There are several types of these indicators:
• they will start by monitoring the overall supply of the bus fleet, and measure the development of fleet renewal, whether this is partial or gradual over time;
• they will then monitor the performance of its operations and maintenance;
• finally, they will monitor the level of service offered to users through the rolling stock and the organisation of its operations.
Below is a list of examples of indicators, to be completed at the end of each month and end of the year. This list is a rough guide and should be adapted to local needs.
Description of the global bus fleet on the network:
The equipment may be broken down into categories that are deemed relevant by the organising authority and its operator, and for each category:
• number of buses by category (weight) and if necessary by technology (engine specification, etc.) ;
• capacity (number of places);
• investment cost by type of rolling stock (bus, midibus, minibus, etc.) ;
• fuel consumption per month;
• fuel consumption per kilometres travelled (L/100 km);
• operating cost per kilometre;
• operating cost per passenger.
Reliability of the bus fleet and maintenance:
• breakdown and unavailability rates by category and by technology: For example: number of days of bus downtime or, more precisely, the number of kilometres not covered in operations due to breakdowns reported per 10,000 km, rate of repeat breakdowns, kilometres covered by reserve vehicles, etc. ;
• reserve rate (by type of bus and during peak hours): number of buses not assigned to operations out of the total fleet;
• actual lifetime of the equipment or sub-parts (engine, etc.) ;
• average age of the fleet.
Description of the offer and the level of service offered by route:
In order to monitor the improvement in the servicing of the region and its population, it is important to measure the potential differences between the objectives given to its operator by the AOT in their operating contract, and the reality of what was proposed in the field by the operator and its carriers. This will be used to set month-to-month and year-to-year improvement targets.
• number of routes on the network (and associated map to view all the permanent and irregular routes);
• population served by the routes, e.g. at the macro level in all the local authorities served or, in a more precise way, within a 500m radius on foot of the bus stops or the route itineraries;
• actual length of the route;
• bus service hours for the route (early morning, late evening);
• number of buses assigned per route, in circulation, at peak and off-peak hours;
• frequency of the route at various time periods (peak hours and off-peak hours if necessary), in theory and in reality;
• travel time and commercial speed of the route (peak period, off-peak period, average), in theory and in reality;
• regularity and punctuality on the route, e.g. evaluating the proportion of buses running on time compared to all the bus stops serviced. This can be assessed by counting the number of buses running on time at a given stop, compared to the total number of buses passing through. Conversely, we can highlight the percentage of buses that are more than 10 minutes late, over a given period;
• total mileage offered to users (sum of the commercial kilometres covered by the buses of the route);
• dead mileage: kilometres travelled per month in dead mileage, i.e. between bus depot and terminus, without transporting passengers.
