Agenda item

To provide an update on the progress of the Metrobus programme.

Peter Mann, Director of Transport, BCC and Pete Woodhouse, MetroBus Integration Manager, BCC will attend for this item

The Committee considered a report which provided an update on the progress of the Metrobus programme.  Peter Mann, Director of Transport, Bristol City Council and Pete Woodhouse, MetroBus Integration Manager, Bristol City Council attended for this item.

It was reported that the M3 route had been the first to commence in May 2018.  The service had been free for the first two weeks and demand had continued to grow.  A Sunday service was introduced in September 2018.  A number of capacity issues had been reported which would be addressed from January 2019.

The M2 route started on 3 September 2018 as a replacement to the Long Ashton Park & Ride.  From 28 October 2019 the ‘Airport Flyer’ service commenced.

Peter explained that the Metrobus relies on off-bus ticketing.  There were problems with the server app on the day of launch which had put extra demand on the i-points.  It was reported that the i-points were now working reasonably. 

It was noted that the main contention had been that the Park & Ride Service from Long Ashton had previously been non-stop but now the new service was stopping and as a result took longer to reach destination. 

The M1 service, Cribbs Causeway to Hengrove Park, would begin on 6 January 2019 and would be operated by Bristol Community Transport with new gas-powered vehicles.  A new permanent fuelling station was expected to be completed by the end of March 2019.

The following points were raised:

• Cllr Pearce asked whether the M2 stopping service which replaced the Park & Ride service could provide a key learning point for replacement Park & Ride services in the future.  Pete Woodhouse stated that no other commercial offer had existed for Portway and officers continued to work with First Group on traffic flows.  The Bath Road corridor was currently well served for bus services;
• Cllr Pearce also asked about unauthorised usage of the Guided Busway.  Pete Woodhouse stated that there had not been a massive number of incidents, there was one cyclist and a taxi.  However, usual enforcement methods cannot be used as it was a private road.  The situation would continue to be monitored;
• Cllr Davies asked whether there would be Sunday services in the run up to Christmas and stated that he felt there was a lack of signage at the change over points.  He also asked whether there were through tickets available to travel through the South Bristol area;
• Cllr Weston asked about the point raised by Mr Gosney in his public submission as to why the full range of tickets were not available from i-points.  Pete Woodhouse stated that the full range of tickets were available when the service started, including inner and outer zones.  First Group asked these to be removed after feedback as some passengers were accidentally purchasing outer zone tickets unnecessarily.  Pete Woodhouse said he would write to Mr Gosney directly on this issue;
• The Committee also asked for raw passenger number data.  Pete Woodhouse would circulate.  It was planned that a regular Metrobus update would be brought to future Overview & Scrutiny Committee meetings.

Agreed: that the update on the Metrobus programme be noted.