Investing In Our Bus Services
We continue to invest heavily in replacing our vehicle fleet and upgrading and improving our depots. These combined measures will build greater reliability into the vehicle fleet and improve the customer experience. Last year we allocated £53 million for new buses that continue to be delivered as part of a rolling programme to companies across the division including Sheffield, South Yorkshire, Greater Manchester, Bristol, and Devon and Cornwall.
These buses are all designed to the latest specification, ensuring maximum passenger comfort and safety. They are fitted with low-floor access and meet the latest emissions standards. Our investment in modernising the fleet continues with a further budget of over £71 million allocated for delivery of 431 new low-emission buses during 2007/08.
Through this ongoing investment we are able to demonstrate improvements to our services which in turn support passenger growth. A good example is our Manchester operation.
Improving Services in Manchester
During the past two years we have invested £34 million in 278 new vehicles for our Manchester fleet as a key part of delivering reliability improvements. The final deliveries were received in October 2006 when an additional £7 million investment was announced. The vehicles have been introduced with highly visible and innovative marketing to promote the routes of the new buses. In addition the engineering function has been completely restructured with new processes and procedures introduced. This includes a new strategic training partnership with the Motor Industry Skills Manchester for training the next generation of engineers and technicians. The overall success of this programme is demonstrated by the fact that the company's reliability has now risen to 99% as calculated by GMPTE and there are measurable increases in passenger numbers. In general wherever new vehicles have been introduced and targeted marketing campaigns launched, customer patronage has grown by an average of 5%.
Investment in Property
We continue to upgrade and improve our bus stations and depots. This year we invested over £15 million in upgrading and refurbishing existing depots, including the development of new driver facilities at York depot and a new bus station and travel shop in Chelmsford. In addition we have replaced our depots at Abbey Lane Leicester and Blantyre with purpose-built facilities designed to meet the latest safety, operational and environmental standards.
This investment continues to benefit our customers. The new bus station at Chelmsford is focused on providing the best information for passengers. This includes real-time passenger information, an inter-active information kiosk and up-to-date accommodation. The bus station also houses a First Travel and Visitor Information Centre.
Building Partnerships
Effective partnerships with local authorities are key to ensuring that our continuing investment generates performance improvements and associated passenger growth. Investing in these partnerships is central to our business development programme. Recent examples include our partnership with Plymouth City Council to deliver a new Park and Ride. This is being serviced by the most advanced double-deckers in Europe achieving the latest emissions standards, reduced fuel consumption and the highest standards of luxury and on-board facilities.
In partnership with four Bristol local authorities we are working to promote the local transport plan. This includes a number of major public transport schemes which could deliver substantial bus priority. There is also a commitment to new vehicles and the introduction of real-time information systems.
In Glasgow we have established a Growth and Stability Pact with Glasgow City Council and Strathclyde Partnership for Transport. It aims to deliver passenger growth at reasonable fares, bring more stability to bus services and improve passenger information, leading to a quality bus service that contributes to the reduction of traffic emissions in the city.
We continue to develop partnerships across the business to deliver the highest service quality to our customers.