Appendix A: Overview of types of information
Below is an overview of information that LTAs can or cannot request from operators, it is not an exhaustive list.
LTAs can request information only if it is information that the operator possesses or controls and relates to the periods that fall not more than five years before the date on which the LTA requires the operator to provide it.
Journeys
Information on journeys that the operator has forecast will be undertaken by passengers on relevant local services and revenue that the operator has forecast that will be received from those local services.
Passengers
When seeking information about passenger journeys – this relates to the total number of journeys undertaken by passengers on relevant local services operated by the operator in the area. Total journeys can be broken down into individual routes or services, periods (monthly, weekly, or daily, as well as by peak and off-peak periods), etc.
The information will not include passenger survey data on all individual journeys undertaken at a transactional level.
Information can also be sought on operator patronage and revenue forecasts on relevant local services.
Fares
Information about the structure of fares for journeys on relevant local services – this is a description of all period tickets (valid for one day or longer), including prices, validity rules, and geographical areas and / or service list within which specific ticketing products area valid (e.g. zones or corridors).
It will not include, for example, all Host Operator or Processing System (HOPS) data on all individual journeys undertaken to a transactional level.
There are also rules governing the eligibility of groups of passengers to purchase and use ticket types other than the standard adult fare. Information can also be sought on point to point fares by ticket type (such as adult and child ticket) single and return tickets, based on fare stages (but not individual bus stops) which are usually presented in a fare table.
If return fares are calculated by a set formula (e.g. 190% of single fare rounded to nearest 5 pence), a statement of the formula and parameters used must be provided, and the dates the formula and parameters were applicable. Reference information should be provided linking fare stages in fare tables to the geographical location of specific bus stops.
Revenue
Information about revenue received from those relevant local services, including information about the revenue attributable to particular types of fares, derived from journeys undertaken on particular parts of those local services, or from advertising.
Revenue collected by the operator for the sale of period tickets (i.e. tickets which are valid for one day or longer) through any channel, including (but not limited to) on-bus, off-bus, travel shops, online or through mobile ticket apps.
The number of ‘standard fares’ or ‘penalty fares’ issued by the operator to passengers detected travelling with no ticket or an incorrect or invalid ticket. The amount of fare revenue believed to be lost to the operator due to fare evasion is normally estimated by operators. This could be a financial amount or set as a percentage of fare revenue.
Aggregated revenue is derived from services including fares (i.e. on-bus and off-bus sales), advertising and other sources by category. Some of the suggested categories are:
- On-bus fares
- Off-bus fares
- Concessionary support
- Tender subsidy
- Network Support Grant (NSG) or similar
- Advertising, and
- Distribution of free newspapers.
Costs
Information about the fixed and variable costs incurred by the operator. This also includes Peak Vehicle Requirements (PVR) to operate each service/route or service/route group, disregarding engineering spares. For some services/routes – this may be zero (e.g. where a service/route is interworked with another).
Totals of scheduled hours and actual hours operated by vehicles on local services (which relate to variable costs), this may include (in service and positioning trips, start and end of shift, etc.). Operated hours may be lower than scheduled hours (if trips are lost due to mechanical failure) or may be higher than scheduled hours (due to traffic congestion).
Information about the cost of maintaining, overhauling, and replacing operators’ fleets through their normal life cycle. This may include for each vehicle the average maintenance cost per vehicle per year by vehicle type.
Other cost information includes costs of employees’ salaries, and participating in pension schemes, including fixed and variable costs associated with participating in a pension scheme, in so far as that is related to staff employed by the operator.
Vehicle fleet information
Information about the vehicles used by the operator in operating those local services, including information about the age of those vehicles, emissions and types of fuel or power, which may include infrastructure for refuelling.
LTAs will also be able to ask for information about the frequency of maintaining, overhauling, and replacing operators’ fleets through their normal life cycle, and the ratio of engineering spare vehicles to in-service vehicles by depot.
Vehicle distance
The LTA can request information about the total distance covered by vehicles used by the operator in operating relevant local services. This includes information about scheduled and operated mileage for each service (both in service and positioning trips, at the start and end of shifts). This may also include a breakdown of information about mileage by depot and by vehicle type. However, the LTA cannot request information for individual vehicles.
The LTA may include data from operators running cross-boundary services, but only if they already hold mileage records that split the milage within and out with the franchise area.
Staff
Information about persons employed by the operator includes the headcount and full-time equivalent (FTE) count of staff employed or contracted to deliver the operator’s bus services within the franchised area. This also includes staff directly and indirectly delivering and supporting the delivery of those services (i.e. front line, back office, management, and head office staff).