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Sharper edge
Page 28
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TAKEN as a package, the Buses White Paper will sweep away a multitude of tradition bus industry practices and bring innovation, transport lecturer Martin Higginson said last week.
He said that deregulation would sharpen the competitive edge of the bus industry, but that competitive tendering in a deregulated environment might result in reduced cost effectiveness in the provision of subsidies, especially where separate social and commercial bus routes replace multi-purpose ones.
The passing of some of the worst traditions of the industry, including management inflexibility, slipshod operational practices and some aspects of cross-subsidy, he said, would not be mourned. But losses of features such as Travelcards and co-ordinated fares would be regretable.
He suggested that the greatest opportunities for innovation were in urban and suburban areas, increases in the speed of operation were perhaps one of the greatest benefits of competition.