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A new focus for public transport

13th April 1973, Page 25
13th April 1973
Page 25
Page 25, 13th April 1973 — A new focus for public transport
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

Last week's conference -Moving people in cities" showed that there is still something new to be said about the solution of urban transport problems. Perhaps most significant was British Leyland's advocacy of a much deeper involvement for bus manufacturers in the whole field of urban transport, prompted by the realization that buses are being underutilized by as much as 80 per cent of capacity in the extremes of city congestion. It is no longer enough simply to develop new generations of equipment.

Taking the thought a stage further, BLMC suggested that the bus maker could well be the best person to co-ordinate the work of the parties involved in urban transport planning -including, of course, the operators. This role has certainly had promising results as applied by Ford to the rather narrower example of Dial-a-Ride; the vehicle manufacturer does not supply the ancillary equipment but assesses the requirements and advises the operator on what is available to meet them.

The timing of this latest focus on public transport was right, too: one of the hottest potatoes that the reorganized local authorities will have to handle next year is public transport. There is now plenty of convincing evidence that simple, cheap bus-priority schemes can be effective and to wait for expensive fixed-track rapid-transit systems may mean missing for ever the chance to win back public transport riders). The conference provided ample support for the view that the bus is even now the most promising answer to urban travel — if only it is given a fair chance to do its thing. Then, to quote the BLMC paper, "the passenger will come back; people will get out of their cars; the cities will start to live again-.

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