Agenda item

Environmental and Technical Services – (C-072-2020-21) - This is a report on the trial so far and consideration of a further extension into 2021.

(1)   The Cabinet noted the good progress being made on the commencement of trial flexible Demand Responsive Transport (DaRT87) bus service which commenced on 2 January 2021 and the challenges posed by ongoing restrictions due to Covid-19;

(2)   The Cabinet agreed to extend the trial for a full year from 1 April 2021 to enable the service to build on experiences in the lock down period and benefit from higher number of journeys and vehicle capacity once the lockdown eased;

(3)   The Cabinet agreed, to allocate £85,000 from the Sustainable Travel Projects for a full year trial of the Demand Responsive Transport (DaRT87) bus service to be operated by Epping Forest Community Transport (EFCT); to be offset by fare revenue returned by EFCT;

(4)   The Cabinet agreed that a report be presented to Cabinet post election with the progress of the trial and opportunities to extend the DRT service to other parts of the District to improve connectivity; and

(5)   The Cabinet agreed to set aside Procurement Rules to enable the extension of the Contract with EFCT.

The Portfolio Holder for Environmental and Technical Services, Councillor N Avey introduced the report on the Travel Local Demand Responsive Transport (DRT) Trial.

He noted that in December 2020, Cabinet approved a three-month trial of a ‘hybrid’ Demand Responsive Transport (DaRT87) service with Epping Forest Community Transport (EFCT), to replace Arriva’s 87 service which ECC felt unable to subsidise further. The trial commenced on time on 2nd January. Given it was a new concept, set up with very little notice and run during a lockdown suppressing all but essential travel, it could be judged to have been a success, justifying strong consideration of extension further into 2021. By industry norms, a three month trial was also too short to prove and refine the marketing approach and to fully test and show the benefits of new technology such as the journey booking app which was still in beta trial in Q1. 

Councillor Philip welcomed the report. He was pleased to see that significant use was being of this service and he expected this to be used more in the coming months. He was looking forward to seeing the council using the best environmental transport methods as possible. It would be good to extend it for a further year to establish if a service like this would work in this district and was happy to see it was within budget.

Councillor H Whitbread said that she would like to see more promotion of this project. Councillor Avey said that he was looking at more promotion and publicity for this service.

Councillor Bedford said that this was a good initiative, essential for our key workers and key for our future. Councillor S Kane also supported it and expressed the hope that the second route went through Waltham Abbey.

Councillor Chris Pond noted that a good start had been made on this service, but there had been considerable public confusion. The registration process was cumbersome, but there was potential to be more useful in the future. Councillor Avey said that they would look at the registration process to make it simpler.

Councillor Heap said it was a good system but did need to be made easier to use.  Councillor Murray agreed.

Councillor C Whitbread thanked the officer team for their hard work in setting this trial up.

Decision:

(1)   The Cabinet noted the good progress being made on the commencement of trial flexible Demand Responsive Transport (DaRT87) bus service which commenced on 2 January 2021 and the challenges posed by ongoing restrictions due to Covid-19;

(2)   The Cabinet agreed to extend the trial for a full year from 1 April 2021 to enable the service to build on experiences in the lock down period and benefit from higher number of journeys and vehicle capacity once the lockdown eased;

(3)   The Cabinet agreed, to allocate £85,000 from the Sustainable Travel Projects for a full year trial of the Demand Responsive Transport (DaRT87) bus service to be operated by Epping Forest Community Transport (EFCT); to be offset by fare revenue returned by EFCT;

(4)   The Cabinet agreed that a report be presented to Cabinet post election with the progress of the trial and opportunities to extend the DRT service to other parts of the District to improve connectivity; and

(5)   The Cabinet agreed to set aside Procurement Rules to enable the extension of the Contract with EFCT.

Reasons for Proposed Decision:

To accept the positive trajectory of the initial trial (against the odds) as evidence of demand for a novel service such as DaRT87 which can grow a lot more as Covid restrictions relax and potentially expand to cover other areas of the District. This report outlines evidence and assumptions that show a higher passenger capacity later in 2021 would mean the service can be closer to self-sufficiency or even generate a surplus for reinvestment. There are also possibilities for financial support from DfT’s Covid Bus Recovery Fund if the trial is extended and has proven demand. The trial supports the Council’s Climate Change Declaration and our Local Plan’s focus on sustainable transport protection and growth, as well as retaining a much-needed connection between SW Harlow, Epping Green, Epping, Theydon Bois and Loughton.

Other Options for Action:

All the evidence, both county and UK-wide is that public subsidy of bus services will be under severe pressure for years. Ceasing the DaRT87 trial at this stage would leave residents open to further inconvenient and/or reduced bus options via a financially stressed ECC. It could be speculated that ECC and Trustybus would combine the 542 (Loughton-Debden town circular) and 418 routes to a single service replicating parts of the old 87, minus any direct link to Harlow and also effectively cutting off Epping Green and Theydon Bois from all or much of their bus service.