1. Trond Haugen Advisor to SEStran
Regional Transport Partnerships (RTPs) in Scotland Presentation to CAS seminar on Rural Bus Services
Trond Haugen
Advisor to SEStran
25 August 2016

2. Why RTPs? Movement of People and Goods across Boundaries
Until 1995, 8 Regions + 3 Island authorities
From 1995, 32 Councils
More Council Boundaries
More cross boundary movements
Growth in City Catchment areas
Increased cross-boundary commuting
But 32 (Different) Transport Strategies
Like Kangaroos, people do travel across boundaries .. But it can be awkward if different rules and transport policies apply on each side of the border
Until 1995, with only 7 mainland Regional Councils, there were relatively few transport boundaries to cross in Scotland
Then, in
25 August 2016

3. Transport Act (Scotland) 2005
7 Statutory Regional Transport Partnerships
SPT (11.5 Councils)
SEStran ( Councils)
Tactran ( Councils)
Nestrans ( Councils)
HITRANS ( 4.5 Councils)
Swestran ( Council)
Zwestran ( Council)
So the 2005 transport act created 7 RTPs in Scotland – and each council had to be part of an RTP
25 August 2016

4. Nature of the SESTRAN Area
1.6M Population
72% live in urban areas (>10,000 pop)
14% in small towns
(3, ,000 pop)
14% in rural areas
(< 3,000 pop)
-12% in ‘Accessible Rural Areas’ within 30 minutes drive of a small town or urban area
- 2% in ‘Remote Rural Areas’
Since this seminar is about rural transport, here’s an indication of the scale of the issue in the SEStran area
Arguably SEStran is the least rural of all the Scottish RTPs! .. So perhaps someone else should be standing here!
25 August 2016

5. Transport Act (Scotland) 2005
Each RTP must produce a Regional Transport Strategy (RTS)
But all the RTPs have a key statutory function .. Namely the creation and delivery of a Regional Transport Strategy
Or RTS for short
25 August 2016

6. Transport (Scotland) Act Requirements for RTS
Enhance social and economic wellbeing and public health
Promote public safety, including road safety and safety of users of public transport
Consistent with sustainable development, conservation and enhancement of the environment
Promote social inclusion
Encourage equal opportunities
Facilitate access to health facilities
Integrate with transport elsewhere
I highlighted here some of the more relevant requirements of an RTS in relation to rural transport issues
25 August 2016

7. RTS Context * *
The RTS must fit in with a number of national strategies and I have asterisked some of the most relevant in this respect.
Local Transport strategies must also have strong regard to the relevant RTS
And perhaps most importantly, the RTS must sit very close to the Regional Planning Strategy so that new developments fit in with present and future transport infrastructure and transport provision
25 August 2016

8. RTS Objectives 2. Accessibility
To improve accessibility for those with limited transport choice or no access to a car, particularly those who live in rural areas:
2.1 to improve access to employment.
2.2 to improve access to health facilities.
2.3 to improve access to other services, such as retailing, leisure and education.
2.4 to make public transport more affordable and socially inclusive.
An RTS will typically include Objectives, Policies and Initiatives and here is a short extract of SEStran transport objectives that would be particularly relevant for today’s conference
25 August 2016

9. RTS Policies Accessibility
Policy 17 - SEStran will seek to ensure that communities with poor access to employment by PT and low car ownership / high deprivation will be the subject of targeted measures to address this, and that such measures will be accorded a high priority.
Policy 18 - In selecting interventions as part of the RTS, SEStran will seek to pay particular regard to the need to reduce problems caused by peripherality in rural and other areas of the region that are less well served by PT.
Access to Health
Policy 27 - SEStran and its constituent authorities will work in partnership with Health Boards to improve access to health services and to reduce congestion caused by travel to these services. This would not include subsidy for services needed for new health buildings or services, which would be subject to the normal transport assessments and access policies.
And here are some of the policies in the SEStran RTS that deals with the rural transport issues.
I’m not going to read them out but you’re more than welcome to obtain a copy of our RTS and I’m sure you’ll enjoy the read!
25 August 2016

10. Initiatives for Specific Areas and Groups
Rural Area Transport Needs – Proposed Hierarchy
Eight categories based on key variables
Accessible or remote rural area
Close to or remote from Major Public Transport Corridor
High or low car ownership
Solutions tailored to circumstances
The next step is then to look at measures to go with the policies
In respect of Rural transport needs (for towns and settlements of less than 3000 population and we identified 8 settlement categories, dependent on remoteness from a larger town, how close it is to a public transport artery and, thirdly, the level of car ownership
25 August 2016

11. Initiatives for Specific Areas and Groups
We then identified the arguably most suitable and cost effective transport solution for each settlement catgory in respect of four different travel scenarios
1 Travelling to a major employment area
2 Travelling to a nearby small town to, for example, go shopping
3 Travelling to hospital and health services
And 4ly travelling for the purpose of leisure and tourism
The solutions would range from Fixed route public transport to Demand Responsive Transport with flexible origins and destinations and would also include measures such as car sharing
25 August 2016

12. Beyond the RTS Model 1 RTP – Strategy as the only statutory function
Most RTPs are Model 1
Model 3 RTP – Many additional Statutory functions
Strathclyde Partnership for Transport
So what do the RTPs do beyond the Regional Transport Strategy?
It will first of all depend on if you are a Model 1 or a Model 3 RTP
Strathclyde for example is a Model 3 where local authorities have handed over to the Partnership the responsibility to secure bus service provision and operate the Glasgow Underground
Most others are Model 1 with the Transport Strategy being the only statutory function.
That does not of course mean we are idle but of course ours activities are closely related to the resources we have
25 August 2016

13. Funding Government / CoSLA Concordat 2007
Funding transferred from RTPs to Local Authorities
Implementation of RTP strategy largely dependent on LA funding
Funding for Local Authorities no longer ring-fenced
Typically, Resources for Transport gradually transferred to Education and Social Work
Arguably, Cross border schemes the big losers
At the creation of the RTPs back in 2005, they were given a reasonable amount of resource to contribute towards the implementation of the Regional strategy and capital resources in particular
However, the 2007 agreement between CoSLA and the Government transferred these resources to the Local Authorities
And they would no longer be ring-fenced for investment in transport
What’s then happened is that many of these resources have been transferred to other local authority functions such as Education and social work
With much less to transport
So transport is the looser .. And, arguably, in particular transport across borders
25 August 2016

14. Roles beyond the RTS
Work in Partnership with Transport Scotland and other National Agencies and Bodies (e.g. Network Rail, ScotRail, Sustrans etc)
Lead on schemes and initiatives involving several local authorities
Rail services, stations , Park&Ride schemes, Softer transport initiatives
European Projects
But Local Authorities are the main player (together with Operators) in respect of Rural Bus transport provision
But we are nevertheless delivering on many fronts
We work in partnership with Transport Scotland and other national bodies such as Network Rail, ScotRail and Sustrans
We lead on schemes and initiatives that involve several local authorities
We’re involved in the planning and delivery of projects ranging from rail stations and Park & Ride schemes to the more softer transport initiatives involving cycling and walking as well as car sharing schemes
We’re involved in numerous EU funded projects .. Although they may come to an end in a couple of years time!
But at the end of the day - in respect of rural bus transport – the responsibility and initiatives rest largely with the local authorities rather than the Model 1 Regional Transport Partnerships
25 August 2016

15. Bustracker & RTPI 25 August 2016
But I would like to highlight a few initiatives that SEStran have implemented and involved in that will be of significant benefit to bus users – including rural bus users
SEStran has developed real time passenger information that provides live departure times on buses in the SEStran area
either via smart phone or on screens at bus stops
and we are installing departure boards in numerous public and private establishments that will give customers live information on buses
25 August 2016

16. Thistlecard
We have developed the Thistle card that provide bus users with a disability to readily communicate with the driver that they need some special care
In this case the card indicates that the user has poor eye sight and has difficulty walking .. So the driver will then take extra care to ensure the passenger is seated before setting off
25 August 2016

17. SEStran also manages the One ticket scheme that enable bus users to travel on any buses within the relevant zones in the SEStran area.
And We are currently working on transferring this from a paper based system to a smart card system
25 August 2016

18. Tripshare 25 August 2016 And finally, a non bus initiative
The trip share scheme provides a platform where people willing to share a car journey will get together
and this figure shows car sharing trips between Galashiels and Edinburgh .. But this picture is replicated throughout the SEStran area
25 August 2016

19. SESTRAN The future
The End!
Thanks for listening
25 August 2016