Hampstead Dial-a-Ride may be scrapped
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HAMPSTEAD'S Dial a Ride service may be scrapped and replaced with a scheduled minibus service if a recommendation to the transport committee of the Greater London Council is accepted.
It is possible that this new service will be allowed to deviate slightly from its route to set down passengers.
These facts are contained in a complete review of the service which was requested by the GLC transport committee last May from both GLC and London Transport officials.
Figures produced by LT, and backed up by the GLC show that the service is at present losing about £76,000 a year.
The report says that the committee take the view that losses which LT would regard as unjustifiable of services elsewhere should not be supported in Hampstead Garden Suburb. But all parties agree that some form of service is necessary.
Economies could be made by reducing vehicle numbers and drivers and basing a fixed route service on the busiest part of the existing route. The fare would then be reduced to 15p from 25p, London Transport estimate that the minibus service would be likely to lose about £34,000 a year but that it would generate twice as many passenger miles per pound spent.
The Dial-a-Ride fares were increased last July, and further market research was undertaken in September to monitor changes in passenger attitudes.
The report states that, compared with research in January, nearly half the people interviewed used the service less often because they thought it too expensive, and just under half the journeys previously made by Dial-a-Ride are now made on foot. The remainder used other bus routes or travelled by car.
Although LT say that the Dial-a-Ride service can never be a financial success, they do rate it as a success from the individual passenger's point of view. In joint meetings with the resident association, four Options were drawn up which might be introduced to save money on the operation.
These were : (1) reduced Dial a Ride operation, (2) a fixed-route minibus service with both frequency and service variations, (3) a jitney or route deviation minibus operation, (4) a subscription service.
The resident's association has suggested that the service could be run with two buses instead of three, either by reducing the frequency of Diala-Ride or by running whatever form of service possible with only two buses. But LT calculates that with only two buses running, it could only run a 30-minute service.
The association also suggested that costs might be saved by stopping late evening operations, but market research showed that the local community valued this facility highly as many were apprehensive about walking at night.
Three options were also considered in the report to develop a fixed route minibus service in the same operating area.
These were : (1) to use the existing number of buses and drivers to provide maximum coverage of the suburb at existing frequency, (2) to reduce the bus and driver requirement to provide maximum coverage of the suburb at reduced frequency, (3) to reduce the bus and driver requirement to provide more limited coverage of the suburb but at existing frequency.
Because market research had shown that the traffic is sensitive to frequency reductions, option (2) was not examined in detail and option (1) was considered to produce indirect routings and therefore longer journey times.
Another option examined was the creation of a jitneystyle service which an intending passenger could hail on demand. But although this concept has worked successfully in the Middle East, London Transport are doubtful that it would work in Hampstead Garden Suburb where the number of vehicles in use would be low.
The idea of a subscription service was quickly squashed by London Transport as they considered that the essential qualifications of a long and fairly fast route, coupled with a stable and regular clientele, would not be met in Hampstead Garden Suburb.