SERVICE WITH A SAVING!
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A reorganization of services in the Herne Bay area of Kent is an illustration of a bus undertaking introducing substantial economies to meet the changing demand for passenger transport while at the same time providing better facilities for the travelling public
TO listen to Mrs. Barbara Castle and her "advisers", one could be excused for believing that the bus operating industry in this country was badly run and in need of a drastic overhaul. One could also believe that operators were not aware of any deficiencies in their services and were doing nothing to try and improve the service they give to the public. Too much emphasis is perhaps given to the "decline" of public transport—in fact many adjustments made to bus services actually provide passengers with better facilities, at least at the times when they are most needed.
Bus operators are only too well aware of the problems facing them and, what is more important, ready to make adjustments to improve their services. The main enemies of the bus operator are increasing traffic congestion—largely from private transport— and the Government which, while "acknowledging" the need for help for bus operators makes things exceedingly difficult for them by its financial policies.
A positive example of a bus undertaking carrying out a reorganization of its services to cater for the changing demand for public transport, while at the same time giving a better co-ordinated service and providing improved rail /road interchange, is illustrated by the Herne Bay area scheme undertaken by the East Kent Road Car Co. Ltd. This scheme was first introduced in September 1965 and has been constantly under review since then.
Herne Bay is well-known as a seaside resort, and the whole area is residential, and within easy commuting distance of London, with a regular service of fast electric trains. Canterbury is also within easy commuting distance by bus. Numerous caravan sites and holiday accommodation leads to a large influx of summer visitors— many of these come by car to the aggravation of the bus services, although additional services are provided in the summer.
The bus services affected by the reorganization are the local ones in Herne Bay and Whitstable, extending along the south bank of the Thames estuary from Faversham to Reculver, together with the services linking the locality with Canterbury.
Before the introduction of the new scheme the local services ran at irregular intervals and neither connected with trains nor with each other. The two services to Canterbury were entirely
separate, consistingrof service 4, running from Swalecliffe to Canterbury via Whitstable and service 6, direct from Herne Bay to Canterbury. Service 37 (Swalecliffe-Faversham) did not co-ordinate with service 4, although the two routes met in the centre of Whitstable.
The re-organization of services was planned in conjunction with the local authorities concerned, with whom negotiations were carried on throughout. The respective Chambers of Trade and the residents' association in Herne Bay were also consulted.
A major feature of the new scheme was the linking of services 4 and 6 to provide a circular service to and from Canterbury. This was accomplished by extending service 4 from Canterbury beyond Whitstable (Swalecliffe) to Herne Bay from where it followed the service 6 route back to Canterbury, and extending service 6 in the opposite direction. At first the route number was changed at the halfway point, but at a later stage the present system was introduced whereby buses from Canterbury via Whitstable show 4/6 and buses via Herne Bay 6/4.
A circular ticket was introduced for passengers living in the Herne Bay /Whitstable area which enables them to travel into Canterbury, stop-off for shopping and so on and then return via the alternative route, at a special concession. During the evening peak hour certain journeys operate express from Canterbury to Whitstable and Herne Bay respectively, saving five minutes on the normal journey time and improving the utilization of services. These buses carry the suffix "X" to the route numbers. The Canterbury services are operated by modern forward entrance AEC doubledeckers.
In the Herne Bay and Whitstable area itself, single-decker services 37 and 38 were withdrawn between Herne Bay and Whitstable and now operate Whitstable (Chestfield /Swalecliffe) to Faversham, while service 42 was taken out at the western end of the bay. Herne Bay town services 41, 42 and 43 were then put on to an hourly frequency each.
These latter services are operated by rear entrance doubledeckers, and services 41 and 42 run via Herne Bay station to connect with principal trains. Service 4/6 also operates via the station. In addition these services are supplemented by service 40 which meets evening peak hour trains from London during the winter and operates daily all-day to Reculver in the summer. A proposal to operate service 40 all day during the winter months as well is being considered.
Advantages gained from this reorganization were reductions in terminal frequencies to match the lower demand, combined with an improved frequency along common sections of route due to the co-ordination of services. After a few teething troubles, the main reaction from the public has been quite favourable, and while, inevitably, there were a few dissenters at first, the improved facilities have generally been well received.
The current East Kent timetable, in addition to listing all the Herne Bay area services separately, also has a composite timetable giving a summary of the Whitstable local services, another composite timetable of Herne Bay-Faversham services showing connections at Whitstable, and a timetable showing the principal connections with trains at Herne Bay station.
However, operating a rail /road co-ordinating service is a difficult exercise—unless a bus is waiting outside the station when trains arrive many rail passengers find other means of getting away from the station, even if this means travelling on foot. During a recent visit to Herne Bay I spent a few minutes outside the station to see how many passengers actually waited for a bus. Admittedly it was a fairly quiet time of the day, but even so the results were not very encouraging.
Buses on a local route serving various parts of a town cannot be held-up at the station awaiting the arrival of trains, which might be running late, and buses on the East Kent services are timed to arrive at the station two or three minutes after the scheduled arrival of trains. As the trains were running to time on this particular day it meant that each time a train arrived there was no bus waiting outside the station. Each time practically all the passengers dispersed. either on foot or by taxi and then, almost immediately they had gone, a bus arrived.
Clearly the solution to rail /road co-ordination is not an easy one. Few operators can afford to run special buses whose sole exercise is to link a railway station with a town centre, which might only be one quarter of a mile away. Yet when buses are timed to arrive within three minutes of the arrival of a train, it would seem that rail passengers are unwilling to wait for these buses. During peak hours, however, regular passengers acquainted with the local bus timings might be expected to take advantage of the linking bus services.
All-in-all, the East Kent exercise in Herne Bay has been successful, however, and is just another illustration of bus operators confounding their critics by acting on their own initiative to improve the service to the public. I understand similar re-organization plans are being considered for other parts of East Kent's operating territory, in the light of the experience gained from Herne Bay.