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Buses Must Fight Back
Page 108
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'T'HERE were sound reasons for
assuming that the struggle between car and bus would not be entirely onesided, said Mr. Charles F. Klapper, editor, Modern Transport, when discussing demand prospects for passenger transport by rail and road. The car could stimulate interest in travel as well as being a competitor.
When whole communities relied entirely on the car, as in the U.S.A., arteries were choked with traffic from which there was no relief, other than the restriction of car travel, despite ruthless destruction of property to provide urban throughways. Moreover, the car offered no solution for the young, old, infirm and non-drivers, If public transport had to be provided for them, a solution was required to attract other people so as to retain economic independence.
A factor which might prove to be on the side of public transport was the charging of an economic price for parking, not only in London but universally, possibly with a concession to those continuing to use public transport. A greater realization of the true cost of private motoring wasneeded, and a method of ensuring that users of company-owned cars paid an economic price for home-to-office journeys.
It was certain, Mr. Klapper claimed, that bus carryings would decline in the next decade to a point far below their peak of 1952, but not necessarily to the level of 1938. Traffic began to fall with the end of food rationing, and was steepened by increased delivery services, mobile shops and the stay-at-home habits engendered by television.
A period of declining traffic called for great managerial skill. Passengers were enticed by close and regular headways and the schedules department's work must be seen in proper perspective.