Decision Maker: Formartine Area Committee

Outcome: Approve

Is Key Decision?: No

Is Callable In?: No

Date of Decision: November 19, 2024

Purpose: The report seeks comments on draft updated passenger transport policies to take effect from 2025. These include policies on public transport, home-to-school transport and adult social work transport. Area Committee comments will be shared with the Infrastructure Services Committee, Education & Children Services Committee and/or Integration Joint Board for their consideration when they are asked to approve the policies.

Content: The Committee noted the information provided and made the following comments on the proposed updated transport policies, as detailed in Appendix 2 of the report:   a)    Any additional facilities at Blackdog were welcomed, b)    P124 – the first and third sentence – this reads as a bus shelter being more important than a reliable bus service, which is not the case, c)    P126 – it is suggested that cost is the main reason for lack of bus travel, but having heard from residents, it’s suggested that an unreliable service is a larger factor, d)    P136 – bus forums – a more area-based approach was welcomed, rather than shire-wide, e)    P140 – Policy 2.4 – it is suggested that this be retained as there was a commitment to consider local needs and local providers, f)      P144 – second paragraph – we need a public message to explain that due to finite resources, we need to ensure the infrastructure we do have is in the correct place, g)    Rather than terminate the bus service at Blackdog, it might be helpful to continue on to Balmedie which has a growing population, h)    It would be helpful to have better City and Shire links and, as regards Policy 31, as many services cross over the City and Shire boundary, we need to have better communication between the two for getting people in and out of the City, i)      Policy 23 – are many pupils affected by the 15 minute 2-stage journey and is 15 minutes too long? j)      Policy 42 – The Ready2Go trial has not been as successful as was hoped, is there likely to be further development of this type of facility?  Dialled responsive transport is perhaps required for rural areas. k)    How many bikes can be carried on our buses, and are the bike racks suitable for all types of bikes, we may have a number of families who would use this facility, l)      How many seats do we have for disabled passengers and are they sufficient? m)  Do these policies fit with the NPF4 guidance of what is expected for our next Local Development Plan, and n)    It would have been helpful to have a document which highlights the changes to the policies, for ease of comparison from the previous policies.