Issue - meetings

Report by the Director of Communities, Economy and Transport.

37.1     The Team Manager, Passenger Transport Team introduced the report and gave a short presentation. He outlined the Bus Service Improvement Programme (BSIP) funding allocations which included the Digital Demand Responsive Transport (DDRT) Flexibus Service. The Flexibus Service covers over 90% of the County and over 1,500 Kilometres of roads in mainly rural areas. Flexibus also provides coverage in areas outside of East Sussex including Burgess Hill, Haywards Heath, East Grinstead and Tunbridge Wells providing connection to services in these towns and with rail services (including the Brighton mainline services). It has around 30,000 passenger trips per year. The Service does not cover Eastbourne or Hastings where bus services are provided by commercial bus operators.

37.2     The Flexibus Service has been in operation for almost two years and supports a high number of passenger trips. It has improved access to services in rural areas with 76% of residents within 30 minutes of the nearest town (this would be 9% without the Flexibus service) and 87% of residents of rural areas now within 30 minutes of the nearest GP surgery (this would be 44% without the Flexibus service). Following the Department for Transport (DfT) Transport Analysis Guidance (TAG) it was found that the overall Benefit to Cost Ration (BCR) for the Flexibus Services was a BCR of 3.02 (high value for money).

37.3     The Committee discussed the report, and a summary of the questions raised, and comments made is given below.

Bus services in urban areas

37.4     The Committee observed that are still challenges with bus services in urban areas such as Eastbourne and Hastings as the commercial operators continue to withdraw and reduce services on the grounds of financial viability. The Committee asked if there were opportunities for the Flexibus Service to support residents in these areas. The Team Manager, Passenger Transport Team responded that although passenger numbers in these areas had gone back up to pre-Covid levels, commercial operators were struggling with cost pressures. The Council continues to provide funding for supported bus service routes across the County and has allocated BSIP funding to support conventional scheduled services.

Views of the Service and cancellation of booked journeys

37.5     The Committee observed that most residents thought the Flexibus Service was very good, and this was reflected in the customer satisfaction levels reported for the Service. However, one issue that has been raised involves the cancellation of booked journeys before they take place, which may deter some people from using the service if they cannot reliably get to where they need to go to, especially where the journey may be time constrained (e.g. to attend a GP appointment or catch a train etc.). The Committee asked if it would be possible to have some figures on the number of cancellations as this was often raised by Parish Councils.

37.6     The Team Manager, Passenger Transport Team outlined that when the Service first started it was the first large scale DDRT service to be launched, and no other local authority had previously provided  ...  view the full minutes text for item 37