Peak-hour chaos is inevitable I FEEL that I must comment
Page 59
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
on Mr. D. N. Dean's article, "The Challenge to Public Transport, Part 2," (CM November 24). I agree with most of his points, but there are one or two suggestions which are very idealistic and almost, if not quite, impossible to achieve. These are, in the main, problems concerning peak-hour traffic.
Unlike the railways, road passenger transport cannot be treated as an isolated subject. Public transport in peak hours, particularly in large cities, has one major enemy—the private car. So long as private and public transport have to share the same roads, there can be nothing but chaos at peak hours, and this chaos is getting progressively worse.
There is one section of road along which I travel daily by bus; the running time is scheduled to be 16 minutes. and during off-peak periods, this can be easily adhered to, but at peak hours the time taken can be anything up to 45 minutes or more if weather conditions are adverse or there has been a slight accident anywhere. This is due entirely to the number of private vehicles using the road at this time.
I have nothing but admiration for the crews in managing to keep their vehicles moving at all, against almost impossible odds.
In closing, may I say that I am a car owner, and a layman on transport subjects. I use buses to and from my work because they are cheaper and more convenient, not having a private car park at the office, but at off-peak times I find it much more convenient to travel by car for quickness and when two or more of us are in one car, for economy as well.
Although bus firms do not particularly want more passengers at peak hours (they would much rather have an even load spread throughout the day), I personally feel that, particularly in large towns and cities, the role of the bus operator is going to become more and more that of serving the commuter.
J. G. CARROLL, Gt. Barr, Birmingham.