Investment in buses could be a huge benefit, can the government hard wire this into their new strategy?
I hand over the reins of CPT President to the very capable Steve Whiteway at the CPT Annual Dinner next week, so this will be my last column for routeone in my capacity as President. I’ve really enjoyed the role and enjoyed giving my opinions on various issues affecting the industry.
I hope you’ve found some of the things I’ve said thought provoking and I look forward to retaining a key role in the organisation as CPT Chairman.
I remember my first column talked about the challenges we faced as public transport operators with giving car drivers viable alternatives to orbital journeys, and many of these challenges remain.
But we’re making progress: the Government’s commitment to developing a Bus Strategy is a huge step forward and we must seize the opportunity to make the most of it.
On my travels recently I was reminded of the huge role bus can play when the right levels of investment and commitment to meaningful schemes are made.
I was pleased to read of the Stagecoach investment in higher capacity vehicles and frequencies on the Cambridge Guided Busway, a good UK illustration of what meaningful investment can deliver. But this applies all over the world.
In Australia, Sydney, to the north of the harbour bridge there’s an area called the Northern Beaches. Hugging the coast, it’s one of the few areas in the metropolis that is remote from the extensive suburban rail network.
To address this, the transport authority has introduced a BRT style bus services called B-Line. It includes the return of double decker buses to Sydney, major bus priority and high specification bus stops.
But the most distinctive element which interested me was the extensive thinning out of bus stops to create an impression of speed and many stops that remained being provided with attractive multi-story car parks adjacent to ease accessibility to the service.
We are all familiar with park and ride but the usual UK model is a surface car park on the edge of town. These were more for ‘first and last mile’ type journeys right in the middle of urban areas. Car parks were full and buses absolutely jammed: frequency increases are being considered.
Wherever you go Sydney, Luton, Gosport, Leigh – I’ll leave you to choose your preference for a study tour – the evidence is there to see: investment in bus provides overwhelming benefits. We need to get this hard wired into the emerging Bus Strategy.
But my final word goes to my colleagues on the coaching side. It’s been an absolute pleasure to get to know some of you better in this role and appreciate even more the fantastic job you do in providing high quality, affordable and so importantly, environmentally friendly means of moving people around.
One of the great concerns in my time as President has been the emergence of Clean Air Zones which simply don’t hit the target by penalising coach operators (and bus although this has been mitigated by funding for retrofit) while turning a blind eye to unrestrained car activity in our towns and cities.
This is madness and something politicians need to get hold of if commitments to net zero emission are to become reality. This is why at CPT we’ll be launching our own coach strategy this year to extol the benefits and ensure ignorance cannot be an excuse.
