b1BC case for grant-aided 'than services
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The introduction of grant-aid for unmunerative urban bus services is called in a memorandum prepared by the itional Bus Company for the Commons mmittee investigating urban transport oblem s.
"Recognition of urban bus services as a cial amenity with some form of grant-aid r unremunerative services would help ainst further enforced deterioration of -vices on uneconomic grounds," the NBC "The alternative cost to Government of 'rastructure grants, to cater for an celerated growth of car traffic as bus rvices decline, should be a major insideration," the memorandum added.
The NBC said the present limitation of ant-aid to rural services left the only lurse open, in the case of urban services, reduce losses by curtailment of operation. Over recent years much of the heavy crease in cost had been absorbed by both le NBC and municipal undertakings by conversion of services to one-man operation and other economies.
"But with these already effected few options remain for the future other than to match continued cost rises and decline in loadings by further reductions in service or by raising fares to unacceptable levels if commercial viability is to remain the objective." the NBC said.
Either course would increase the use of cars in the ratio of one bus load to upwards of 30 cars.
To remain acceptable as an alternative to private transport the urban bus service had to offer reliability in terms of frequency, speed and accommodation on routes providing maximum convenience for the public at acceptable fare levels.
Sheer weight of traffic competing for insufficient road space in the main centres was the root cause of growing unreliability of urban services.
The NBC complained that in town centres traffic management schemes had too often involved diversion of bus traffic to the inconvenience of passengers and added cost to the operator.
Local authorities had been reluctant to permit "bus only" lanes through pedestrian precincts and the response to advice from the DoE on bus priorities had been disappointingly slow.
To prevent further decline in urban bus services the NBC urged: 1. Action to secure more immediate adoption of bus priority schemes with full support for bus-only lanes, contra-flow in one way streets, and buses only in pedestrian precincts: 2. More positive steps to deter the motorist from taking his car into town centres by abolition of street parking on bus routes, more clearways at peak hours, and more realistic charging at car parks: 3. More practical recognition of the urban bus with its high loading capacity/road occupation factor which, to attain full effectiveness, must be released by all possible means from the congestion of other road traffic and be maintained if necessary by grant-aid at fare levels which will increase its attractiveness as the cheapest, quickest and most convenient form of urban transport.