How to manage better services
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STRICTER traffic management schemes and better parking arrangements are needed if rural bus services are to improve, Mr Neil Carmichael, Parliamentary Under-Secretary at the DoE, told a meeting of local authority officers in Carlisle last week. Mr Carmichael has been engaged on a study of rural bus services since last June and is due to report soon.
At a press conference, Mr Carmichael stressed the importance of attracting country people to public transport. During the past 20 years the number of people using buses had halved, he said.
"It seems that the way to get people on the buses is not to make them cheaper than cars — they already are.
"So we must look to traffic management to give buses priority on the outskirts and in the centres of towns and have better control of car parking", he said. "We want to use the resources already available such as school and works buses which could be better utilized and provide transport for people in general."