Agenda and minutes

RESOLVED to appoint Councillor Steve Young as Chair of the Committee for the municipal year 2016/17.

RESOLVED to appoint Councillor Josh Cook as Vice Chair for 2016/17.

Councillor Alex Ball

Councillor John Wilmott (County Council business)

Councillor Richard Jackson (County Council business)

Stephen  Abbott

Hugh McClintock (substituted by David Lally)

None.

Of the last meeting held on 12 January 2016 (for confirmation).

Confirmation

RESOLVED for the minutes of the meeting held on 12 January 2016 to be confirmed as a true record and signed by the Chair.

Matters Arising

With regard to minute 13(j), NET – Operational Performance and Progress Update, which refers to the tram stop next to the QMC and that the joining footbridge is not yet accessible, Councillor Sarah Piper informed the Committee that through case work she had written to Peter Homa, Chief Executive the University Hospitals Trust, regarding the pedestrian link and received a response that public access from the tram stop to the Hospital was predicted to be in place by late Summer 2017.

RESOLVED for an update report on the access to QMC from the tram stop to be submitted to the next meeting.

To note the appointment of the following elected members to the Committee:

Nottingham City Council  Nottinghamshire County Council

Councillor Alex Ball   Councillor Richard Butler

Councillor Josh Cook   Councillor Steve Calvert

Councillor Corall Jenkins   Councillor Richard Jackson

Councillor Sarah Piper   Councillor John Wilkinson

Councillor Steve Young   Councillor John Wilmott

RESOLVED  to note the appointment of the following elected members to the Committee:

Nottingham City Council   Nottinghamshire County Council

Councillor Alex Ball   Councillor Richard Butler

Councillor Josh Cook   Councillor Steve Calvert

Councillor Corall Jenkins   Councillor Richard Jackson

Councillor Sarah Piper   Councillor John Wilkinson

Councillor Steve Young   Councillor John Wilmott

Report of Head of Operations, Nottingham Trams

Mike Mabey, Head of Operations, Nottingham Trams, presented the report which highlighted the following points:

(a)  for the period of January to the end of May, punctuality ranged between 99.4% and 99.7%;

(b)  patronage during the year ending 31 March 2016, was 12.15 million;

(c)  the Robin Hood Card has been launched for use on trams and most buses within the Greater Nottingham Areas, with off-tram ticketing systems being developed with a view to being launched by the end of the year, to enable card purchases and top-ups at tramstops;

(d)  the autumn passenger satisfaction survey produced results of 98% satisfaction which is among the highest tram result in the country;

(e)  within the survey customers suggested alterations to tram seating and capacity;

(f)  the three key objectives for NET community engagement continue to be:

(i)  get out, meet and listen to the people of Nottingham;

(ii)  communicate safety in using the network;

(iii)  encourage tram use;

(g)  ‘meet the managers’ events were held and well received at Larkhill Retirement Village and Beeston with residents of Larkhill requesting a handrail for the footpath from the village to the tram stop;

(h)  ‘Beer by Tram’ and ‘Food and Drink by Tram’ leaflets have been produced, highlighting venues on and near to tram routes.

The Committee’s questions were responded to as follows:

(i)  the height of patronage peaks as expected, with morning and afternoon communing patterns but is generally steady at all other times;

(j)  annual tram patronage figures have been reported to  the Department for Transport for the period 1 April 2015 to 31 March 2016.;

(k)  further clarification can be sought on where the leaflets encouraging households to shop at Beeston and Clifton by tram were distributed. Marketing is working as passenger numbers continue to increase;

(l)  further to the matter raised at a previous meeting, there have been no further letters of complaint from the public, addressed to the Committee, regarding the validation of  tickets.

Comments included:

(m)  the high performance in punctuality and customer satisfaction is welcomed;

(n)  it can be confusing and frustrating for citizens that whilst the Robin Hood Card can be used on all tram lines, the same ridership boundary is not applied to all bus services or trains within the same boundary.

RESOLVED to note the report.

Report of Director of Major Projects

Andy Holdstock, Senior Project Engineer, presented the report and informed the Committee that since the last meeting there had not been any further incidents reported involving cyclists.

However, in response to concerns that were expressed, following several incidents in the area of the Chilwell tram stop, in the period following the opening of NET Phase Two, the following actions have been taken:

(a)  safety advice has been made available to cyclists;

(b)  red surfacing has been used to more clearly delineate where cyclists are advised to leave the road  and to use a shared foot and cycle path, re-joining the road after the stop;

(c)  blue signs show pedestrians that the pathway is shared and signing has been improved in both directions;

(d)  there is an ambition ideally to provide a dedicated cycle path which completely avoids the tram stop, but there are complications regarding privately owned land.

Comments from the Committee included:

(e)  as there is a section of cycle path starting shortly after the tram stop, it would be simpler  to extend the shared path to minimise on-off road manoeuvres in a relatively short distance. This could also be considered for other stops with similar layouts such as near to the college, heading east;

(f)  with regard to the west bound route, it crosses several side roads which require improved ‘cycle priority’ signage;

(g)  drivers need to be warned in advance of cycle paths re-joining the carriageway;

(h)  it is important that for shared pathways it is made obvious to pedestrians that cyclists have a shared right of way;

(i)  more cycle shelters at selected tram stops in Beeston and Clifton would be welcomed;

In response to member’s questions about how common it is for cyclists to get their tyres trapped in the tram lines, it was confirmed that this is an international issue. The Sheffield tram operator has plotted a map of reported cyclist incidents to highlight areas where additional caution should be exercised by cyclists and this may be beneficial for Nottingham’s cyclists.

RESOLVED to note the report.

Report of the Director of Major Projects

Andy Holdstock, Senior Project Engineer, presented the report which informs the Committee of the experience of Edinburgh Trams, which following a successful trial, have allowed cycles to be carried on off-peak services since July 2015.

The following points were highlighted:

(a)  only 2 cycles are allowed on any tram and this is managed by staff;

(b)  there are significant differences between Nottingham and Edinburgh in that Nottingham’s trams are much narrower and shorter;

(c)  an average of 12 cycles are carried every day on Edinburgh trams;

(d)  in Edinburgh tram staff are able to manage any conflicts which may occur between cyclists and mobility buggies/wheel chair users/ pushchairs and prams, whereas apart from the driver, Nottingham does not  carry staff on trams;

(e)  high numbers of motorised buggies/wheel chairs and push chairs/prams use Nottingham’s trams and there are only 2 sections on each tram where these can be carried;

(f)  it can be difficult to identify appropriately quiet times during which cycles could be carried;

(g)  other tram operators have considered allowing cycles but have rejected the idea.

Andrew concluded that allowing cycles on trams (other than collapsed portable folding cycles) was not feasible for Nottingham due to lack of space, conflict with other passengers and the potential for injury.

PEDALS representative, David Lally, commented that PEDALS understood the factors involved and did not challenge this decision.

RESOLVED to note the report.

To agree to meet on the following dates at 2pm in Loxley House:

2016    2017

13 September   13 March

13 December

RESOLVED for the Committee to meet on the following dates at 2pm in Loxley House:

2016  2017

13 September  14 March

13 December