Bus Partnership Funding FINAL

Renfrewshire Council · 26 April 2023
Back to Leadership Board — 26 April 2023 and its agenda

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To: Leadership Board 
On: 26 April 2023 
Report by: Director of Environment, Housing & Infrastructure 
Heading: Bus Partnership Funding – Paisley Town Centre 
1. Summary 
1.1 The National Transport Strategy published in 2020, set out the delivery of an accessible,
modern transport system which will protect our climate and improve the lives of the
people of Scotland over the course of the next 20 years.  The vision is underpinned by
four interconnected priorities: Reducing Inequalities, Taking Climate Action, Helping
Deliver Inclusive Economic Growth and Improving our Health and Wellbeing
1.2 In support of this strategy, the Scottish Government committed to providing a long-term
investment of over £500m to deliver targeted bus priority measures on local and trunk
roads. This is intended to reduce the negative impacts of congestion on bus services,
address the decline in bus patronage and reduce car usage. The investment takes the
form of the Bus Partnership Fund, together with the roll-out of infrastructure for the trunk
road network. 
1.3 Renfrewshire Council, as previously reported to board were successful in being awarded
£2million from Transport Scotland’s Bus Partnership Fund for improvements to public
transport infrastructure in Paisley Town Centre in 2023/2024. These improvements
support the Council’s ambition to work towards net zero carbon emissions by 2030.
1.4 The purpose of this report is to set out the consultation and engagement process that is
proposed over the coming months with elected members, partners, communities and
businesses and to approve the financial arrangements associated funding awarded to
the Council. 
1.5 This funding has been provided to identify bus prioritisation measures, as well as how to
improve traffic flows and safety at and around four Paisley town centre junctions including
Mill Street, Incle Street and Glasgow Road; Cotton Street, Gauze Street and Lawn Street;
Canal Street and Causeyside Street; and Lonend, Cotton Street and Gordon Street.

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1.6 Over the last 18 months, design proposals have been developed which are ambitious,
substantive and seek long term upgrades, proposing a significant change to the road
infrastructure arrangements at four key road junctions and associated streets of Paisley
Town Centre.
1.7 The design proposals have been developed in partnership with SPT and with bus
operators and are now at the stage that a detailed engagement process can start to be
undertaken.
1.8 Aspects of the Canal Street and Causeyside Street Junction were included in the
Causeyside Street Regeneration proposals. Following extensive consultation and
engagement undertaken with businesses and communities on Causeyside Street, the
regeneration proposal is not in a position to move to the construction phase and, as a
result, the Council will not be able to draw down some of the European funding it has
been awarded as it is time barred. It is therefore proposed that further engagement on
Causeyside Street is taken forward through bus partnership engagement process and
the unused funding is returned.
2. Recommendations
It is recommended that the Leadership Board:
2.1 Notes the stage reached in development of the bus priority proposals for Paisley Town
Centre.
2.2 Notes the consultation and engagement planned with Elected Members, partners,
businesses and local community and approves updates to be provided for discussion at
the relevant policy boards.
2.3 Notes the infrastructure proposals are ambitious to support the continued evolution of
Renfrewshire’s infrastructure to support climate goals, safety and support for public
transport across Renfrewshire.
2.4 Approves the remediation of the Low Carbon Travel and Transport Challenge funding as
set out in section 5 of this report.
3. Bus Partnership Fund
3.1 In June 2019, Renfrewshire Council declared a climate emergency, committing to
working towards net zero carbon emissions by 2030, for both Council estate and area-
wide emissions.
3.2 The National Transport Strategy published in 2020 is clear that future transport
investment decisions will continue to prioritise the sustainable travel hierarchy. This
approach to investment is crucial in ensuring that transport plays its part in ensuring that
we deliver on our ambitious climate change target, of Scotland becoming a net zero
society by 2045.

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3.3 Further action to support this was set out in the Scottish Government's Climate Change
Plan Update with an ambitious commitment to achieve a 20 per cent reduction in car
kilometres by 2030. Local Authorities will require to take forward a range of actions and
develop bus service improvement partnerships as set out in the Transport Scotland Act
(2019). 
3.4 The Bus Partnership Fund requires the Council to work in partnership with bus
operators, to develop and deliver ambitious schemes that incorporate bus priority
measures. The Fund will focus on improving bus services by addressing congestion, but
the partnership approach is also expected to leverage other bus service improvements
to help tackle the climate emergency, reduce private car use and increase bus patronage
with a range of bus priority measures. 
3.5 The key aims of the Bus Partnership Fund are to reduce journey times, improve journey
time reliability, increased proportion of people travelling by bus, improve customer
satisfaction, improved safety of the junctions for all users including pedestrians and
cyclists, and reduce emissions, contributing to improved local air quality and reduced
carbon emissions.  
3.6  Bus priority measures can be broken down into four broad types of interventions: 
• Signalling – bus communicates with traffic light, so it stays green for longer to let the
bus through quicker. Some technology also senses when a bus is running late, to
give it additional priority.
• Bus advance area - A facility which enables buses to get to the head of a traffic
queue at a signalised junction; often located at the exit of a bus lane. 
• Bus lanes and gates - Bus lanes are lanes normally reserved for buses only but may
also allow access to taxis and cycles.  They may be operational all the time or just
during peak hours and compliance can be enforced using cameras and penalties.  A
bus gate is a short piece of road which can only be accessed by bus and may be
used in conjunction with bus lanes.
• Bus corridors - An extended stretch of road, on which several measures are brought
together to facilitate bus travel. Typically, this will include bus lanes and bus priority
measures, as well as an enhanced service provision and improvements to bus
passenger infrastructure, such as shelters and information. 
4. Consultation 
4.1 The junctions improvement project is being developed to provide better public transport
accessibility in Paisley Town Centre, support regeneration and improve public transport
connectivity within Renfrewshire and across the Glasgow City Region. 
4.2 The aim is to improve traffic flow and road safety, while linking the town centre by
making it easier to use public transportation, walk or cycle into the heart of the town
and creating a better sense of arrival for people visiting Paisley’s attractions. This
includes the transformation of Paisley Museum, Paisley Arts Centre, Learning and
Cultural Hub, and Paisley Town Hall. 
4.3 Officers have been engaging with SPT and bus operators to create design proposals
that will improve performance of bus services and reduce journey times for all vehicles,
pedestrians and cyclists in Paisley Town Centre.

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4.4 The outline designs identify improvements to four Paisley Town Centre junctions:
• Mill Street, Incle Street and Glasgow Road
• Cotton Street, Gauze Street and Lawn Street
• Canal Street and Causeyside Street
• Lonend, Cotton Street and Gordon Street. 
4.5 The proposals will improve connectivity across Paisley town centre by providing easier
access to bus services, while enhancing the existing road and footway network through
better traffic flow and resurfacing works. 
4.6 The designs will be brought forward in phases to ward members for Paisley town centre
and cross-party engagement will take place prior to the consultation process to assess
the proposals and ensure they are in an appropriate position for public engagement. 
4.7 Thereafter, design proposals will be taken through a public consultation process which
will allow elected members, local businesses, community groups, community councils,
local partnerships, partners and residents to put forward their views. 
4.8 The feedback received will allow designs and proposals to be reviewed, with further
engagement taking place with ward members, cross party sounding board and the ILE
policy board. 
5. Funding 
5.1 The Council was awarded £900,000 through Transport Scotland via the European
Regional Development Fund (ERDF) Low Carbon Travel and Transport Challenge
Fund. This was to fund the regeneration project on Causeyside Street, including the
segregated cycle lane as well as the electric charging infrastructure installed in Stow
Brae Car park. 
5.2 The funding was due to be spent by the end of September 2023 and a further period of
business engagement would make compliance with this deadline impossible to achieve
as the funder made clear this previous extension would be the last granted, as it is a
European fund. 
5.3 To date, the Council has claimed £144,000 from the ERDF with a final claim of around
£20,000 to £30,000 to be made. The Council, therefore, proposes to not draw down the
remaining amount of around £725,000 due to the time constraints and the Causeyside
Street proposals will not move forward in their current form with a segregated cycle
route. 
5.4 Further engagement will take place on Causeyside Street as part of the Paisley Town
Centre junctions engagement process. 
5.5 Renfrewshire Council, as previously reported were successful in being awarded
£2million from Transport Scotland’s Bus Partnership Fund for improvements to public
transport infrastructure in Paisley Town Centre in 2023/2024.

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5.6 The ERDF fund and Bus Partnership Fund required some match funding to be delivered
by the Council towards low carbon transport. The Council has allocated a sum of
£400,000 for this purpose, which has not been spent and is unaffected, and is available
to support the Paisley Town Centre junctions project.
Implications of the Report
1. Financial – Renfrewshire Council were awarded £900,000 from the Low Carbon
Travel and Transport Challenge Funding and proposes to not draw down the
remaining amount of around £725,000 from Low Carbon Travel and Transport
Challenge funding as set out in the report.
1. HR & Organisational Development – None
2. Community & Council Planning
Our Renfrewshire is thriving / Reshaping our place, our economy and our
future - the service is actively involved in planning further enhancements to
infrastructure to support and facilitate economic growth.
Creating a sustainable Renfrewshire for all to enjoy - working in partnership with
SPT, Bus Operators and the community to deliver a cleaner Renfrewshire by
reducing carbon emissions.
3. Legal – None
4. Property/Assets – The Council’s infrastructure is maintained and enhanced.
5. Information Technology – None
6. Equality & Human Rights - The recommendations contained within this report have
been assessed in relation to their impact on equalities and human rights. No negative
impacts on equality groups or potential for infringement of individuals’ human rights
have been identified arising from the recommendations contained in the report. If
required following implementation, the actual impact of the recommendations and the
mitigating actions will be reviewed and monitored, and the results of the assessment
will be published on the Council’s website
7. Health & Safety – None
8. Procurement – Procurement of infrastructure contracts through existing Scotland Excel
Procurement frameworks.
9. Risk – None.
10. Privacy Impact – None
11. CoSLA Policy Position – None

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12. Climate Risk – The Council continues to explore opportunities to secure external
funding to deliver sustainable, green infrastructure projects. 
List of Background Papers: None
Author: Gordon McNeil, Director of Environment, Housing & Infrastructure
e-mail: gordon.mcneil@renfrewshire.gov.uk