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Express coaches threat
Page 18
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• Reduced speed limits, urban and motorway congestion, and loss of terminals could stop the growth in express coach services, according to the latest Rees Jeffreys Road Fund's Transport and Society report.
Long Distance Travel Within Britain examines air, rail and express coach services in relation to growing competition from private cars. Its authors, Peter White and Professor Rigas Doganis of Central London Polytechnic, call for "a more realistic awareness of the role of coaches by local authorities and other bodies (such as the British Airports Authority at Heathrow) who seem to view them more as a component of traffic congestion than efficient users of road space."
Road pricing or other measures to give advantages to bus and coach operation would help overcome the congestion problems in urban areas, suggests the report. However it cites the Stagecoach Group's sale of the Southampton station as an example of private owners "disinvesting in terminal facilities" at the same time as major investment is taking place in British Rail.
Another threat to express coaching is the EC proposal to reduce the coach limit from 112km/h (70mph) to 100km/h (62mph). The report claims that "the rationale on safety grounds is by no means clear" for this, as most PSV passenger casualities take place in built-up areas.
The report examines some individual corridors and notes that air services are strongly competitive with trains and cars on London-Scottish routes, while a coach's best performance is in the 120-200 mile range (193km-322km). Coach traffic to Heathrow is cited as one of the few opportunities for continued growth.
The Bus and Coach Council shares the report's concern over road congestion, but says it needs to study road pricing further.
Congestion has already strangled medium distance commuter coach services in the Thames Valley, says the BCC, which sees no reason for introducing motorway speed limits which would impose "unacceptable costs" when safety steps have already been taken.