Al loses roiN
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Al SERVICE'S attempts to stem the tide of onelman operation in Ayrshire have failed. The Scottish Traffic Commissioners have given Western SMT and AA Motor Services Ltd the go-ahead for o-m-o on four of their services (CM January 26).
Ayrshire Bus Owners (Al Service) Ltd has claimed that o-m-o buses would be less punctual than crew-operated vehicles, and that they would abstract traffic from Al's tightly timed KilmarnockArdrossan route.
But Western and AA said that the increased efficiency of modern buses would make up for time spent collecting fares, and they produced evidence of this having happened on other routes.
In a reserved decision, the Commissioners said that they had to take account of the £70,000 gross savings which o-m-o was expected to create, and they had to encourage its continued development.
They suspected that any disruption to schedules was as likely to benefit Al as Western or AA.
Al was told to come back to the Commissioners if it finds the new arrangements harmful. But it was told that it could not stand in the way of other partners in a jointly operated service, even if its fears were well founded.