COURSE 03 - STRATEGIC FOUNDATION
From your model to Day One
A one-day course for Authorities taking responsibility for transport services. You will work out what your Authority needs to do, who will do it and how the work fits together. We use your own services and staff throughout, so the model reflects your Authority. Your team begins by listing the services your Authority will run or oversee and deciding who should deliver each one. You will name an owner for every service and agree the meetings that review performance and approve payments to Operators. Later, you test the model against an incident your team has dealt with. You leave with an outline Operating Model and a list of what needs to be in place before Day One, when your Authority takes over.
WHAT AN OPERATING MODEL COVERS
We sort services into one of three groups, called layers. Customer Services are the things passengers see and use: timetables and live information, tickets, the contact centre and help when something goes wrong. Franchise Services are the work your Authority delivers across the , such as planning the network, checking how Operators perform and paying them. Supported services and concessionary travel sit here too, so this layer still applies if you are not franchising. Bus Operator Services are delivered by the Operators. For each one, your Authority still needs a named person who holds the operator to account.
Your corporate teams, including legal, procurement, HR and finance, support this work. Smaller Authorities may share services with constituent councils or a neighbouring Authority, or buy them in. The model records where that applies.
How the day works.
We start with the services your Authority needs to run or oversee. We begin with bus, then consider your wider transport responsibilities. For each service, we record whether the law requires it or your Authority has chosen to provide it, and who delivers it now. We then discuss who should deliver it in future: your Authority, a constituent council, a shared arrangement with another Authority or a contractor.
Your team takes one service from each layer and describes how it will run day to day. You will consider the tasks, people involved and how often each task happens, as well as the systems, information and meeting that oversees the service. The result is a description that the person running the service can use.
Each service has one accountable owner. When two people share ownership, it can be unclear who is dealing with an issue. We also record who does the work, who must be consulted before a decision and who needs to be told afterwards. If an Operator or another company delivers the service, the owner is still someone in your Authority. On the day, we work through three services in detail. Your team then applies the same rules to the rest.
We agree which meetings your Authority needs and what each should decide. They can range from a short daily operational call to an annual board; a smaller Authority can keep the list short. We also set the monthly date for signing off performance figures, because payments to Operators are calculated from those figures.
Bring an incident your team has dealt with. We work through it using the model. Who hears about it first? Who acts, and how long do they have? If it cannot be resolved at that level, who does it go to next?
We score four questions from one to five. Does every service have an owner? Can each owner make the decisions their role requires? Are the staff, systems and budget in place? Have you tested the route for escalating problems? We then separate gaps that must close before Day One from those that can wait until the first year or later. Each gap has an owner.
What you leave with
ONE SERVICE, BUILT TO DAY ONE DEPTH
During the course, we go into this level of detail for each worked service. The example below is a monthly payment to Operators.
Who should attend
Bring the people who will help shape the model and complete it so it is ready to implement. A mix of roles is useful because most services involve more than one team.
Every exercise uses your Authority's services and staff, including an incident your team knows.
The worked services are detailed enough for someone to run them. We document assumptions so colleagues can review them.
We run a real incident through the model so you can see whether the escalation route works.
BUILD THE COURSES AROUND YOUR PLAN
Course 3 completes the Strategic Foundation group. Course 1 helps your Authority set its direction, and Course 2 helps you plan the delivery programme. Course 3 then defines how your Authority will run its services and who will deliver them. You can use it before you choose a delivery route. It is relevant to a newly formed Combined Authority, and to an Authority preparing to franchise, work through an Enhanced Partnership or take a BSIP-led approach. The later courses on network, ticketing, customers, systems and contracts build on the model you establish here.
Courses 1, 3, 6 and 9 can support your Authority whichever delivery route you choose. If you have not decided on a route yet, contact us and we can discuss how these courses fit your plans.