1. A review of local bus provision by Scottish Citizens Advice Bureaux
Fraser Sutherland, Policy Team, Citizens Advice Scotland

2. Research Aim: GP Surgery Hospital College Workplace Supermarket
To identify the ease of and cost of access to eight key essential services using bus services across Scotland in a community lead co-production
GP Surgery
Hospital
College
Workplace
Supermarket
Post Office
We wanted the research to be a community lead co-production and our status as a national consumer voice with a local footprint in Scottish communities through our CAB members allowed us to carry out this research to more locations and in more communities than could be managed by one organisation.
Local CAB offices also gave us the opportunity to tap into years of local knowledge of bus routes and ticketing arrangements as well as appropriate local services that they would be familiar with. I’m very glad to say that we have representatives of two local CABs here today who assisted with this research and will speak to us later in the day about some issues they identified in their localities.
Banking
Jobcentre

3. 16 CAB 115 home locations 920 service points 1,238 journeys
With our 16 CAB partners a total of 115 home locations were identified in their local areas. We asked the CAB participants to try and identify home locations in their area that fit across the Scottish Government’s six-fold urban rural scale. For some participants, by their geography, were better placed to look at remote and rural communities while others where based in more urban areas.
In total over 1,200 journeys were surveyed for distance, journey time, and price. We also collated data on the number of interchanges needed in some areas and specific route information.

4. 88 journeys starting in accessible rural areas
40 journeys starting in Large Urban areas
160 journeys starting in other Urban areas
256 journeys starting in accessible rural areas
120 journeys starting in accessible small towns
232 journeys starting in remote rural areas
Because of the range of CAB involved we had a good range of urban/rural split with a specific focus on rural areas which saw 256 journeys starting in accessible areas and 232 in remote rural areas.
We had a smaller number of journeys start in large urban areas and all of these were in the greater glasgow area.

5. GP findings: Hospitals findings:
54% of locations not in walking distance to GP
Journey time to GP by bus average 14 minutes
Median cost to GP £2.85
Hospitals findings:
89% not within walking distance to hospital
Locations in remote rural areas faced a median cost of £7.75 return
38% remote rural and 25% of accessible rural not connected to hospitals on a Sunday
46% could walk to their GP. In small towns walking distance was better at 77% to GPs and lower in rural areas at 28%, but none the less still confirming that GPs remain a locally based service in most areas we looked at.
Journey times for those using a bus was around 14 minutes over a distance of four miles. And costing a median level of £2.85
We did identify one locality in Cookney Aberdeenshire where the journey time was over an hour and a half for one way trip to the nearest GP. This was less to do with the distance being travelled (only 5 miles door to door) and more the connections with passengers having to travel to Aberdeen and then change back to another service that would take them to the GP in Portlethen. If the patient was registered at a GP in Aberdeen this would be an easier journey but they would not live in the catchment area of that GP.
Not surprisingly hospitals are more centralised so less locations were within walking distance. Slightly further distance of 13 miles taking 37 minutes on average. Cost was higher for those in rural areas, £7.75 in remote rural compared to £3.40 in Urban areas.
38% remote rural and 25% of accessible rural not connected to hospitals on a Sunday this compres to 80% of Urban locations.

6. Supermarket findings:
Workplace findings:
Average distance to central business district 9 miles
Median cost for small town travellers £6
Around one third no access to CBD on a Sunday
Supermarket findings:
£3.40 median cost rising to £4 in remote rural
Average distance to larger supermarket 7 miles
Median travel time 19 minutes
Local researchers looked at a nearby town centre close to the home location as a focal workplace point. Median cost of journey was £6 return over and took around half an hour each way.
Again Sunday services could be a problem in some areas. A number of CAB noted that many workers in rural locations would have no public transport service on a Sunday and if working on a Sunday would require alternative transport. For many workers Sundays can be seen as a normal day work (if we think shift workers, retail and hospitality) yet public transport doesn’t recognise that demand.
For supermarkets we looked at larger stores rather than small convenience outlets. In some areas smaller stores were used as the most appropriate service for local people. Supermarkets were one of the better connected services we identified with over half being able to walk or make a bus journey of less than 20 minutes. Prices closely aligned with urban/rural status with only those in remote rural areas paying more than £4 return.
However even in areas where supermarkets are nearby such as the Clackmannanshire village of Sauchie and Glenochil journey times were the slowest per mile taking around half an hour to travel under 2 miles.

7. Bank branch findings: Jobcentre findings:
A third can walk to local branch, rising to over half in small towns
Median travel cost £3.15 return
10 mile journey in remote rural areas
Jobcentre findings:
Average distance to nearest jobcentre 13 miles
Median return bus ticket in remote rural areas £9
40 minutes travel time on average
As more services have become available digitally and footfall has fallen in traditional physical bank branches the number of banking facilities in communities has fallen in recent years from over 20,500 in 1988 to 8,800 in 2012.
World Bank figures show that in 2013 there were 25 bank branches per 100,000 adults in the UK. This is considerably less that in Spain (74), France (38) or USA (34) but higher than the rate in Germany (15). Despite the improvements in online and mobile banking, many consumers still require access to counter services. Research for the Competition and Markets Authority market study into personal accounts shows that 8 in 10 consumers access counter services at least once a year, and two fifths use them once a month. Two-thirds of banking customers also said that having a convenient local branch was either essential or very important.
Most not in walking distance but in small towns over half can walk to a local branch. However important to have in mind this is one of the areas where branches are closing in recent years. For those in small towns left without a local bank branch travel was often in excess of eight miles.
Some benefits claimants are able to reclaim reasonable travel costs for their journey to the Jobcentre. Additionally a number of bus operators and Scotland’s national trains servicer delivered by Scotrail offer discounted travel for jobseekers with appropriate proof from the Department for Work and Pensions.
Job Centres were within walking distance for 10% of the locations we surveyed, mostly in urban areas. For those using a bus to travel to the nearest Jobcentre the average distance being travelled was 13 miles, with a median journey time of 40 minutes.
The longest travel times collated by CAB undertaking the research were seen in the Scottish Borders, with the journey from the rural village of Yetholm to the nearest Jobcentre in Galashiels taking 96 minutes. This is the best connected Jobcentre in terms of public transport as while the Jobcentre in Hawick is geographically closer it is not closer in terms of public transport, with journeys taking three buses and over 2 hours.
Large distances for some island communities mean particular difficulties getting to and from essential services. For example our research identified that some Skye residents who were attending medical assessments for Personal Independence Payments and other disability benefits the nearest assessment centre is in Inverness. Due to difficulties in accessing public transport that connect with services to Inverness from large parts of the island, home assessments are more regularly required. This in turn increases the waiting times for applicants.

8. College findings: Post Office findings:
Average distance travelled 15 miles rising to over 25 in remote rural areas
£6 return median cost
Only in Urban areas were college in walking distance
Post Office findings:
64% in walking distance
Bus travel time less than 15 minutes
Cost for return £2 to £3
Recent regionalisation carried out by the Scottish Government of Scotland’s college sector has seen the reduction in Scotland’s incorporated colleges from 37 to 20 (with a further 6 non incorporated colleges). While the changes have not impacted on the size of the college estate in the majority of cases, course availability may have changed resulting in some students having to travel further than before as course delivery may be focussed in regional centres rather than offered at all sites. For the purposes of this research we reviewed the closest college to the home location.
Of all the essential services that we reviewed, colleges had the longest journey times, were furthest from the home locations and most expensive to get to. Remote rural areas had an average distance of 26 miles to their furthest college, with a median time of just over one hour and a cost of over £10 for a return ticket. The costs taken for this survey are full price tickets and there are many schemes in place for registered students to benefit from discounted travel tickets or bursaries for travel costs.
Post Offices also offer a number of other services including letter and parcel delivery, tax and licensing applications, travel money and some utilities payment services. However a recent transformation program of the Post Office network has seen a reduction in the number of branches from 18,000 in 2000 to 11,500 in 2012.
We found that of all the ‘essential services’ we surveyed, Post Offices were the best connected for the areas we looked at. Around two thirds of home locations were in walking distance to a local Post Office, this rises to 88% for those living in small towns. Journey distances for those travelling by bus were also on average less than five miles away, with the furthest distance being 9.1 miles to Oldmeldrum from Fyvie in rural Aberdeenshire.

9. “As a disabled person, who finds it difficult to walk far, I sometimes have to pay for a taxi to get to the jobcentre if my appointment is before 9.30am. If I want to go out on a Sunday I have to pay for a taxi as there are no buses.” Clackmannanshire
"The bus service has been reduced recently. This is a problem because there is too long to wait for the return bus. The return bus is either straight away or else in three and a half hours. There is not time enough to do all that you have to do in town or else you waste half your day waiting for the next bus. It has messed up my Job Centre interview - I had to change that." Western Isles
“No problems generally but there are no bus services on a Sunday and I am required to work some Sundays!!” Shetland
“This is a 7 min journey and is over £7 a shot. Too expensive.” North Ayrshire

10. Thank You