Your report (CM July 28) of recent bus service changes
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in Oxfordshire creates the misleading impression that the county council and City of Oxford Motor Services are still at loggerheads and that the differences have led to a delay in introducing the new services, which the company's traffic manager, Peter Lutman, says has cost the company £50,000.
Since 1975, it has been a part of the council's transport policy to encourage all bus operators to identify and operate those services which they are able to provide commercially, leaving the council to decide, in consultation with parish councils, local transport groups and others, what extra assistance should be provided for those who would be left without transport as a result.
Subsequently the National Bus Company has adopted the policy of progressively carrying out Market Analysis Projects (MAPs) throughout its subsidiary companies. To its credit, City of Oxford Motor Services have completed the whole project in little over a year.
The county council have welcomed MAP because it provides a clear definition between the commercial remit of the operators and the essentially social role of the county council, in which the 'decisions to provide extra service are a matter of political judgment.
Since the proposals for new services were made known at Easter, the council has been consulting local opinion intensively-with the aim of discovering where specific extra services should be supported; these requests have been passed on to City of Oxford Motor Servic who have been able to quc prices which reflect the speci circumstances in each case.
The important points a firstly, that the county coun has not interfered with the co mercial judgment of the co pany either by attempting change the proposed comm, cial services or by delaying th introduction, and secondly, ft the decisions whether or not buy in extra services at t quoted prices do not affect t overall viability of the MAP n, work; this has been designed stand on its own and the col pany have presumably cost the extras at rates which coN, the marginal extra costs.
The cost of £50,000 whi, the City of Oxford Motor Si vices have incurred as a result delay in introducing the nE service arises from a decision the Traffic Commissioners not allow the company to go ahe; from June 11 as they had i tended, until the end of ti school term. The company h; indicated both to the coon council and the CommissionE that they had been runnir down staff in anticipation of tl changes and if they waitc beyond June, they would be severe difficulties with stE holidays and seasonal coach in The council had identifiE certain places where difficultil would have arisen for scho children and had arranged wi. the company to retain up to s extra buses until the end of ter while a solution was worked ou
In the event, these CO! tingency arrangements wei made unnecessary by the Cor missioners' decision, but tF county council has honoured i prior commitment to pay for tF extra services it had arrange including the temporary se vices, from June 11.
Incidentally, the "bitt( battle" in the Traffic Commi sioners' Court to which yc refer started in May 197E Hearings finished in Januar 1977 and the Commissionei announced their decision i May 1977. Both in depender operators decided to appeal bi we are still awaiting the ou come of that appeal.
As a result of MAP, some ( the issues have been overtake by events. It is perhaps wori pondering on whether the cu rent approach being adopted City of Oxford Motor ServicE and Oxfordshire County Counc is more relevant to today' circumstances than procedurE originally drawn up nearly fill years ago.
P. D. EN NOR, Wheatley, Oxford.