Value for money is all-important
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Alan Gurley of the Bus and mch Council did a great job in Ming coach safety into irspective when he described St how tightly the coach ierating and manufacturing dustries were controlled in ttain.
Regulations in Great Britain e among the strictest and ost complex in Europe. As a suit, the coach industry's ifety standards are among the ghest in Europe.
Alan went through the ?rformance and safety criteria ivered by our construction, ;e, fitness and vehicle iuipment regulations, which Dyer, among other things, seat rength and anchorage, roof rength, service brake ulormance by axle, stability id noise regulations.
The section of his
.esentation that raised the ,ost eyebrows was the ;cident statistics which Alan .ied to demonstrate coach ifety. The latest statistics railable show that there is one tal coach accident every 342 iillion journeys. Only 1.1 per nit of vehicles in motorway ;cidents are coaches, and only 8 per thousand vehicle werturns in Britain involved mches. In all respects coach issenger accident rates were
significantly less than for other forms of road transport.
He told delegates that an analysis of coach accidents involving fatalities this year does not indicate that speed is a factor and he suggests that a reduction in coach motorway speeds or a third lane ban would create a dangerous mix of slower and faster vehicles on the inner motorway lanes. Following a break for coffee Ted Holloway, the coach operations manager of lntasun, described what he, as a major hirer of coaches, and his holiday customers wanted from the operating industry.
Ted started by reminding everyone that the advances of the past few years have to be paid for, and this cost must fall on the passengers who travel in the seats.
The travelling public compare prices very carefully and a family of four taking an express coach holiday as opposed to an air holiday can save over E40 on airport charges alone and on some seven day holidays this is almost equivalent to the fourth member of the family travelling free.
Having said that, there comes a point where rather than save money, the traveller would prefer to raise his standards of comfort. The tour operator must always be careful to see that he is giving value for money.
The customer also wants assurance that everything possible is being done to look after his safety, and Mr Holloway suggested that the advances in safety should receive a lot more publicity than at present.
He thought improvements could also be made in seating, which in his experience, is what generates the most customer complaints.
Is it really asking too much for a comfortable wrap-around headrest, soft enough to sleep on if so desired?
He also asked why the majority of seats have to have such a low, straight back that the legs of any normal sized person sitting behind cannot be extended to a resting position. He cited the example of aircraft seats and inquired about having something similar in coaches.
Hand luggage space comes in for criticism too, he said, in so far as many of the racks will only take very narrow bags or parcels, thus forcing passengers to place hand luggage on the floor or under seats thereby restricting their legroom even further.
It was pleasing to note that some coaches are now being fitted with aircraft-type lockers which not only take more luggage but hold it safely locked away so it cannot fall on people's heads. These lockers also have the effect of giving the inside of the coach a clean line look which even with a full load of passengers is neat and tidy. He hoped that these locker-type holders will become standard Wore long.
"It is these small things that matter so much to the customer and add to his enjoyment of the journey thereby influencing him to travel again and recommend others to do so as well," stressed Mr Holloway.
Apart from full air-conditioning, the ventilation and heating systems have advanced greatly and when working properly offer the passenger a wide choice of personal selection for his comfort. However, these systems also seem subject to irritating breakdowns even on the most modern of coaches.
There still seems a great deal of controversy both inside and outside the trade about toilets on coaches. From a hirer point of view two or four saleable seats are lost as well as the hire price being greater. Passengers will complain when they are not