Operators fear new bus audio rules could mean fewer services

Anew government rule about automated “next stop” announcements has prompted concerns about the future viability and cost of bus services, which already run on a shoestring.

The Welsh Government says all new or second-hand buses acquired by operators must now have audio/visual (a/v) information equipment, but managers say this can be expensive to fit to older vehicles.

While the Welsh Government has imposed the requirement on operators, passengers have complained about the absence of a/v information on some of the government’s own TrawsCymru buses.

The equipment consists of monitor screens inside the bus, to display each stop’s name as the bus approaches, and speakers to announce the stop’s name in a loud and clear pre-recorded voice. This is helpful to passengers with hearing or sight impairments and anyone unfamiliar with the route, including visitors.

The technology operates routinely on newer buses but is absent from hundreds of older vehicles.

The Welsh Government has issued new guidance on bus standards which determines how much funding bus operators receive through its Bus Services Support Grant. To receive any of the funding, all operators must now ensure “audio/visual next stop information equipment is installed and working on vehicles (new or preowned) ordered after April 1, 2018”.

Bev Fowles, chair of bus industry body CPT Wales, said it would cost about £4,000 to retrofit a/v equipment to buses under five years old, and considerably more for older buses – which lack suitable wiring. He said operators discussed this with government and council officials last year.

He said: “It was accepted that it was not feasible to retrofit vehicles older than five years.”

Dan Lloyd, of Machynlleth-based Lloyd’s Coaches, said holes for speakers had to be cut into the sides of older vehicles.

The Welsh Government recently gave all local authorities £3m for busrelated projects, which could include fitting a/v to buses. Mr Fowles said that, outside south-east Wales, councils were not spending most of the money on a/v.

One council transport officer said: “The TrawsCymru services have got a/v on the buses but we’ve had complaints that it hasn’t been working.”

The system relied on drivers inputting the correct a/v code for each service, because routes varied slightly across the day. The wrong code would confuse the system when the bus deviated from the expected route.

On another TrawsCymru route, between Wrexham and Barmouth, a/v equipment has not been used since 2016, when the previous operator went bankrupt and the recorded Welsh-language stop announcements were lost.

One bus manager, who asked not to be named, said the cost of retrofitting a/v to older vehicles could equal or exceed the purchase price.

“A smaller operator might want to get rid of an unreliable 20-year-old bus and buy a 10-year-old bus. Their current bus doesn’t need a/v but if they buy a 10-year-old bus, it does. They will carry on patching that 20-year-old bus up,” he claimed.

Some coach companies could stop operating buses as a sideline, rather than continuing with unreliable vehicles or paying to retrofit a/v, he said, and this would reduce competition for council contracts, with some existing contracts surrendered early.

A transport officer in an urban council said the additional cost would be “a big barrier for the smaller operators”. He added: “On marginal town networks, you can’t afford to put new buses in.”

His counterpart at one rural council said a/v was incompatible with “hail and ride” routes, where passengers board and alight at any suitable location, not at formal bus stops. “In the long term, it’s going to end up increasing the daily rate of subsidy because the bus companies will add some in for the a/v [retrofitting].”

He said improving bus stops would be a better use of money on some rural routes. “We’ve got a lot of services where there’s one driver, who has that rapport with the customers and knows where they need to get off and assists them.”

A Welsh Government spokeswoman said: “We are keen to encourage bus operators and local authorities to introduce this technology across Wales. We have recently made available additional funding to local authorities to enable them to provide more next-stop announcements on more services over the next 12 months.”

She said the technology made public transport easier to use and more accessible.

The Welsh Government aimed to provide next-stop announcements on TrawsCymru buses and had provided appropriate bilingual media for the Barmouth-Wrexham route.

“We are aware of some technical issues which we are working with the operator to resolve, and are hopeful that the system will be fully working again over the summer,” the spokeswoman added.