It has been a busy summer for the Tayside Bus Alliance. The last two months have seen a flurry of activities developing route options, proposing Transport Policy Objectives, and working with the public and our stakeholders to identify ways the Alliance can support and improve bus services across the Tayside region.

The summer has also seen the publication of guidelines from Transport Scotland, providing key input to the project for a Match in Kind, the structure by which combinations of activities are combined to deliver route, corridor and network improvements; and Transport Scotland guidance on Gateway Review, specifically the review of the Alliance’s transport appraisal.

Consultation
A core element of any improvement project is the identification of public travel choices, public views on the services available, and opportunities felt appropriate. The Alliance has been undertaking a series of public surveys and stakeholder engagement exercises that include:

  • Public on-line survey, case for change
  • Public hard-copy survey, case for change
  • Core stakeholder engagement, case for change
  • Public on-line survey, development of TPOs
  • Public hard-copy survey, development of TPOs
  • Core stakeholder engagement, development of TPOs
  • Options appraisal, optioneering workshops

Findings from the consultation exercises feed directly into the initial options appraisal exercise, and the draft and final versions of the options reporting, initial versions of which have been completed.

Administration
Regular primary and sub-group meetings have also been established and continue, including:

  • Match in Kind elements,
  • Communications and Consultation, and
  • Project Planning meeting

Details from the work are set out on the alliance website: www.taysidebusalliance.co.uk

Current Activities
The completion of the stakeholder engagement exercises hallows the Alliance to move forward to preliminary options reporting. The options will form a key element in to the traffic analysis and modelling element of the appraisal, which will be developed in the period to Christmas.

Further public engagement is anticipated for the current period with stakeholder workshops planned as the next activity.

Being Involved
We will provide regular updates on our progress through this briefing note, as well as on our website. You are able to subscribe for further information via our website, or by email to our Project Manager, contact details are on our website. We are always happy to hear from you.

Details of our progress will be updated at our website: www.taysidebusalliance.co.uk