Stagecoach East Northstowe Community Forum November 2022 Update
In November 2022, Stagecoach East provides an overview of passenger numbers, impacts of COVID restrictions and Storm Eunice, and comparisons to pre-COVID averages. The organization details route reviews with local authorities, categorization of routes as green, amber, or red, and efforts to address challenges faced, such as losses on certain routes, struggles with staff retention, and passenger number monitoring. Challenges include peak hour revenue not covering operational costs and managing service levels amid recovering passenger numbers post-pandemic.
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Stagecoach East Northstowe Community Forum November 2022
East Passenger Overview 700,000 0.0% -5.0% 600,000 -10.0% Residual COVID restrictions 500,000 Omicron Guidance -15.0% Storm Eunice 400,000 -20.0% Pre-Covid Average 2022-23 2021-22 -25.0% % Difference 300,000 -30.0% -31.3% -34.5% 200,000 -35.0% 100,000 -40.0% 0 -45.0% 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10111213141516171819202122232425262728293031323334353637383940414243444546474849505152
What have we done ? In April/May 2022 we followed Department for Transport instructions to undertake route reviews with local authorities in this area The aim of this was to determine which services were commercial (green) ; loss making but had the potential to cover their costs (amber) ; loss making will little chance of recovering that position (red) In June 2022 we shared with the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority (CPCA) details of:- (i) 18 red routes; cost subsidy per passenger of 12; little chance of further recovery (ii) 22 amber routes ; cost subsidy per passenger of 0.67 and so capable of recovery Further discussions then continued to try and come up with options Historically Citi 5 has not performed well. Pre Covid, p12 19/20 saw losses of over 100k
What have we done ? Citi 5 and 6 are modelled to lose over 500k (i) marketing the 5 hard in Northstowe will deliver (ii) the new 6 service levels allow us to cover costs We have classed them as an amber route because we feel that:- On the Busway, we have introduced a couple of new journeys but we are truly sorry that we have not yet been able to do more and offer our customers the level of service we want to offer Like all bus companies nationally, we are struggling to retain staff. Competition from HGV and other sectors like supermarket deliveries, have hit us hard To try and combat this we have, offered the best possible pay deal we can to our colleagues; adjusted shifts to try and improve work life balance and taken every step we can to invest in our people and for them to feel they are part of a family which has a long term future We also now have a dedicated Recruitment Champion ; 10 training buses and train 07:00- 19:00. This has led to us having 25 people in the training school and 70 in the pipeline. It takes though 12 weeks to fully train a driver
Services in your area currently myth busting 1. The buses are always full surely passenger numbers now warrant more buses ? We monitor carefully all of our passenger numbers on a weekly basis. Currently the Busway is at 78.7% of pre COVID passenger numbers. Sadly in the case of the 5/6 it is only at 54%. Peak journeys may seem busy but off peaks are not- concessionary passenger numbers have not recovered following the pandemic and remain at 55% of pre-covid levels. Peak hour revenue does not cover the operational cost of service alone. The new network is designed to reflect post-covid travel patterns to provide a sustainable network for the long term. As we see more customers come back, we can look to try and offer more. 2. You are getting your BRG money why do you need to change anything ? BRG funding is only currently guaranteed until December when the Government will undertake a review of who gets the final 3 months. We did consider matters carefully. We really don t like leaving communities without a service and modelled a lot of options to try and avoid that ; peak hour only services; reduced day time services and other but none allowed us to close the gap for the 18 red routes. They did allow to take the 2.6 million risk on the 22 ambers, which include the 5 and 6. Keeping the status quo would therefore have not changed anything in terms of what ultimately needed to happen with the services.
Services in your area from 30.10.22 Service Serves Frequency First Bus Last Bus 5 Longstanton P&R; Northstowe; Bar Hill; Huntingdon Road; Cambridge 30 mins 06:05 ex Longstanton P&R 22:10 ex Cambridge Mondays to Fridays (earlier on Saturday) Within Northstowe currently serves only one small area. We would like it to do more and need your help in this Busway A, B C As before with some additional peak hour journeys more to come when driver resource permits
Key messages Many thanks for listening Can I please answer any questions ?
