Fowler tells of free For all on UK buses
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'HE CASE for the free enterprise British bus was advanced last veek when Transport Minister Norman Fowler informed an Lmerican audience of the philosophy behind the Transport Bill.
He told the National icademy of Engineering in Vashington DC: "It would be . profound mistake to believe hat buses can only be run by he big corporations or that lig corporations should be orever insulated against corn "Our need today is not only or efficiency among the big iperators, but also to encouage new operators to develop.
"It is for that reason that we Lre embarking upon the most mport.ant series of reforms .ffecting the bus industry in 3ritain for half a century," he :ontinued.
He drew his audience's atention to the plans to en:ourage competition on ex)ress coach routes, and the the )1ans for total free-for-alls in he limited trial areas.
But Mr Fowler stressed that afety standards would be trict. "That is basic," he said.
He pointed out that it is )ften forgotten that service to he public is the main aim of mblic transport. "The coach )rovides a low-cost form of nter-city transport which in 3ritain can be expanded to the idvantage of thousands of ravellers."
Car sharing plans were decribed by Mr Fowler as a double-edged sword which would cut fuel consumption and traffic congestion.
He said that there were 130,000 cars entering London in every rush hour. These carried 175,000 people, and few carried more than one person.
"If we can persuade only a small proportion of drivers to share cars, then we can make very substantial gains in both energy use and the reduction of congestion." Mr Fowler said he wanted to see more new operators provide services, and reminded the audience of the Bill's provisions which transfer the onus of proof of need from the applicant to the existing operator.
"The presumption will be that a new operator should be able to run a service. Again the aim will be to encourage innovation and initiative, while at the same time preserving the good existing bus services," he said.