Council check: Durham County Council

This week, we judge how well Durham County Council promotes the buses on its patch.

Where do the buses go?

A series of semi-interactive maps cover the whole county. Town and city centre enlargements are included. 5 out of 5.

Timetables

Click on a route number within the maps and a link to the pdf timetable pops up on screen. 5 out of 5.

Fares

Durham's advice is to check with the bus operator, which isn't really good enough when they could have told us about the Explorer North East multi-operator ticket. Nothing about operators' own tickets, nor about Plusbus, which is available in Durham. 0 out of 5.

Summary

Good maps with integrated timetable information, totally let down by the lack of information on tickets, even though a regionwide multi-operator ticket does exist. Durham County Council scores a total of 10 out of 15.

Court backs wheelchair priority / Pensioners' passes causing cuts

A wheelchair user in Wetherby wanted to travel by bus, but couldn't because a mother with a pushchair would not vacate the wheelchair space. The bus driver only requested for her to move and she refused, so the wheelchair user couldn't travel. Today a judge at Leeds County Court has ruled that situation in breach of the Equality Act 2010 and First have had to pay damages to the man who couldn't travel. Full story at the Guardian.

More bus cuts are on the way due to council funding cuts in Hampshire, Derbyshire and elsewhere. One letter-writer to the Derbyshire Times blames pensioners' passes for making so many routes unviable, a point that this blog has made before.

Council check: East Sussex County Council

Each Sunday, we look at the bus-promoting activities of a local transport authority. Today, it's the turn of East Sussex County Council.

Where do the buses go?

This interactive map shows all bus routes in the county. There are also enlarged maps of the major towns. 5 out of 5.

Timetables

There are links to timetables from the interactive map and also on Traveline. 4 out of 5.

Fares

Details of some day tickets, including the multi-operator Discovery ticket are here. It is not exhaustive however, missing out some of the single-operator local day tickets. Plusbus, available in Lewes, Eastbourne, Hastings and Rye, is mentioned. 3 out of 5.

Summary

Excellent maps, timetables linked to on third-party sites, but not enough information on fares. East Sussex County Council scores a total of 12 out of 15.

Council check: Somerset County Council

How easy does Somerset County Council make it to find out about the buses on its patch?

Where do the buses go?

No maps and not even a list of bus services. Appalling. Those in the know will head to Traveline, where you can search for a bus route by location and see an individual route map. 1 out of 5.

Timetables

The council just sends you over to Traveline, where admittedly you can find timetables for all routes easily. 2 out of 5.

Fares

Absolutely no information is provided. There is no multi-operator ticket. Plusbus, available in Taunton, Bridgwater and Yeovil, is ignored. 0 out of 5.

Summary

This is a very poor performance all round. Anyone would think Somerset County Council is trying to put local public transport operators out of business. They are rewarded with a shameful score of 3 out of 15.

Council Check: Cornwall Council

Each week, we investigate the public transport information provision of one of our local transport authorities. Today, it's the turn of Cornwall Council.

Where do the buses go?

Maps are provided of the whole county and specific towns. Couldn't be clearer. 5 out of 5.

Timetables

A bus route list is provided, with links to the timetables on the relevant operator's website. In the case of First, the page it takes you through to isn't always the one for the route requested, but you can find it with a couple of further clicks. 3 out of 5.

Fares

It is not possible to find out the price of a single or return journey, but there is a list of day tickets that are available: both operator-specific and the multi-modal Ride Cornwall ticket, which is valid on all buses and trains in the county.

Plusbus is also mentioned, which is available in Penzance, Truro, Newquay, Liskeard, Bodmin, St Austell, Camborne & Redruth and Falmouth. 4 out of 5.

Summary

Good, comprehensive maps and easy-to-find timetables are complemented by full information on all of the day tickets that are available to passengers. Cornwall Council scores a respectable 12 out of 15.

Tyne & Wear votes to de-deregulate

The North East Combined Authority has voted for Nexus to be given TfL-style powers over the buses in Tyne & Wear. The matter now passes to an independent review board.

The county's main commercial bus operators, Stagecoach, Arriva and Go North East, had campaigned tirelessly against the move. They will probably soon have to submit bids to Nexus on a route-by-route basis in order to continue operating in Tyne & Wear.

So what's actually going to change for the passenger? Currently, the bus network, timetables and fares are set by the private bus companies, who are answerable primarily to their shareholders. Nexus may fund additional services to fill in the gaps in that commercial network. This is how buses are run across the UK, with the exception of Greater London and Northern Ireland.

Tyne & Wear's local authorities have now voted to move to a system like that used in Greater London, where a public body accountable to the whole of society decides where the buses should run and sets the timetables and fares. It then franchises out the actual running of each route to a private company, but for passengers it won't matter which company runs which bus.

It's still not quite a done deal yet, but the county's elected representatives have voted unanimously and it'll be a bold review board that chooses to overturn that.

More details in The Journal, Shields Gazette and The Guardian. Nick Forbes, the leader of Newcastle City Council, states his case here.

Council check: Warwickshire County Council

Let's take a look at how well Warwickshire County Council promotes the bus services in its area.

Where do the buses go?

There's a full range of maps covering the whole county, including enlarged versions for the major towns. Very useful. 5 out of 5.

Timetables

You can search for timetables by route number or location here, but what you are taken to is not the timetable itself, but rather a link to the timetable on the operator's website. It's still fairly easy to use though. 4 out of 5.

Fares

Oh dear. No information on travel costs at all. Nothing on single or return tickets, no mention of operator-specific day or season tickets and there is no multi-operator ticket. Plusbus, available in Warwick & Leamington Spa, Rugby and Nuneaton, isn't mentioned. 0 out of 5.

Summary

Excellent and comprehensive maps, well linked and easily searchable timetables are let down by an assumption that no-one wants to know how much it will cost them to use the bus. Warwickshire County Council scores a total of 9 out of 15.