First bus company seeking your views

If you are a bus user in East Cornwall, First Group is looking for people to join their Customer Panel.

According to the First website:

The goal is to provide a forum for constructive change and input into strategic issues. This aims to lead to improvements in bus services in your local community. The Customer Panel is not designed to deal with one-off individual complaints which will continue to be handled by our Customer Services team.

If you are interested in finding out more, contact buscustomerpanel@firstgroup.com

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Cut transport costs for young unemployed says new report

Young unemployed people in rural areas need help with transport costs to find work according to a new report produced by a commission chaired by former Foreign Secretary David Miliband.

Mr Miliband was asked by the voluntary sector group ACEVO to look into the issue and their report has been published today. The St Mary's area of Bodmin has been identified as the worst in Cornwall for youth unemployment and is one of 600 wards in the UK where youth unemployment rates are double the national average.

Mr Miliband points out that getting to interviews can cost a huge amount (and not all employers refund this) and that transport costs can be a demotivator in applying for work experience placements.

Cornwall Council has taken a significant step in the right direction in creating a Cornish EMA to help those in school or college, but the scheme won't help people who are not in employment, education or training. The idea put forward by Mr Miliband is for councils to do a deal with bus companies to cut transport costs for young people who are in unpaid training or looking for work.

Whilst there are jobs being advertised, there are sometimes hundreds of applicants for each vacancy and, with an average of 4.6 people for each vacant post in Cornwall, young people need all the help we can give to gain enough experience and skills to have a chance of getting those jobs.

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First group should promote benefits of a new franchise

The news that First Great Western are applying for a new franchise to run rail services between Cornwall and London is not really a surprise. But the question for the company is what they can offer local passengers in terms of service improvements or price reductions so that we should support their bid.

First Great Western pulled out of their current 10 year contract three years early in order to avoid paying the final tranche of money to the government and in order to seek a longer - 15 year - contract. Why the previous government allowed such a break clause and why they loaded the bulk of the payments from FGW into the last three years of the old contract (so they could be avoided) has never been explained. But it has meant that we enter this period of uncertainty much sooner than expected.

The contract specification is now out for public consultation. FGW could sit back and play no part in this discussion but I think it would be helpful for passengers if they explained what they think they can do to improve the service and how they see costs changing over the life of the new franchise.

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North Cornwall should be pilot area for fuel duty rebate says Dan

North Cornwall Lib Dem MP Dan Rogerson has called for North Cornwall to be used to pilot a scheme for a fuel duty rebate for rural areas.

In the budget, Chancellor George Osborne announced that the scheme would be consulted on and Dan has written to him asking for the pilot scheme to be North Cornwall.

In Dan's letter he says that using a car in North Cornwall was a necessity because of "poor" public transport. Driving in North Cornwall is a necessity since public transport links are inadequate even between the urban centres and completely non-existent when it comes to our most rural communities. North Cornwall would be an excellent place to start with an early pilot scheme to ensure that nationwide roll-out of a rural rebate is a success.

Cornish bus journeys up 6%, but is it really a 'good' network?

Cornwall Council has announced that the number of bus journeys rose by 5.9% in the past year - continuing a period of increases.

That's clearly good news, as is the 97% satisfaction rate with bus journeys among users.

But is it really right to describe our bus network as 'good' as Cabinet Member Graeme Hicks has done in the press release?

Whilst it remains impossible to travel by bus between Launceston and mid and west Cornwall - there isn't even a link between Launceston and Bodmin - the network is clearly still a long way short of being good.

As mentioned before, the Council is about to consult on a new Local Transport Plan that promises to increase the range of the bus network. But with no funding identified, actually realising this promise is some way off and officers have told me that there is no prospect of a new Bodmin-Launceston link in the near future.

I want to see everyone in Cornwall able to enjoy a good bus network and will be encouraging the Council to ensure that bringing the East Cornwall bus network up to the standard of the rest of the Duchy is a priority for the transport plan.

Remote Access - CAB review of access to public services in Cornwall

Imagine if you lived in Westminster, in the middle of London, but your nearest chemist was in Peckham - 5 miles away. Your nearest supermarket is in Muswell Hill and dentist is in Brent. Your nearest cinema is in Bromley and secondary school is in Richmond.

That's the situation if you live in Cornwall - where services are, on average, many miles away from where you live and are produced in an excellent report from Cornwall Citizens Advice Bureau.

Access to services depends on transport, whether public or private. In rural Cornwall however, many services require a private car to get to them, particularly in the north and east. Buses with frequencies of 1 to 11⁄2 hrs provide the majority of public transport. A quarter of villages have no bus service and in some areas 30% of households have no access to a car.

With the exception of journeys to Hospitals and Secondary Schools, public transport exceeded private transport costs in all cases.

The report also gives some case studies of people who have come to the CAB for advice and help. One such highlights the lack of a bus service between Bodmin and Launceston:

"An unemployed man accused of a criminal offence could not consult a criminal solicitor or appear at the Magistrates Court since these were in Bodmin. He was unable to drive and had no money. His court appearance was scheduled for 9:30 am which, was impossible for him to make since there is no direct public transport link from Launceston to Bodmin."

Public transport is generally infrequent and does not provide a service suitable for commuting. Less than 5% of journeys to work in Cornwall are made on public transport of any type.

The study then took 30 locations in Cornwall and looked at whether it was possible to get to a major hospital, county court or Jobcentre Plus for a 1 hour appointment (2 hrs for the hospital) and back home again by public transport:

Major Hospital. Of the 30 returns 9 journeys (30%) were impossible. A quarter of total journey times exceeded 6 hours 20 mins. In one case the return bus left before the person could have arrived at the appointment. A quarter of all total journey times involved walks of over 36 minutes for access and connections.

County Court. Of the 30 returns 10 journeys (33%) were impossible. 25% of one-way journeys exceeded 1hr 50 mins with 25% of total journey time exceeding 51⁄2 hours. In one case, a total return journey time of 8 hours included over 1hr 20min walking. In two cases the only option to reach the appointment would have been to travel the previous day.

Jobcentre Plus. From the 30 returns 7 journeys (23%) were impossible (no service or too late). 25% of total round trip journey times including return to home exceeded 4 hours maximum 6 hrs. In two cases the return bus left before the person had arrived at the appointment.

Another case study:

"A disabled man with no money contacted Jobcentre Plus (JC+) for help. They suggested the social fund but directed him to another JC+ (35 miles) to collect. He couldn’t get there, as he had no money. JC+ offered a travel warrant. Client walked 14 miles to JC+ & collected warrant only to find the JC+ he had to go to closed 30 minutes before any bus would arrive. JC+ were not sympathetic."

Cornwall Council is currently producing a major review of local transport in Cornwall. The CAB report provides a huge body of evidence which will feed into this review. The people of Cornwall - particularly those without access to a car - deserve better transport.

There will be trains and buses for all - the latest in motherhood and apple pie from Cornwall Council

As required by law, Cornwall Council is currently in the throes of developing a new local transport plan. This will be the third such plan and the crucial difference from previous plans is that this is set to last for 20 years rather than five years each for the previous plans. You can access the online version of the plan here (download it under Item 11, appendix 1).

This is both good and bad news. In theory, a longer plan should allow a more strategic approach. In other words, we can think more about what we would like to see even if it is not going to be deliverable in the short term.

On the flip-side, the hugely long timescale means that the plan is prone to woolly thoughts and ambitious aims without any sort of targets or means to achieve the desired ends. And it is this 'motherhood and apple pie' thinking which is prevalent throughout the document.

For instance (these are all quotes from the document with no backup evidence given):

- A quality Cornwall wide bus service will be delivered with express bus services linking the main towns.
- If you live in a rural village you will have the choice of using an accessible and high quality community bus service to make part of or your entire journey (sic).
- There will be a lower risk of your child being involved in a road traffic accident regardless of where you live.
- It will be easier to access employment, training and education opportunities without a car.
- Improving and expanding Cornwall’s railway with our partners to provide a reliable core network and more frequent service linking the main Cornish towns to each other and the rest of the country.

There's absolutely nothing in these (or indeed in the rest of the document) with which I would disagree and I don't think anyone else would question the aims either. And that's part of the problem. I have yet to find a document which secures 100% support and yet is still both affordable and deliverable.

By setting a 20 year timescale, the authors ensure that there is no way any of them will be around to be held to account for anything which is not achieved.

For this document to be of any practical use, it needs to set out both a timescale for achieving the aims it sets and have a delivery plan to show how we will get where we want to be.

The plan is that the Cabinet will agree the document on Wednesday and it will go out for consultation over the summer before being signed off at the beginning of next year. I have asked for significantly more detail on the points I have mentioned above. It's a fine ambition to have and, if achieved, would be great for the residents of Launceston and the rest of Cornwall. But I cannot see it being realistic or achieveable and, if that is the case, then - regrettably - this is a missed opportunity.

East Cornwall Challenges

Last month - whilst I was away, Tom Flanagan, Cornwall Council's chief officer in charge of economic development, highways and transport, gave a presentation to the Cabinet on the challenges facing East Cornwall.

I've complained for a while that Cornwall Council was focusing too much on mid and West Cornwall and was neglecting the East. It was therefore very good to see that the problems we face in the East were being recognised at Cabinet level.

On the back of this presentation, I asked Tom if he could help with one of the particular challenges in Launceston - that of connections to other parts of Cornwall. I had raised this issue before but not received a proper answer. Because Launceston has no access to the rail network, local people without cars are heavily reliant on the bus network if they want to be able to get around. Not just that, but if we are to make the best of the attractions we have to offer, visitors need to be able to get here.

Launceston has a pretty decent town bus service and connections to Bude, Exeter and Plymouth - although these are very patchy at times. We also have a bus service to Liskeard - the closest rail station - but this doesn't work early or late in the day and so someone wanting to get to Truro for 10am cannot do so. Local people without their own cars who need to get further west for work find it almost impossible to do so.

So I asked what would be needed in order for a new bus route to be set up linking Launceston to Bodmin - both town and rail station.

The answer, regrettably, was fairly negative. Because there are few villages along the route, officers felt that such a service would not have many passengers. They point out, probably correctly, that few people would wish to use the service to get from Launceston to Bodmin town (or vice versa). The primary reason for such a new service would be to link to the rail network. With such a service likely to cost the council around £1000 a week for just two return journeys a day, and likely low passenger numbers, it is unlikely that such a service could come close to breaking even.

Instead, the Council suggests that strengthening the Liskeard link would be the better option. I have asked them to look into this - particularly laying on buses earlier in the morning and later in the evening so that people who work or want to make day trips down the line could do so from Launceston.

Many thanks to Tom and his team for looking into this for me and I hope that we might get some more positive results soon.

What about the East?

Cornwall Council has announced a special project for the Truro-Falmouth bus route which will see residents along the route given 5 free bus tickets to try to persuade them to use the bus instead of their cars on the route.

The aim is an admirable one - to encourage people to use public transport more.

But once again the Council seems to be ignoring the problems faced by residents in the East of Cornwall who often don't have the option of taking the bus at all.

Take Launceston for example. There are fairly good services around the town and to the local villages, as well as some to Plymouth, Exeter and Liskeard. But there is no route to Bodmin or destinations further West. Launceston is therefore almost cut off from most of Cornwall as far as public transport is concerned.

If Cornwall Council was serious about trying to bring good public transport links to rural areas then they would be helping bus companies to establish a new route from Launceston to Bodmin Parkway station via the town.

Such a route would be a huge benefit for young people and those without cars in Launceston to be able to reach the West of Cornwall.

Cabinet Member Graeme Hicks' comments show that he is really out of touch with the situation in Launceston and the East. He said:

“We are proud of our local bus services; vehicles are clean and comfortable; routes between towns are as direct as possible and drivers are friendly. We would like people to try it for themselves, particularly those people who haven’t used a bus for some time.”

While vehicles may well be clean and comfortable and the drivers friendly, the idea that routes are direct is a joke. I know a lot of local people who would love to use a decent bus service. But the truth is that it just does not exist to take them where they need to go.

I understand that a similar trial to the Falmouth-Truro one will be taking place somewhere in East Cornwall later this year. I have asked the Council to look to make sure that this later trial helps to establish a new route between towns that are currently not connected at all.

Council decides to exclude North Cornwall youngsters over play park decision

Cornwall Council has apparently decided to site a new £700,000 play park in Redruth. The decision will come as a huge blow to the young people of North Cornwall. It had been expected that Bodmin or St Austell would be the favoured site for the park.

According to one council officer, the reason that Redruth was chosen is because the site is near to the town's rail station.

Forgive me if I am wrong, but I would have thought that the best place for a facility serving the whole of the county would be somewhere in the middle. Redruth, for all its delights, is near the far west. Bodmin and St Austell both sit in the middle of the county and both would have been better locations.

And as for the rail station point, this is ridiculous. North Cornwall has no rail stations. For a youngster in Launceston who wants to take advantage of what I hope will be a great facility on their own - or if their family has no car - they will have to:

- catch a bus at 8.35am to Liskeard rail station, getting there at 9.20am
- catch the 9.49am train to Redruth, getting there at 10.53am

They can then enjoy the facilities of the park for a whole one hour and nineteen minutes (assuming the train is on time)

before turning around and:

- catching the 12.12pm train from Redruth back to Liskeard, arriving at 13.13pm
- and catching the last bus of the day at 14.10pm from Liskeard to Launceston arriving at 14.53pm

I will be taking this apparent decision up with the Council.