Agenda item

Report of the Head of Leisure and Environmental Services

The scrutiny committee received a report of the Head of Leisure and Environmental Services setting out the background to the contract as well as data on usage and subsidies.

The Head of Leisure and Environmental Services introduced the report which provided an overview of the DRT with details of bus stops, the number of buses in service, ridership and subsidies to date. The council met the team from the provider, Arriva, monthly to understand and monitor performance.  The service had been due to start in April 2020 but was delayed to July 2020 due to the onset of the pandemic which had had a significant impact on ridership.

The Portfolio Holder for Sustainability and Transport, Councillor Ian Stotesbury, added that the DRT was a reflection of the council’s commitment to modal shift and active travel schemes in particular. While the service had been impacted by Covid, numbers were picking up. There was a focus on marketing particularly in the B2B (business to business) sphere. Surveys had shown that a lot of car journeys in Watford were short distances and this service was part of the solution to reduce car use.

The committee discussed how concessionary travel operated on the DRT. Blue badge holders and concessionary bus users could travel for free between 10am and 3pm and this was a key demographic. A call centre was in operation which received bookings by telephone for those without smart phone access. Members noted that the telephone number for this service was not publicised and considered it should be made widely available.

Turning to accessibility, the Portfolio Holder underlined that this was a real goal of the service. Officers confirmed that the app did not capture demographic information but there was some data on use by disabled customers who needed assistance. 

The committee considered the usage of the service which in April 2022 had been approximately 10% of what was projected. The committee asked for the numbers of unique riders to be circulated. Officers advised that the pricing levels were reviewed annually. An efficiency notice had been issued in November 2021 with associated actions. Arriva had been asked to bring back revised numbers and there was an increased marketing budget to support this.  While there had been an improvement since the notice being issued, the Portfolio Holder advised that if the numbers of users still did not improve, the future of the service could be in doubt.

Following questions around the marketing of the service, it was confirmed that Arriva had responsibility for this. The Mayor, Portfolio Holder and officers offered local knowledge and assisted with making connections. The Portfolio Holder said he would welcome suggestions to marketing materials. Once people used the service they were enthusiastic about it and ambassadors for the service had a role to play.  The marketing needed to be multifaceted focused at different groups and a video of users was already in production.

Dan Thomason advised that he visited Watford often and the relationship with the council was critical. It was confirmed that the decals on the buses were those agreed with the Council on commencement of the contract; officers noted that the council would need to fund any changes but an update could be considered. The rolling blinds on the buses also offered a marketing opportunity. Officers further noted the suggestion of focusing resources near the railway stations when there were issues with the rail services. The committee agreed that a workshop with members would be a helpful way to take the discussion forward, particularly around marketing including videos.

There was a focus on marketing the service to businesses and groups in the town.  Businesses were asking for more information and additional virtual stops were being added. The stop at ASOS had seen a big increase in passenger numbers. The team would be making a presentation to new students at West Herts College as well as offering them two weeks’ free travel.  Officers held fortnightly marketing meetings with Arriva and there was a forward plan which linked to Big Events and in publications. Members further suggested that if the service could be integrated into the Google maps journey planner that would benefit numbers. Targeted advertising on Google could also be considered.

Dan Thomason noted that the shift to higher levels of home working had impacted the service. This also made it harder to make projections on user levels going forward. One constraint was that as a borough council, the service was limited to Watford, however conversations about DRTs were ongoing with Hertfordshire County Council. Committee members mentioned community groups, including the Blind Centre, who they felt would benefit from the service. Suggestions of community groups to contact were invited. It was further noted that W3RT promoted the service to community groups. 

Comparing with the other DRT services run by Arriva, it was noted that the service in Liverpool was a local authority contract that replaced a standard bus service and had proved very successful as it was fully concessionary and located in an area with a significant elderly population. The service in Ebbsfleet was also launched in lockdown and had succeeded, mainly due to the lack of bus services in the area. In Leicester it was a housing contract, this contract would not be renewed due to the impact of Covid and the recruitment challenges in the Midlands across the transport sectors. Lessons from this had been learnt for Watford, including altering driver pay and hours.

RESOLVED –

1.                  that a workshop be arranged to discuss the marketing of the service.

2.                  that the telephone number of the service be publicised more widely.

3.                 that an update on the service be brought back to Overview and Scrutiny Committee with renewed targets and outcomes of the efficiency notice.