drivers had full PCV licences. If a smaller vehicle was used, they could potentially go to a D1 licence but, that would incur a cost. He stated that pricing was flexible and in the first instance, the click and demand service would not operate 100% commercially, it would need partnership input. He would not commit to setting fares until all the facts around the service were known.

The Chairman stated the Royal Borough was a rural location with great opportunities due to the 7m visitors each year so it was a good place to run a bus service. Martin Gilbert stated in order to get more people onto buses, high quality vehicles were needed with excellent customer services and a lot of publicity.

Councillor Bicknell queried if a click and demand service could be used in getting children to and from school. Martin Gilbert explained that Reading Buses approach would be the same as any other operator. Realistically, one would have to be careful that the service didn’t replace one large vehicle with several smaller vehicles. The Head of Commissioning/Communities said the click and demand service could be a market changer. Competition could spark positive changes with other groups already in the area that could mean a better service for residents and cheaper fares. He needed to look longer term at what the Borough introduced in order to be sustainable and meet demand.

The Chairman thanked Martin Gilbert from Reading Buses for attending Panel to give the presentation.