Mid I Red's survival
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Ian REORGANISING bus servic to continue catering for 95 p cent of existing passenge could be done in some are with around 66 per cent of ti existing bus fleet.
This is one of the concl sions that has emerged frc an extensive research exerci .started last year by Midlai Red, in which the compa plans to establish a "vial network" in each of the towns where it operates urb services.
A survey of the needs existing passengers is bei carried out across the open ing area and individual so tions are to be formulated 'ery operating district.
This is likely to lead to fferent fare levels in different Iwns, with possible suriarges for travel at different 'nes of day.
Stratford-on-Avon, which as the first town to be stued, is likely to have a 10 per !nt fares surcharge imposed evening journeys designed bring these closer to a .eak-even situation.
This more commercial fares )licy has been forced on idland Red by worries about e future availability of cash d.
It has caused a rapid turnlind from the previous policy of unified fare scales within the company where profitable services subsidised others, to a new policy where the services in every town should be selffinancing.
The first priority of the research study is to establish the bus network in every town that could be made to pay its own way.
This should then give local authorities a better chance of making good decisions about the services they think socially necessary, and thus worthy of subsidy over and above the basic services.
The research results are first to be applied in Evesham. Here a two-pattern bus service is to be introduced with one pattern for off-peak.
All available buses will be used to make inwards journeys to town during peak periods, and they then pick up the off-peak service pattern, linking residential areas to each other and to the town centre.
A minibus service is also to be introduced in the rural area to the West of Evesham.
A "public attitude" survey was used to give Midland Red the guidelines on which to base its revised services.
This showed that the first priority was that passengers wanted fares to be kept down, followed by the provision of more bus shelter, better timetables, helping bus flow and running on time.