Proof of Evidence of Mr James Willcock

Document Reference Number OA/13
Proof of Evidence of Mr James Willcock
11 STATEMENT OF MATTERS
11.1 The Statement of Matters issued by the Secretary of State for Transport and the
Secretary of State for Department for Communities and Local Government on 16th
February 2012 identified the following issues in relation to Procurement of Bus
Services and the Operational Management and Maintenance of the Scheme. All
numbers relate to the specific document defining matters:
Matter 6: The likely impacts of the scheme during the construction, and during
operation, on:-
(a) pedestrians;
(b) cyclists;
(c) private and commercial motorised road users (including residential parking
provision);
(d) bus and coach services (including provision for coach parking) and
(e) rail services, including whether the scheme would affect any prospect of reopening
the Portishead to Bristol line to passenger traffic.
11.2 This Proof of Evidence regarding the Procurement of Bus Services and the
Operational Management and Maintenance of the Scheme, is relevant to (d) bus
and coach services (including provision for coach parking), only.
11.3 The AVTM BRT service will replace the existing bus service 903 serving Long Ashton
Park & Ride site. Service 903 is provided under contract to Bristol City Council. The
preferred option for the AVTM BRT service is to procure it via a competitive tender,
which is effectively a continuation of the existing procurement and operation
arrangements currently in place for service 903. Further details regarding the
preferred procurement approach for the AVTM BRT service and its operational
impact are set out in Sections 5 and 6.
11.4 The extent of disruption to service 903 during the construction of the BRT scheme,
will be limited mainly to potential traffic delays caused by the construction works
to extend bus lanes on the city centre loop section of the route. The existing lane
bus lanes will at times need to be closed while construction works take place,
however this will be mitigated through a staged approach to the city centre loop
construction programme. It is not expected that the extent of the works will
disrupt service 903 to the extent that journey times will increase and a new
timetable will need to be introduced.
Page 30