The following is a glossary of terms commonly used within the bus industry. Other terms will be added in the very near future. See Post #2 for further details.
Better Bus Area: A fund created by Government to improve bus service provision in busy urban areas with the intention of increasing patronage and decreasing carbon emissions. Better Bus Area bids relate to infrastructure and other improvements and do not usually involve vehicles. Interested councils submit a bid to Government for an evaluation by the Department for Transport and must state a contribution they are willing to make to the project. Bids are evaluated based on a combination of cost, council input and overall benefit to the area.
Bus Service Operators' Grant: A form of rebate paid to bus service providers that sees some of their fuel costs refunded, with the intention of keeping fares lower than they could be to maximise passenger interest. Due to budget restraints it was recently reduced, with First Group claiming they have faced a reduction of 9p per litre (roughly equivalent to ^425,000 per annum for an operation the size of Bath). Often shortened to
BSOG▸ .
Commercial Service: A journey operated without financial assistance of any kind. Services of this kind are entirely dependent on its passengers to provide sufficient funds in the form of fares for it to sustain a profit. Some commercial services may be operated under contract to specific organisations with no financial benefit to speak of other than fare income.
Contracted Service: A journey that is operated according to a contract between two or more organisations, at least one of whom is a bus service provider. Most contracts of this nature provide financial benefit to the operator, usually from a council, and are legally required to be put out to tender among interested parties; payments vary in amount and means although values of around ^4 per passenger journey are typical. Some contracts involve paying the relevant authority for the right to run the service instead of receiving a subsidy. In London, contracts involve Transport for London receiving all fares and instead paying operators a set fee.
Drive Green: An incentive among operators best known for FirstGroup^s use of the system. A reader can be found in the cab of any equipped bus which changes colour subject to how the driver is driving the vehicle, with colours based on traffic lights (e.g. green is good). It is intended to make drivers more conservative for both passenger safety and environmental benefit. However, the system is not considered fully reliable.
English National Concessionary Travel Scheme: A scheme introduced in April 2008 to make public transport more attractive to qualifying individuals, following a trial at local level for several years previously. In line with many other European countries, the Scheme provides free travel to pass holders on almost all buses across England, albeit with time restrictions (usually 0930 to 2300 on weekdays and all day at weekends). Some councils provide extra benefits to pass holders, but often restrict these to local residents only; notable exceptions to this rule are the tram systems in Sheffield and Blackpool which provide free transport to all pass holders. Two different examples exist, those for senior citizens and those for disabled people. Similar examples exist in Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, but travel in these areas (as with England) is generally restricted to those resident in the country in question, although some cross-border travel is permitted. Often shortened to
ENCTS▸ .
Green Bus Fund: A fund created by Government to improve bus service provision in busy urban areas with the intention of increasing patronage and decreasing carbon emissions. The Green Bus Fund is intended to provided operators and councils with financial assistance to buy new environmentally friendly vehicles. Interested councils and companies submit a bid to Government for an evaluation by the Department for Transport and must state a contribution they are willing to make to the project. Bids are evaluated based on a combination of cost, council and/or company input and overall benefit to the area.
Hail and Ride: A section of route which few if any bus stops, in which passengers can request to be picked up or set down at any location considered safe. This system is useful for areas with very sparse populations, limited frequencies, and new sections of route with upcoming infrastructure. Hail and Ride is sometimes criticised, especially in London, as passengers will sometimes demand a location convenient to them when others are already intending to do the same only a few metres earlier.
Peak Vehicle Requirement: The maximum number of buses required to keep any one service (or groups of services where they share vehicles) operating correctly. Although not always true, this can usually be calculated through careful observation of the timetable; a service that runs every 15 minutes and takes 40 minutes from end-to-end would usually have a Peak Vehicle Requirement of six vehicles (with a five-minute layover at either end). Often shortened to PVR.
Running Number: A number used to identify the specific duty any one bus is following for a day, with variations across the country. Other names are sometimes applied, such as car number, carriage number, car run, diagram or duty. Running cards are allocated to vehicles to identify its service for the day and may or may not make their instructions obvious through their number alone. Similar systems are often but not always used to identify individual drivers^ duties.
Timing Point: A point on any bus service, usually but not always represented by a bus stop, at which buses are expected to arrive and/or depart at the time indicated. Notwithstanding exceptional circumstances such as roadworks, operators are required to ensure that 95% of services serve all timing points within the window of not more than one minute early or five minutes late.
Traffic Commissioner: A Government official responsible for overseeing bus services throughout their respective regions. They have the power to summon and discipline bus service providers whom they deem to be providing an inadequate service, especially where services run unreasonably poorly and/or are changed without permission. In exceptional circumstances, they can withdraw operators^ licences to provide services.
Traveline: A service funded by public transport companies across the country. Its aim is to provide comprehensive information on bus services on a regional basis, with some overlap between departments, to assist passengers in getting where they need to go, whilst also providing lesser information on other forms of public transport. Its information is relayed to councils who then update their own information based on this data, so operators endeavour to provide Traveline with up-to-date information at all times. A similar entity named Transport Direct deals with travel on a national basis, including private forms of transport and aviation. The Traveline website for the South-West region can be found at
www.travelinesw.com.
Vehicle and Operator Services Agency: The Government agency responsible for dealing with certain kinds of commercial road-based operators, including bus service providers. Companies are required by Law to submit confirmed changes at least 56 days before said changes are implemented, although in special situations that can be relaxed. Changes can be analysed on a daily basis by visiting
www.tan.gov.uk. Often shortened to VOSA.
*** others listed below will be added in the very near future ***
