Stockton Council Boroughbus Services Update

Review of Boroughbus services (February 2011)

At a meeting of the Stockton Public Transport Forum reports were given on the review of Stockton Council's Boroughbus services and the English National Concessionary Travel Scheme (ENCTS).

Stockton Council's Cabinet has now considered the recommended Boroughbus economies and agreed to withdraw a number of contracted services. The table below summarises the services that are to be withdrawn. The operators of these services will be asked to give the Traffic Commissioners the required fifty six days notice to withdraw a service and it is probable that they will be withdrawn with effect from 1 May 2011.

Service Evaluation Criteria adopted by Stockton Council in 2002:

Usage of the specific service - passenger numbers.
Major destinations served, including University Hospital of North Tees.
Convenience of use (walking distance to nearest bus service and need to change buses).
Social inclusion (deprivation, elderly people) - whether the route serves a large number of elderly residents and people likely to depend on buses.
Total contract cost and cost per passenger trip.

Service Number	Type/Frequency	Route	Notes
12 (Arriva)	Daytime Service Hourly	Middlesbrough to Hurworth via Stockton, Elton, Long Newton, Durham Tees Valley Airport and Darlington.	Low patronage. Subsidy of £4.77 per passenger. Service set up to restore old transport links following opening of Long Newton interchange, but has performed poorly.
515 (Stagecoach)	Early morning service Monday to Saturday, half hourly	North Tees Hospital to Ingleby Barwick via Stockton and Thornaby inc. Teesside Industrial Estate.	Low patronage. Subsidy of £3.00 per passenger.
517 (Leven Valley)	Evening and Sunday service Hourly	Stockton to Middlesbrough via Ingleby Barwick	Low patronage. Subsidy of £3.29 per passenger. Service provided in response to requests from residents on a trial basis.
592 (Leven Valley)	Evening and Sunday service Hourly	Wolviston Court Estate to Middlesbrough via Billingham Stores, Cowpen Lane, Billingham Town Centre and High Grange.	Low patronage. Subsidy of £2.55 per passenger. Route revised at request of residents on a trial basis to increase patronage.
1 (Stagecoach)	Early morning service Operates 0550am ex-Hartlepool (Mon-Fri), 0635 (Mon-Fri) & 0814 (Sat) ex Middlesbrough. Normal daytime commercial service continues.	Middlesbrough, Port Clarence, Seaton Carew, Hartlepool	Low patronage. Subsidy of £1.80 per passenger based on Stockton contribution alone. Shared cost with Hartlepool BC, which has withdrawn support for all contracts.
15 (Arriva)	Early morning service Operates half hourly Sundays only. Normal daytime commercial service continues.	Thornaby, Stockton, Ragworth, Roseworth, North Tees Hospital	Low patronage. Subsidy of £1.20 per passenger. Less likely to be used to access education or employment.
536* (Leven Valley)	Early morning service Operates hourly Sundays only.	Middlesbrough, Stockton, Norton, Billingham	Low evaluation score. Less likely to be used to access healthcare, education and employment.

* To be continued by Leven Valley as the 436 on a commercial basis for a trial period

The services were evaluated using criteria adopted by Stockton Council in 2002 to ensure that all supported services provided value for money for the taxpayer. On average, 11587 passengers a week use the Boroughbus services paid for by Stockton Council. The economies will affect 7 services used by 1071 (9%) of those passengers. However, 323 of the 1071 will now have a replacement De Minimis Diversion of the 87 service to Elton and Long Newton available, so overall just 6% of all Stockton's Boroughbus passengers would lose their bus service. (A De Minimis Diversion is an allowed diversion to a commercial route paid for by an authority in order to provide access to public transport).

Stockton Council has done its best to balance the requirement to make economies against the needs of the travelling public. The diversion of the 87 service will be introduced so as to ensure there is no break in service to Elton and Long Newton. The timetable for the replacement service will be finalised shortly. Leven Valley Coaches has now decided to keep the 536 early morning Sunday service running without the Boroughbus subsidy from Stockton Council for a trial period. This is a welcome development and we hope that residents support Leven Valley by making more use of the 536 service (which will become the 436 to reflect its commercial status).

Changes to services from 31 August 2010

Following a review of the operation of the evening Sunday services, changes to Stockton Council Boroughbus services will be introduced effective from Tuesday 31 August as follows:-

1) 507 Service.

The 507 is being re-scheduled to enable students living in Kirklevington to get to/from Conyers School. This requires changes to the timetable and a short diversion to call at the Conyers School stops, which will occur on two runs; one in the morning and one in the afternoon (term time only).

2) 505/506 Service

The 505/506 service will be re-introduced with one important change, which is a new loop from Stockton High Street to the ASDA Portrack site via Norton Road, Maritime Road, Portrack Lane, A1046 Portrack Lane and Marston Road. The restoration of the 505/506 operating in both directions was requested by residents.

3) 517 Service

This evening/Sunday service connecting Ingleby Barwick to both Stockton and Middlesbrough will follow the route of the daytime 17 service and is being introduced on a trial basis. The current 517 operated using the 506 bus, but only connected Stockton and Ingleby Barwick. Patronage on the 517 was low, but Ingleby Barwick residents have argued that an evening/Sunday bus service connecting to Middlesbrough would perform much better.

4) 593 Service to be replaced with 592

The 593 will be withdrawn and replaced with the 592, which will have Middlesbrough as its destination, rather than Portrack Lane and Stockton. This was requested by Billingham residents. The 505/506 will offer a better connection for residents living in the Portrack estate area and provide improved access to food shopping on evenings and Sundays at ASDA Portrack by actually stopping on the site (subject to ASDA's permission to use the stop and shelter provided). The 1800 45 will run as the 592, which has a revised timetable as a result.