No Images? Click here Welcome to the May 2019 Bus Alliance newsletter. Scroll down to see key stories. Bus Alliance Public MeetingMembers of the public were invited to hear about the achievements of the West Midlands Bus Alliance Achievements so far and plans for the future at a public meeting of the Bus Alliance Board that took place on Wednesday 22 May 2019. David Bradford (NXWM) presents the Achievements so far The first public meeting of the Bus Alliance Board attracted a cross section of members of the public, including a delegation from the West Midlands Pensioners Convention and local members of Bus Users UK. Bus Alliance Board Member, David Bradford (National Express West Midlands), gave a presentation showing some of the achievements since the Bus Alliance was set up in 2015. Pete Bond (Transport for West Midlands) then looked forward to the future and announced the launch of the West Midlands Bus Alliance Customer Charter. The Charter represents the first multi-operator and multi-agency Charter in the UK bus industry. It shows the commitment of each member of the Bus Alliance to work together to deliver the best possible experience to our customers across the bus network in the West Midlands. Chair of the Bus Alliance, Linda McCord (Transport Focus) then opened up the floor for questions on a variety of topics including: the number of passengers caught travelling without a valid ticket; why articulated buses were being considered for the Sprint corridors; how the Bus Alliance plans to protect bus services in the city centre during further metro works and whether franchising was being considered as an option in the West Midlands. Following the success of the meeting, Linda McCord stated that it was important that this was not the first and only public meeting of the Bus Alliance Board and looked forward to the next event. New Buses for DiamondAn extensive new bus program for Diamond Buses continues across the Midlands. During March this year, 17 brand new micro-hybrid Streetlite buses joined the Diamond Bus fleet. New micro-hybrid Streetlite bus Operating on various routes in the West Midlands and Worcestershire, including the 002 in Halesowen, 125 in Kidderminster and 50 service in Birmingham, these Streetlites provide a bright modern interior with e-leather seating offering passengers a stylish, comfortable ride. An additional 7 smaller Streetlites have been introduced especially for the 226 service to Merry Hill. The new Streetlite vehicles offer some great green credentials. New Euro 6 vehicles are already the cleanest buses available, but the micro-hybrid system included in these vehicles makes them even cleaner with a 20% improvement over standard Euro 6. This means they are Low Emission Bus Certified and help to contribute to better air quality for our local towns and cities. New micro-hybrid Streetlite bus They join Diamond’s expanding fleet of new Mellor Strata buses. These smaller buses are ideal for use on urban routes, such as those around congested towns and housing estates. They may be small, but there is no compromise on space or capacity. The Strata has a total passenger capacity of 22 people and its roomy, light and airy design means passengers can travel in comfort within its modern interior. Diamond are proud to be leading the way in the West Midlands bus market by investing in these new small and efficient vehicles which also offer great environmental benefits. Also Euro 6 with Low Emission Bus Certification produce around 15% less emissions compared to equivalent Euro 5 Diesel buses. The new Mellor Strata buses Rotala Plc, the parent company for Diamond Bus, has pledged an investment of over £4.8m into new buses, to bring improved performance and better journey quality to passengers in the region. Additional Mellor Strata mini-buses will be joining the fleet over the coming months, meaning their new bus program has now funded the introduction of over 40 brand new cleaner, greener buses across the Midlands since November 2018. To celebrate this huge investment, Diamond have also launched a new livery design, featuring a lighter paint scheme and graphics reflecting their vision of a new brighter Diamond. Celebrating Birmingham Pride 2019Birmingham hosted a fabulous and colourful celebration of diversity over the weekend at Pride 2019.A packed West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) bus with 60 staff members, including Andy Street, Mayor of the West Midlands, weaved its way through the parade on Saturday afternoon. The day was filled with great music, lots of colour and some flamboyant costumes. WMCA's Pride theme was ‘Connecting Communities’ - linking nicely to the wider Pride message of ‘Love out Loud’ and ‘No Outsiders’. Members of the LGBTQ+ community still face persecution across the world, but both the Pride and WMCA message was clear that all communities are to be embraced. NX also took part and showed support. James Donnan, Head of Corporate Communications (NX): “We are really proud to have such a diverse workforce at National Express and we’re delighted to be taking part in the Birmingham Pride parade for the seventh year.” The team had a specially painted rainbow bus launched on the network to serve the local communities in the lead up to the Birmingham Pride parade. NX awarded again for its Master Driver programmeNational Express (NX) won another award for its industry-leading driver training programme. At April's annual Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce awards ceremony, NX picked up the Excellence in People Development gong for its Master Driver programme. Unique to the public transport sector, Master Driver has previously won a national routeone award and helps to recognise the challenges that drivers have to overcome. It improves skills, increases engagement and rewards development. And it’s helping to deliver a prouder, more engaged workforce and an even safer, better service to bus and coach customers. "We are strongly committed to training over and above the standard minimums. And it’s great to have that recognised with yet another award.” Tom Stables, Managing Director of National Express UK Your Bus MattersTransport for West Midlands (TfWM) teamed up with Bus Users UK to hold YBM events in Walsall and Wolverhampton at the end of April. The recent YMB event was a great opportunity to bring local people together with those responsible for running their services. The response was exceptional, and reflects how important bus services are to the local community. Bus Users UK are currently processing all the feedback and will be working with Bus Alliance partners to look at how we can improve services in future. Pictured at the Wolverhampton YBM event: Stephen Holloway (TfWM), Waqar Chaudhry (NX) & Cllr Celia Hibbert (Wolverhampton City Council) NX signs up to new ticket scheme in StaffordshireLocal bus operators in Staffordshire including First Potteries, D&G, Arriva, Midland Classic, and NX with support from Staffordshire County Council have all signed up to a new multi-operator bus ticket scheme, giving people the flexibility to use any bus, any time, anywhere across the county of Staffordshire. The new ‘KNOT’ bus ticket was launched last month and is expected to be very well received by people who want to travel to multiple locations on the same day using different bus operators. Message to our partners: We want to hear from youThe West Midlands Bus Alliance is comprised of representatives from bus operators, local councils, Highways England and other partners - if you're our partner, we’d be delighted to hear from you. This is your newsletter, so please let us know about any projects you are involved with so that best practice and successes can be celebrated and shared with all the partners. Projects could include new facilities for passengers, bus priority measures designed to increase punctuality and reliability, harnessing the latest technology to make integrated travel even more seamless, staff who have achieved great things or gone above and beyond in their day-to-day duties or new initiatives aimed at increasing patronage. They could also include innovative ticketing initiatives, cutting-edge solutions to reducing carbon emissions, network reviews and the introduction of new routes. Please email BusAlliance@tfwm.org.uk if you would like any of the excellent work the Bus Alliance is doing included in future editions of the newsletter. |