Transport delight as costs are cut and services improve

Added: 09/05/2008
Category: Norfolk County Council

Norfolk people are being better served by the County Council's own transport services - and by local bus services, according to reports that will be considered by Councillors on Wednesday (14 May)*.

Norfolk County Council's Passenger Transport Group spends around £42m a year on planning and arranging transport for Children's Services (such as home to school transport), Adult Social Services and Planning & Transportation.

A report to a County Council Review Panel charts the progress of a three-year efficiency project, launched last year (2007). The report finds that after just one year:

~ Savings have topped £570,000 - nearly £90,000 above target,

~ The final total may well exceed £1m by March 2010,

~ Services are better and more responsive for customers.

Big savings (over £360,000) have been made by reviewing transport around high schools (without changing the eligibility criteria). The report also highlights the ground-breaking progress being made in bringing together journeys made by adult social services with the health services.

"Norfolk is leading the way nationally in this area and we believe is the first authority to begin integrating health and social care journeys," says the report.

The County Council, Primary Care Trust, Ambulance Service and Voluntary Norfolk work together to share vehicles and drivers, and a web-based booking system. The council's adult social care transport planners in March moved into the Ambulance HQ, and the next step is to work with Voluntary Norfolk to phase in the management of volunteer drivers.

Another report finds that local bus services, commercial or subsidised by the County Council, are continuing to improve reliability and punctuality, although there is room for further improvement. Bus use has grown strongly in Norfolk, especially around Norwich, bucking the national trend of decline. In 2007-08 3.3 million trips were made on the County Council's Norwich Park & Ride network, the most extensive in the country.

The Council has also been leading the way in the use of the BusNet satellite tracking system, investing over £1m in fitting just over 350 buses. Bus operators and the Council can monitor bus movements, improving day to day punctuality and longer term time keeping.

The report details ways in which the Council and operators have been working together to improve customer satisfaction and to promote services. Punctuality Improvement Partnerships have been signed with 13 operators, and the County Council, City Council and First signed a ground-breaking investment plan in December 2007.

The Review Panel is being asked for its views on a number of other items, including:

~ An update on the progress of highway gating trials in Great Yarmouth and King's Lynn, including a recommendation to Cabinet not to progress a trial in the Magdalen Road/Magpie Road area of Norwich because it is no longer being supported by the Police of Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership.

~ A recommendation to Cabinet not to pursue a 'congestion charge' for Norwich following a Transport Innovation Fund study**.

~ The short-listing by the Government of the former RAF Coltishall as the possible site for an 'Eco-town'.

~ Norfolk Casualty Reduction Priorities for the year ahead, with a focus upon motorcyclists, young drivers and older road users.

~ The takeover of parking enforcement by local authorities from the police and the prospect of this being delayed to take account of Local Government Review in Norfolk.