Glasgow freedom
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THE LONG-AWAITED removal of Strathclyde Passenger Transport Executive's monopoly of Glasgow city bus services takes effect at the end of this month, Transport Secretary David Howell announced in the week before Christmas.
He has removed the restrictions contained in the Glasgow Corporation Consolidation (Water, Transport and Markets) Order of 1964, which dated back to 1930 when Glasgow wanted to protect its municipal tram system.
Mr Howell said he considered that the monopoly powers were inconsistent with the spirit of the 1980 Transp. ort Act, and said that any operator which sees an opportunity to run services in the city will be able to apply for a road service licence.
It also leaves the field open for the Scottish Bus Group and Strathclyde PTE to rationalise their activities in the area, and Strathclyde Regional Council has already approved plans to dovetail the two operators' services.
SBG services, other than long distance and limited stop routes, will share stops with PTE services, and will pick up and set down at all of these stops.
To compensate, SPTE plans to extend 13 of its services in a cost-effective manner, mainly to housing developments a few miles beyond the present monopoly boundary, but via housing areas rather than SBG-served main roads in some cases.
There is an ultimate goal of more co-ordination of fares scales, and common publicity will be issued. No date for these changes has yet been announced.
SEG's ScotMAP market analysis surveys and service revisions will continue in the Strathclyde area, and SPTE will pursue its normal service rationalisation programme. But in the longer term, more co-ordinated planning, taking account of suburban rail services, is proposed.
The Government hopes that private operators will take advantage of the changes, and one — McGill of Barrhead — has an application before the Traffic Commissioners for a BarrheadGlasgow stage service later this month. However, the view in PTE circles is that the 1968 Transport Act, rather than the 1980 Act, rules their activities.