An updated buspartnership.com website (www.buspartnership.com) has been launched today (31st August 2011). The site is now backed by ATCO, alongside original sponsors, pteg and CPT, and contains updated documentation on new or ground breaking voluntary partnerships and SQPs from Gateshead to Nottingham, and from Barnsley to St Albans.

The site was set up in November 2009 to help operators and local transport authorities make the best use of the opportunities opened up the Local Transport Act 2008 on voluntary and statutory quality partnerships.

The site contains the framework principles that both CPT and pteg have signed up to on what a voluntary partnership can contain – from both a legal and a policy perspective. There is also key documentation on voluntary and statutory partnerships that are either signed, sealed and delivered – or on their way. These documents can be used as template for partnership deals elsewhere so that there is no need for local transport authorities and operators to start from scratch every time.

David Brown (the lead Director General for pteg on bus issues) said:

‘It’s pleasing to see the way in which the content of buspartnership.com is expanding as local transport authorities and operators are seizing the opportunities that the Local Transport Act 2008 offers to develop more innovative and effective voluntary partnership and statutory quality partnership schemes. We are also now seeing the growing use of qualifying agreements to enable better co-ordination of fares as part of some of these schemes.’

Steve Whiteway (CPT President) said:

‘We believe that buspartnership.com can continue to play a useful role as a toolbox for local transport authorities and bus operators in getting more schemes up and running more rapidly. After all why start from a blank piece of paper when you can cut and paste from buspartnership.com from schemes that are already proven successes?’

Bruce Thompson, ATCO Chair, said:

‘Recent years have seen many examples of effective partnerships, both formal and informal, working effectively as a result of local authorities and operators focussing on joint aims to improve services to the benefit of the travelling public. This website offers a valuable knowledge-base for all to use, through providing opportunities to build on Best Practice elsewhere without having to expend unnecessary effort to find out what has already been learnt in other areas. I would urge colleagues across the country to use this website when planning future public transport partnership schemes.'

ENDS

For more contact Jonathan Bray on 0113 251 7445 / 0781 804 1485