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10 Duration of scheme
Transport Scotland Act 2001 - Part 2 Bus Services Quality Partnership Schemes: Section 6 Making of quality partnership scheme.
10.1 
The legislation within the 2001 Act allows a sQP to be in operation for a minimum of three and maximum of seven years.
Duration of Glasgow scheme |
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Glasgow has chosen to adopt a scheme duration of five years as they felt a large proportion of the facilities would be outdated if they chose the maximum duration of seven. |
10.2 The full impact of sQP improvements may not be apparent until several years after implementation. Once the official duration of the scheme has come to a close, this should not be considered as the end of the process but one that is subject to continuous maintenance, review and improvement.
10.3 The duration of a scheme will have implications for all the partners, so it is important to consider the most appropriate scheme length based on local circumstances. Bus operators may need to consider the replacement or refurbishment of vehicles after perhaps less than one third of the vehicles' conventional economic life; cascading vehicles to secondary routes after a number of years will be more difficult to achieve as a greater proportion of routes fall within the sQP.
Phased implementation
10.4 Phasing is important when considering whether improvements are actually achievable from the outset of a scheme. Specifying standards that are overly onerous on an operator to achieve is not conducive to effective partnership working, as participation in the scheme may be perceived to be too demanding. However, allowing incremental steps in improvement improve the ability of operators to comply. This, however, must be outlined within the consultation stage.
Postponement of scheme
10.5 A transport authority may decide to postpone the scheme for up to twelve months from the planned official start date, but only after consultation has been undertaken with all the operators of local services who are likely to be affected by the postponement.
10.6 If the decision is taken to postpone the scheme, the transport authority is required to advise all operators of local bus services in the scheme area and the Scottish Traffic Commissioner. The transport authority is also required to publish a notice within at least one local newspaper no later than fourteen days after the postponement date.
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