Regular urban services in sparsely populated areas
October 2023
A regular transport service (e.g. a bus) runs on a fixed route, according to a predefined timetable. The timetable specifies the days on which the service operates, its range of hours and the frequency of service throughout the day1. Passengers are picked up and dropped off at predetermined stops. They know the fare in advance. Urban services provide a finely-tuned coverage of the area and a relatively stable service throughout the day. They differ from non-urban services, which have more widely spaced stops and run more frequently throughout the day. The regulatory term ‘urban service’ does not therefore refer to the type of area in which it operates (predominantly urban or rural).
Regular urban transport services can be provided by minibuses, midibuses or standard buses. Regular urban transport services are organised by the local mobility authority responsible for the area in question. A few facts to help you understand.
1 OBJECTIVES OF A REGULAR URBAN TRANSPORT SERVICE
In sparsely populated areas, a regular bus service provides a quality service on routes and at times when demand is high enough to justify the introduction of such a service. These routes can meet various needs:
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connect the various districts of the central municipality ;
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linking the various communes of the intercommunal area;
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serving major facilities: schools, medical or administrative establishments, etc. ;
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improve access to the region’s rail and bus stations.
In urban areas, public transport networks are often made up of several lines serving all the communes in the intercommunal area.
In sparsely populated areas, demand is generally not such that regular lines can be set up throughout the area. The AOM therefore often organises one or two routes serving the denser area, and supplements the offer with other services such as transport on demand.
2 ORDER OF MAGNITUDE OF USE
In a conurbation with fewer than 100,000 inhabitants, between 100 and 16,000 journeys are made each day on regular bus routes.
The range of services on offer varies greatly from one public transport network to another:
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between 100 and 7,000 kilometres are travelled every day on the bus network of a conurbation with fewer than 100,000 inhabitants, depending on the number and length of lines, their frequency and their range of operation;
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regular bus routes may run every day of the year or only part of the week (closed on Saturdays or Sundays, etc.) or year (closed during school holidays, etc.).
3 ORDER OF MAGNITUDE OF COSTS
Implementing regular bus services requires investment: creating stops, communication and information equipment, etc. The most important of these is the cost of the infrastructure. The biggest investment is in rolling stock. The vehicles needed to operate the bus network may belong to the AOM, which purchases or leases them (under a finance lease, for example), or they may be made available by the bus network operator.
In addition to investment, the running of a regular bus service costs between €2 and €5.30 per kilometre travelled (or between €60,000 and €180,000 per year per vehicle in operation) in a conurbation with fewer than 100,000 inhabitants (2015-2016 figures):
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between 50% and 80% of this expenditure is used to pay the staff of the public transport network operator, between 70% and 90% of whom are drivers. Staff working conditions (wages, working hours, holidays, etc.) are different on urban public transport networks (governed by the national collective agreement for urban public passenger transport networks) and on non-urban public transport networks (where the national collective agreement for road transport and ancillary transport activities applies);
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operating expenses also cover other costs: purchase of energy, vehicle maintenance, fixed costs for the operator, etc. The production cost of a kilometre covered by a regular bus service varies from one public transport network to another, depending on the commercial speed, the level of service offered (operating range, continuity of service throughout the day, etc.) and the internal productivity of the network operator (optimisation of timetabling, vehicle wrapping and rostering).
The AOM must ensure that the introduction of a bus service is financially sustainable, possibly by making a few optimisations (short, direct lines, spaced stops, etc.). A regular bus service cannot meet the needs of all users, particularly in less densely populated areas where the cost per kilometre travelled per passenger carried is too high.
4 RESOURCES THAT CAN BE MOBILISED TO FINANCE THESE SERVICES
Revenues from the sale of tickets to users generally cover only 5 to 25% of operating costs. The commercial deficit is financed by the general budget of the mobility organising authority and by the mobility payment, which AOMs can levy when they organise a regular public transport service.
The mobility payment is a contribution payable by all public and private employers with at least 11 employees, and is explicitly conditional on the AOM organising a regular public passenger transport service (such as a regular bus service). It can finance any investment and operation of services or actions that fall within the remit of the mobility organising authority (AOM).
According to data from the 2015-2016 TCU surveys, for AOMs that levy it in areas with fewer than 100,000 inhabitants, the mobility payment represents a resource of between €35 and €110 per inhabitant (depending on the density of the economic fabric and the size of businesses in the area). It finances between 35% and 100% of network operating costs (and also finances capital expenditure where it exceeds operating costs). The maximum rate authorised for the mobility levy is 0.55% of employers’ business income5 in areas with a population of between 10,000 and 100,000, with the possibility of increasing this by 0.2 percentage points if the AOM has at least one tourist municipality. The maximum rate is 0.55% in areas with fewer than 10,000 inhabitants and at least one tourist municipality.
The AOMs can also benefit from other resources to finance their investments, in particular the acquisition of their rolling stock (e.g. OBLIBUS financing from the Banque des Territoires for the purchase of electric buses).
5 STEPS TO IMPLEMENTING REGULAR SERVICES
The definition of the service to be introduced is based on an analysis of needs (collection and analysis of mobility data) and taking into account the objectives of the AOM’s mobility policy. These studies are carried out by service providers recruited by the AOM following calls for tender.
Depending on the context, specific one-off studies relating to the layout or accessibility of a stop, signposting, etc., may also be necessary. The transport service is generally managed :
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either managed directly by the AOM (public authority or local public company) ;
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or delegated to a semi-public company or a public transport company (public service delegation or public contract), chosen following a call for tenders. An agreement is then signed between the AOM and the bus network operator, for a period of 3 to 10 years.
Communication (press, posters, one-off campaigns, etc.) enhances the attractiveness and reputation of the bus network. It is organised jointly by the AOM and the transport operator, who must also endeavour to set up a simple information system for users: provision of network maps, information at stops (timetables, map, etc.), traffic conditions and disruptions, route calculation, etc. These systems can also include the possibility of purchasing paperless tickets.
A few months after the bus route or network is brought into service, it is useful to carry out an evaluation of the service, based on a survey of users and drivers, in order to identify areas for improvement and any changes that need to be made. It may also be useful to identify the means of transport previously used by users, in order to qualify the modal shift enabled by the new bus line (modal shift from car, bicycle, walking, or induced traffic: increased mobility of new users).
6 EXAMPLE OF THE SAVERNE SHUTTLE SERVICE
As part of the Action Coeur de Ville programme, Cerema carried out a flash appraisal on behalf of the municipality of Saverne, in 2019, to analyse the opportunity and define the conditions for implementing an intra-municipal shuttle service (benchmark of similar shuttle services, proposals for the route and organisation of the service, etc.). Saverne’s objective was to open up the town’s priority neighbourhood and serve the town centre, its facilities and shops.
The municipality then continued its studies in conjunction with the Pays de Saverne community of municipalities, with the aim of introducing a regular shuttle service in June 2021.
The Communauté de communes du Pays de Saverne became an AOM in the summer of 2021. It is therefore responsible for organising this service. In addition, the communauté de communes also organises transport-on-demand services. At the beginning of 2022, the shuttle service was provided by a prototype electric vehicle (the Cristal model from Lohr Industrie), on loan from the manufacturer.
Subsequently, two vehicles of this model were purchased by the municipality of Saverne (around €300,000 including tax for the two vehicles). The special feature of the Cristal vehicles is that they are modular: the two vehicles can be attached to each other, doubling the capacity with a single driver (12 people for one vehicle, 24 people for 2 vehicles). Since September 2022, the service has been provided by vehicles in ‘hitched’ mode (except on Thursday mornings, market day).
The shuttle crosses the municipality and links the hospital, the town centre and the nautical centre, serving 21 stops. It runs from 7.15am to 6.30pm on weekdays, with reduced timetables on Saturdays (no traffic on Sundays), at intervals of around 35-40 minutes. The shuttle is recharged at the technical centre during breaks, and mainly at lunchtime and in the evening. Users can track the location of the shuttle in real time using the Zenbus tool. The service is free and available to all users.
The service is run as a public service by the Pays de Saverne Community of Communes, with two permanent drivers (and replacement drivers from local authorities). The annual operating cost is around €130,000 (including tax) per year (drivers, insurance, recharging, battery, ZenBus application, various administrative costs). In the 6 months following entry into service (2nd half of 2021), around 12,000 people were transported, and around 650 people were being transported each week at the beginning of 2022.
In 2022, ridership increased further, with the service carrying 36,500 people in the year, with peaks of 1,000 people carried per week (with a service provided in ‘harnessed’ mode).
7 CONCLUSION
Regular transport services can be an appropriate response for sparsely populated areas, complementing other mobility services integrated into a multimodal service package aimed at all local residents.