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2.0 Assessing the Need for Flexible Transport Solutions
Markets for DRT
2.1 Fixed public transport services are most suitable for core markets where large numbers of people are travelling on the same routes and where no special assistance is required. The need for greater flexibility through DRT is therefore defined by four main markets:
- High care needs - This market is quite diverse to cater for the different care needs of travellers. It includes services for people with disabilities such as Dial-a-Ride and some non emergency patient transport, social services transport, and community transport.
- Best value DRT solutions for low demand public transport - Where demand is low, greater flexibility in the locations for picking up and dropping off passengers can ensure better value services and wider network coverage. Rural DRT services, sometimes called Ring-and-Ride, are examples of this.
- Premium value services - These high value services are defined by the need to reduce travel times, receive a higher degree of customer care and are often door-to-door. These have grown significantly for niche markets such as airport transfer services.
- High value to agency services - These are needed where services are tailored to particular needs of public agencies. These include some patient transport, school transport, joblink services.
2.2 Exploring the potential for expansion of each of these markets is an important function of local authority transport planners. Even where other organisations are primarily responsible for funding and delivery, the local transport authority should ensure that provision is well co-ordinated and that good information is available on services.
Assessing the need for DRT
Identifying the gaps
2.3 The starting point is to assess what gaps there are in current general transport provision. Can all people get to the places they need to access? An audit should therefore be undertaken of known gaps in the networks. These gaps will usually have already been identified by residents, who may have contacted transport operators and/or the local authority to highlight problems. Local authority staff in transport, education, and social services, and their partners within the NHS and enterprise network should collectively already have a good knowledge of many of the most pressing problems.
2.4 It is also helpful to assess the scale of the problem. How many people are affected, and how serious is the problem? Although drive times to local facilities such as GPs, post offices, and regional centres are published nationally for all areas of Scotland, public transport access times are not yet available in this form, so it is necessary to analyse electronic public transport timetable data to identify gaps. There are various proprietary software packages to assist with this (see Scottish Transport Appraisal Guidance Chapter 10).
2.5 It is particularly important for such analyses to consider time of day, since gaps in networks can be very different in the evening or early morning than they are at other times. Analysis of network coverage in peak periods, inter-peak periods and early morning ( e.g. 6am) and late evening ( e.g. 10pm) should identify the main accessibility gaps. In many rural areas, analysis by day of the week is also needed, but for sparse networks less detailed analysis of service patterns is required to understand network coverage. Gaps in service provision across local authority boundaries are particularly common, so the analysis needs to include services to and from neighbouring authorities.
2.6 Network coverage needs may also relate to visitor travel patterns, and these can be identified by consulting with businesses and agencies working with the tourism and leisure industries.
Better value solutions
2.7 Before assuming that gaps need to be closed with DRT solutions, it is important first to assess the scope for modifying fixed public transport services to close gaps. Some DRT services have failed because they have quickly become overwhelmed with demand when the gap should have been filled with a fixed route service. DRT is rarely an affordable solution for large passenger volumes.
2.8 The location of services and residential locations is constantly changing. Also growing car ownership changes the patterns of demand for public transport. Limited supported services budgets for public transport are therefore under pressure in many ways. DRT can help to stretch the budgets to provide wider network coverage for less funding. However when assessing DRT costs it is important to consider all elements including the higher information, booking and management costs required to ensure residents and visitors to the area can access the services.
South Fife to Edinburgh Taxibus
The Yellow taxi bus concept promoted by Stagecoach demonstrated that in peak periods DRT can be operated commercially but there are insufficient premium value users to maintain services throughout the day. Best value in procurement of DRT services therefore requires flexible tendering approaches to ensure complementary operation of supported and commercial services optimising vehicle utilisation.
2.9 The role of DRT cannot therefore be assessed without first looking carefully at current public transport provision. In addition to looking at gaps in networks it is also necessary to consider subsidy cost per passenger within the supported services network. This gives a good indication of which services have potential to be replaced with better value DRT solutions. For all services where the total cost of supporting a bus route (including concessionary fare income) exceeds £5 per passenger, the DRT option should be actively explored.
2.10 DRT solutions can also help to improve network value by providing services which complement the fixed route network. The value of providing the DRT services is therefore partly captured through increased income on the fixed route network. The local DRT services are used to feed into public transport hubs to ensure a quality of interchange which is attractive to passengers. When providing these complementary DRT services, consideration of the costs of funding them should recognise both the network coverage benefits and the commercial benefit.
High care needs
2.11 Even if fixed public transport can meet the needs of most people, there remains a large number of people who require more assistance when travelling. There are therefore well established DRT services for people with a mobility impairment and for specific trips such as travelling to and from hospital for treatment.
2.12 Opportunities exist for vehicles currently used for high care needs to be opened up at different times of day to other users to improve vehicle deployment. For example social services vehicles or community transport minibuses can potentially serve many more people by widening their remit to meet the new and different needs.
2.13 The Audit Commission (2001) has stated that better co-ordination of the high care needs services could yield substantial savings, and that best value reviews by local authorities should not be focused simply on operational aspects of individual services but on the costs to serve the travel needs of all people.
Premium services
2.14 The government wishes to promote choice in transport, and some users wish faster, higher quality or door-to-door options. The taxi industry is the largest provider of such services. Most taxi provision caters for individual customers but in recent years shared taxi provision e.g. for airport transfers, has experienced some growth.
2.15 Taxi licensing by local authorities should address the challenges faced by the industry in raising quality and recognising supply and demand imbalances at particular times of day in some locations. Regulation of fares should recognise that the industry plays a key role in filling gaps in public transport networks in some places.
2.16 Key transport planning considerations are: the location of taxi ranks, fares, vehicle accessibility, other vehicle standards, driver standards, and availability by time of day.
2.17 Local authorities and partner public agencies are also very large purchasers of taxi and private hire trips so can use their position as purchasers to help develop the sector.
High value to agency
2.18 Some public agencies may also wish to purchase premium services to supplement public transport provision. DRT services are often the best way to achieve this.
2.19 Education transport is the largest market for such services. Although fixed public transport can provide for many school, nursery, further and higher education needs there are many situations where bespoke services are needed, and provision is arranged to meet the demands from each location according to student needs.
2.20 In some locations, employment agencies also provide DRT services to supplement public transport provision for people who would otherwise be excluded from employment opportunities due to poor accessibility.
2.21 Transport authorities should recognise that high value to agency services are generally funded under budgets related to specific social and economic policy aims. These relate to very specific gaps in transport networks, and clear definitions of accessibility needs and funding responsibilities are needed in planning these services. In the first instance the presumption should be that transport funding can cater for most needs by ensuring best value on fixed and flexible transport provision as discussed above. Funding from partner agencies can however be crucial in widening the network coverage geographically and by time of day from that which would otherwise be affordable. A critical issue for planning, may be persuading partner agencies that their long-term interests are best served by utilising a shared DRT service in place of exclusive arrangements only carrying their passengers.
Closing the Gaps
2.22 Planning DRT coverage is only the first step. There are many legislative and operational options, and selecting the best approach is essential to ensure that the services are effective in closing the identified gaps.
2.23 Key questions that need to be considered at the outset are:
- What service design meets people's needs?
- Who should be the operator?
- How should booking and despatch of services be organised?
- Under what legislation will the services be regulated?
- Fares, funding and consumer choice
- Options for partnership working.
2.24 It is also necessary to keep assumptions under review since the parameters change over time, sometimes quite rapidly. Flexible transport services need flexible management approaches to ensure they can deliver value for money.
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