Agenda and minutes

Consideration was given to the minutes of the previous meeting held on 26^th May, 2022.

Agreed:-  That the minutes of the meeting held on 26^th May, 2022, be approved as a true record of proceedings.

There were no matters arising from the previous minutes.

The Transportation Advisory Group noted the questions and answers on transport matters that had been submitted in advance of the meeting that had been included in the agenda pack.

In response to the question submitted and answer received, Councillor Griffin stated that he had been contacted by a local journalist following publication of the agenda who was to run a story.  This had been partly in light of the question he had raised regarding the Rotherham Central railway ticket office but also the response the journalist had received herself when she had contacted the rail delivery group i.e. “….. while no decisions have been taken over ticket offices, with the acceleration of changing travel patterns and more passengers migrating to digital technology, many jobs will need to change to become more passenger centric.  Train companies want to work with trade unions on how to address these changes while making sure the industry takes ….”

This was not quite the unequivocal “we are not doing it”; it did suggest a migration to digital technology, meaning that people could,  if they had access to the internet, buy tickets that way.  Councillor Griffin would be concerned if the message went from this Group that closure of the ticket office was not going to happen and, in the unlikely event that it did happen that there would be an Equality Impact Assessment, when in fact there were messages coming from the rail delivery group suggesting it could be on an agenda somewhere.

There were a significant number of people, certainly in the Borough, that did not have access to the internet.  This would be an impact not covered by an Equality Impact Assessment.

Andy Wright, South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (SYMCA) gave the following update:-

-        The Government funding would end in October, 2022

-        A substantial procurement tendering process had commenced which formed 2 key components.  Firstly, some additional home to school transport which was being withdrawn from September the tenders for which were due back by 29^th July.  Secondly a substantial tender round for local bus services

-        A consultation process was to be launched, hosted by the SYMCA, starting on Saturday, 30^th July and run for a 4 weeks’ period.  Elected Members were encouraged to engage with and encourage their constituents to participate in the consultation which would inform the purchase and retainment of the services under tender.  As the pre-Covid network level could not be support due to the finance not being available, the different services were being segmented by the different times of the day they needed to be funded i.e. the tenders would be for  early morning, week day, evening and Sunday.  This would help ensure those services that were a priority could be provided and funded; those priorities would be informed by the consultation

-        The Group would be kept informed with regard to the tender process.  However, the tendering process would be repeated in April 2023; the current round was a stop gap measure in light of the funding ending in October

-        There was a national shortage of labour that had particularly hit some of local operators more significantly.  Traditionally people who had worked in the industry for a long time were leaving and leaving faster than replacements could be trained them e.g. it took one week for a driver to leave but 12 weeks to train

-        Some operators were choosing to address historic problems with regard to the sustainability problems of their networks

-        As yet patronage had not returned to pre-Covid levels and had plateaued at approximately 70%.  ENCTS travel was approximately 55-60% depending on which area in terms of pre-Covid

Discussion ensued on the factors that were taken into consideration with regard to commerciality of bus routes which included planning permissions for new housing estates, road schemes to alleviate road congestion and fixed routes.  In the short/medium term the emphasis was on maintaining continuity of service to the customer base but in the longer term a range of factors were considered and were being actively considered such as community transport, demand responsive services and flexible transport arrangements.  How transport services were delivered needed to evolve over time to meet the needs of communities.

The Mayoral Combined Authority had commissioned a piece of work on bus franchising which would effectively bring the procurement and specification of groups, timetables and areas back under local decision making.  That process would run its own path and be a decision from the MCA and the 4 South Yorkshire Leaders whether to proceed or not and would take 3-4 years.  It would be a significant policy choice but one that the MCA had chosen  ...  view the full minutes text for item 14.

(1)       First Group

(2)       Stagecoach

(3)       Rotherham Community Transport

There was no update available due to there being no representation from the bus operators.

There was no update available due to there being no representation from the rail operators.

There was no update available due to there being no representation from the airport.

·              Parkway Widening Scheme Update.

·              Cycling Schemes Update (Transforming Cities Fund and Active Travel Fund).

·              Roads Planning Overview.

·              Public Transport Update.

·              South Yorkshire Safer Roads Partnership Update.

Andy Moss, Head of Transport Infrastructure, gave the following update with the aid of a powerpoint presentation:-

Current Government Position

Current Key Issues – Progress since December, 2021

-        Strategy, Policy and Funding

·        Funding

      City Region Sustainable Transport(CRSTS) confirmed

      Further changes to Active Travel Funding

·        Integrated Rail Plan

      More limited review of regional priorities

      Introduction of Active Travel England and Great British Railways

·        Local Transport Plan

      Review to 2024

-        Carbon Reduction

·        Climate – now Post-COP26

Global Events

-        Active Travel

·        Health

Funding picture changed

·        Air Quality

Clean Air Zone(CAZ)  final business case submitted

Active Travel – progress on certain schemes to 2023

-        Public Transport and Covid Recovery

·        Covid

No new travel data as yet on traffic trends as it was too early to gauge. This data was used in business case development.

BSIP and public transport recovery

Enhanced partnership

·        Economy

Inflation

Supplier shortages

-        Capital Funding Summary

Public Transport

-        Integrated Rail Plan – now announced, changed expectations

-        Budget and Spending Review – CRST Statement, public transport revised support

-        Bus Service Improvement Plan – action plan to adopt EP approach

-        Bus Recovery post-April 2022

-        Continuing Covid impact

Roads

-        Roads Management

·     Traffic Management Act – evaluation of powers

·     Pavement Parking – Government response still pending

·     Key Route Networks – remains with local authorities

-        Funding

·     CRST Statement

-        Schemes

·        Parkway Widening – on schedule to complete late 2022

·        Coach Road, Greasbrough – now at practical completion

·        Bellows Road CAZ Scheme – on schedule August 2022

·        Further schemes within Transforming Cities Fund (TCF), CAZ and ATF to commence

Active Travel

-        Procurement Progress

·     Lot 1 – Design and Build Projects – Value £7.6M

Maltby Bus Corridor

Sheffield Road Phase 2/3

·     Lot 2 – Construction Only Projects – Value £2.8M

Manvers Way

(Broom Road) not TCF

Doncaster Road

South Yorkshire Safer Roads

-    Strategic Review

-    Governance and resourcing changes

-    Greater devolved resources to member authorities

-    Objectives and strategy updated but commitment and overall aims remain the same

Discussion ensued on the presentation with the following issues raised:-

-        Confusion caused at the new road layout at Coach Road, Greasbrough, by the newly installed traffic lights

-        Concern regarding the Maltby bus corridor given that a service had been removed from that area and the likely public objection to such provision

Agreed:-  That the update be noted.

There was no other business to consider.

Agreed:-  That a further meeting be held on Wednesday, 26th October, 2022 at 10.00 a.m. via Microsoft Teams.