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MetroCard has eliminated
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fare dodging by Gordon Murra;
Leeds operational research seminar discusses bus season tickets, marketing, bus location systems and garage sitings
NO UNIVERSAL or immediate solution to the many problems of operators in the bus industry emerged from the 7th annual seminar on Public Transport Operations Research at Leeds University last week. However, the symposium served as a useful guide to possible future developments, particularly in computer-related studies and the increased use of information provided by research groups set up within the industry itself. (A first report appeared in CM last week.) One clear message which did emerge was that solutions to problems plaguing the industry may not be soluble so much by vast expenditure as by attention to detail.
Presenting the opening paper, "Operational research in the bus industry," Mr Anthony Wren told his audience that the state of opera' 'onal research (OR) within the industry was still much less advanced than in other industries of comparable size. He called for a review of the situation and a better funded system for research work and data collection.
Although the fragmented nature of the industry made it difficult for any but the larger companies to justify the employment of effective OR teams, the larger groups should spend more, claimed Mr Wren. He suggested co-operation between companies within particular segments of the industry to reduce the cost of OR and thought that the larger operators, such as PTEs, London Transport and National Bus might well provide operational research facilities for smaller operators.
Replying to criticism of the lack of big company spending on OR studies, Mr R. B. Medley of NBC Peterborough agreed with Mr Wren that OR staff levels were generally low, but said that within the limits imposed his own company were in fact active in a number of projects. The company were setting up a series of test areas to provide data on dayto-day operation and the find ings from these would be made available to other operators if they asked for them.
He also reminded delegates that funds for general research were very much at the mercy of the financial climate. Groups or members supporting OR work were very reluctant to pay for general studies and were prepared only to fund specific projects of interest to themselves when money was in short supply.
MetroCard marketing
The introduction of the MetroCard system by West Yorkshire PTE was covered in a paper given by Mr R. R. Davies, who stressed that the card was an essential part of moves towards the standardisation of fare scales and conditions of carriage inherited from former transport under takings in the PTE's area.
The MetroCard is a monthly season ticket which entitles the holder to unlimited travel facilities on practically all PTE and NBC stage carriage services within West Yorkshire PTE area.
It was the 'first step in the PTE's policy of making public transport a more realistic alternative to the private car, by offering the passenger greater convenience and reduced costs, said Mr Davies.
Introduced in October, 1974, the cards were priced at £5 per month, this was increased to £6 on January 1 this year, with no apparent loss of sales arising from the increase. Before the introduction of the new card system the PTE carried out a blanket advertising campaign in newspapers, on radio and television, in the cinema and on hoardings z buses to push the benefits the card.
The campaign was p ticularly effective; original e: mates indicated that up 10,000 cards would be in on any one day. In fact, average number was repot*: to be well over 32,000 a there was considerable pr sure from the public for 1 introduction of other forms MetroCard.
In reply to a questioner, 1 Davies said that market search had indicated fraudule practice to be minimal— fact, non-collected fares a overriding had been elir nated by the use of the Meti Card system.
Publicising the pass
The importance of an dr( tive advertising campaign w also stressed by Mr J. Clea of London Transport Executi. in his paper outlining the mE keting and use of the Red B. Pass in London.
When the Red Bus Pa made its appearance as tl Red Bus Season in 1972 it w. introduced as part of a pac age of all-systems tickets. Pu licity was restricted to info mation posters w it hot graphics, displayed solely LT sites and then mainly space fillers at slack times.
So ineffective was this for of . advertising that a sum made by the marketing off 73 showed that almost )f the peak-hour bus pasrs, making journeys to rom work, were unaware bus season tickets were ible. A further 20 per cent ;ht there were restrictions le use of the tickets and a. cent knew of the availy but did not know the • In fact only 15 per cent ie total sample knew of existence, availability and ile it was realised that a ;tion in price from £6 to ,er month could achieve ased sales, market re.h indicated the impor: to passengers of increashe number of sales outlets making tickets better in at the existing price. . advertising campaign was n up on a London-wide . Posters with a bold illuion of a red London bus me the central theme of new campaign. Insertions taken in London evening ;papers and spots booked :ommercial radio stations; ldition posters and leaflets a covering circular letter sent to some 1,000 firms Ighout London represented ocal transport groups.
le sales of monthly Red Passes increased from )0 a month in early 1974 ,ver 18,000 a month after campaign was launched.
the year to March, 1975, vas estimated that addial sales attributable to the paign accounted for almost 00 tickets or 11 per cent otal sales of the Red Bus es.
nce 1959 London Transhas been experimenting communication aids for route control. London isport's operational rech office has been closely lved in assessing the effect various communications ems including Carla (Cornand Radio Location Aids) their use as an aid to the operator.
aria represents a significant Aopment, augmenting cab o by an automatic display the location of every bus the route. A central cornr is programmed to interate every bus -in service Ty five seconds through a F radio data link. The bus sends back a coded representation of the distance travelled in terms of wheel revolutions since the previous check. The updated position is reproduced on a visual display in a control room and its time, if at a timing point, is checked against its scheduled time using a computer representation of the time schedule.
In his paper "Use of a radiolocation system on a London bus route" Mr L. R. Shields explained the objectives of the system—to achieve more effective route control resulting in better service regularity, a reduction in late finishing for crews and a means of providing assistance in emergencies. Ultimately it is hoped that this equipment will allow a reduction in the number of roadside officials needed to maintain a given level of supervision.
The assessment of the equipment has not yet been fully completed but Mr Shields gave a summary of the findings to date.
Small gains
Despite the use of sophisticated equipment with considerable capital and maintenance costs the effect of Carla seems to have been rather small. An improved regularity of evening peak service at the ends of the route, amounting to a 25 per cent reduction in average waiting time, is evident, but no marked change in the regularity of the service at other points on the route has been shown. Evidence of crews' late finishing times is inconclusive and it is likely that the savings, if any, will be small in relation to effort expended.
The system, said Mr Shields, was capable of a high degree of accuracy but was dependent on effective maintenance and correct vehicle allocation and identification. The idea of a fully centralised control seemed to be impracticable as inspectors had a useful role in route control particularly at relief points and terminals. Mr Shields said that originally with these systems operators were looking for a staff reduction but that electronic control would not replace roadside inspectors, regardless of the levels of sophistication.
The factors • in siting bus garages were discussed by Mr R. W. Dickinson of Greater Manchester Transport in his paper which described the main operational implications involved in choosing the location and size of a new bus garage in the South Eastern part of Greater Manchester.
Planned to replace existing garages in the PTE's Tameside district at Ashton and Stalybridge, the location of the new garage was chosen as a result of •extensive investigation. In considering the location of a new bus garage a number of factors had to be taken into account. One of the most important was, of course, staff availability. Also the availability and cost of land had to be considered together, with the question of access. Subject to these requirements being met the optimum siting for a new garage was arrived at by examining various operational cost factors. There were basically two items of cost which varied from garage to garage— the cost of running a vehicle and crew to and from its start and finishing points and the cost of crew travelling time when crews started and finished work periods at points remote from their sign-on/off point.
These two factors were identified and the different costs calculated for all routes originating from the two garages involved.
Using the above factors, five different sites for the new garage were tested and although it was found that the total operating cost was sensitive to movements in the potential location there was little difference between the sites in terms of the number of vehicles recommended for allocation for maximum efficiency with minimum costs.
As a result of the recommendations produced by this project, together with other reports on the administrative and engineering improvements which could be achieved, a decision was taken to build a new garage in a site known locally as Texas Mill. Negotiations for the purchase of the necessary land were carried out and work commenced on building the new garage on March 17 this year.
Mr D. R. Vernon, Oldham District Manager, described how the simple but thorough approach helped to solve late departures from the garage. These occurred throughout the run-out and were not confined to any one specific period, which pointed to a number of problems rather than to just one in particular.
By analysing weekly reports on late departures the problem of congestion around the single entrance/exit door was solved by providing labour to top-up bus radiators, a job which had previously been done by the drivers themselves. Similarly, bunching, which developed with the departure of school buses was solved by a simple (not more than three minutes) adjustment to running boards.
Dial-a-Ride failure ?
Even supporters of demandresponsive bus systems must admit that these experiments are costly.
In his paper describing London Transport's first Dial-a-Bus service, Mr A. A. S. Symonds said that in simple terms of costs and receipts the service was a failure. Also it was doubtful whether the volume of traffic generated and diverted from private cars was sufficient to justify the net cost in social benefit terms, but in all other respects there was no doubt that the experiment had been an overwhelming success.
However, there was no getting away from the realities of the situation and both London Transport and the Greater London Council were now examining •the future of the service with a view to a variation in the level of the service, a variation in the vehicle size (moving up to larger seating capacity) a variation in the area served and the pattern of service, withdrawl of the service, or a variation in fare levels. Although there was evidence to show that there would be considerable resistance to a fares increase a decision was expected soon which was almost certain to mean a rise.
Although not applicable in this particular instance, it was pointed out that one benefit of the Dial-a-ride service was its immediate availability' to residents in newly developing areas where the small numbers of people make the provision of a conventional bus service uneconomic.