1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212 
LTB plans new automatic fare collection experiments
Page 50
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
• An impending experiment with new types of automatic fare collection is planned by London Transport,. revealed Mr. Roy D. Smith, traffic officer, LTB central offices, on April 18. Mr. Smith was presenting a paper, "Re-organization of bus services • in London", to a two-day symposium on Planning for Public Transport held at Salford University.
The new equipment is designed for use on longer routes where a flat fare is impracticable; a coarser fare scale, both in monetary value and in distance will be introduced. Covered by patent, the London Transport system splits passengers entering the vehicles—o-m-o single-deckers—into two queues. Those on the nearside with the correct money will enter via automatic equipment incorporating a turnstile, while those on the offside will pay the driver.
The automatic equipment comprises a three-coin acceptor with electronic counting and reject mechanism, using a single slot and a push-button fare selection unit, for fares of 6d, Is and Is 6d adult and 3d, 6d and 9d child. A ticket printing and issuing unit, which will print the fare and stage boarded, remotely controlled from the driver's cab, and a tripod type turnstile are also built into a combined cabinet mounted above the nearside wheel arch.
Experiments are being made with an illuminated fare display unit showing the fare to be paid to the various destinations and intermediate traffic objectives. The unit will display the three fare values over a maximum of 15 stages and will be controlled by a rotary switch in the driver's cab. By turning the switch one step at each stage the driver will progress the fare values and also advance the ticket printing mechanism. Should the vehicle be operating over only a part of the route, the driver will set the two supplementary switches which will reduce the illuminated section to that part of the route.
In his paper, Mr. Smith outlines the development of London's bus services, particularly since the last war, and describes traffic investigation (the London way), market surveys., the attributes of a bus service, traffic congestion, staff shortage and the London travel pattern. He describes LTB's response to these problems, the Bus Reshaping Plan and the various types of fare collection employed on new o-m-o buses, the new suburban service revisions and Red Arrow extensions, public reaction and size and type of bus required.
Some interesting points from the paper include the fact that the number of passengers carried on central (red) buses (and trol
ley buses) was 3,365m in 1952 and 1,760m in 1968, a reduction of nearly 50 per cent. Nevertheless, the central buses still provide about 53 per cent (about £60m per annum) of all London Transport revenue. During the five years between the end of the trolleybus replacement programme and the start of the planning of the Bus Reshaping Plan, continuous review of services provided savings of over £6m per annum.
The Board did not really favour using computers for market research or traffic reviews, but a survey was currently being carried out in the Newham Area of East London, employing Business Operations Research as its consultants. The balance of power between public and private transport in cities might better be described as "balance of congestion". A most striking feature of bus travel in London was its short distance character-45 per cent of passengers travel less than one mile, and nearly 80 per cent less than two miles.
• With regard to vehicle replacement, LTB was aiming at a programme of vehicle replacement of 450 buses each year. The driver of a one-man bus has an enhanced status. LTB ad mitted that the new suburban schemes, including the introduction of standee buses, had led to several hundred complaints during the first few weeks. Of these, 50 per cent were due to irregularity and 22 per cent inadequacy. The public took longer than London Transport expected to understand the operation of these buses. However, the new Red Arrow buses, catering mainly for peak-hour traffic, were accepted very quickly.
The new 3611 single-deckers with their swept circle of 7111 had proved an embarrassment in traffic, but from the latter end of this year 33ft Sin. single-deckers with a swept circle of 651t will become standard. The modifications described to the fare collection methods will result in the shorter buses accommodating only one less passenger than the longer buses after additional seats are fitted to the latter (67 compared to 68).
Although Mr. Smith claimed that there were advantages in using single-deckers, the balance of advantage between singleand double-decker buses could only be decided by experience, and it seemed certain that there was a place for each type in the future.
Glasgow transport study
Presenting his paper on "The Greater Glasgow transportation study," Mr. Roy Hodgen, of Scott, Wilson, Kirkpatrick and Partners, made the point that if the recorn
mendations in the study, which was produced last year, were accepted by the city, the buses' share of public transport would be reduced from the present 85 per cent to an estimated 57 per cent in 1990.
It was found, Mr. Hodgen said, that at present 65 per cent of all travel within the area was made by public transport, 85 per cent of that being made by bus. However, if the recommendations for railway line electrification, together with other rail and highway improvements were implemented, in 20 years, while the total carryings would fall slightly, the bus percentage would drop to 57.
The aim of the study had been to develop a regional transport plan to accommodate 1990 levels of travel by public transport passengers and private and commercial road vehicles. The recommended plan allowed for a restraint on private car parking and for co-ordinated rail and bus services, said the speaker. There would be feeder-bus and car park-and-ride facilities at certain points and the provision of a comprehensive network of local buses augmented by certain express services.
The recommended bus network was laid out in a pattern of radial and circumferential routes. Superimposed on this pattern were a number of shorter local routes designed to serve significant population and employment centres and to complement the service provided by the suggested rail network.
Within the, city centre bus routes would be laid out to allow four main streets to be made "pedestrians only". Two new express bus services were envisaged: one over limited access highways between Erskine New Town and Glasgow centre and the other from Cumbernauld to East Kilbride. There would be feeder bus services to 26 train stations.