Taking the High Road

Let’s talk up growth in bus services. There’s some encouraging news, but tempered with a tinge of sadness, from Scotland. And some interesting news in England.

The latest transport statistics for the Scottish region (is it a region?) show that Scots made two per cent more trips in 2004/05 than 03/04. Furthermore, Scots made 92 journeys per head of population in 2004/05, 16 per cent higher than the British average. In addition, to Travel Dundee’s and Lothian Transport’s delight (among others), commuting for work by bus in Dundee and Edinburgh was 20 and 26 per cent respectively, and Glasgow’s figure was 21 per cent.

The people of Scotland have been making more trips than each previous year for six consecutive years.

How much of this year-on-year growth is generated by free travel for people over 60? Even without a national English scheme (Scotland’s is countrywide), can English operators expect similar growth figures? Or has the English initiative, now just five weeks away, missed an opportunity? By its nature, Scotland’s free travel scheme is less confusing than England’s will be.

The sadness within the Scottish figures is a long-term decline, albeit now being addressed. In the 30 years from 1975, passengers using Scotland’s buses have fallen by 48 per cent.

Now to England, where every cloud has a silver lining. Although the government’s plans as reported in the Times today to cut £1bil from its £5bil rail subsidy bill will be bad for public transport overall, local bus operators may see a resultant increase in passengers.

In one sense, the Times report is speculative. However, ministers “have privately decided that many [branches] are too lightly used to justify their cost.” This in spite of recent soundings from DfT in favour of community type rail initiatives. Rather than complete closures, the plans tend to indicate significant reductions in services. Such community lines tend to be local in nature and bus services therefore may, just may, be in the best position to capitalise on this otherwise regrettable situation.

The Times reports, “The cuts are concentrated in the West Country but the DfT is also considering reducing services on the South Coast and across northern England. Even those branch lines that have recently begun to show an upturn in usage, such as the scenic St. Ives line in Cornwall, are to have their services reduced.”

One example is Chandler’s Ford to Southampton. The Times states it will lose its entire service to Southampton–18 daily trains, operating hourly. Buses are already ahead of the game in frequency terms–up to six per hour on Solent Blueline Bluestar 1/44/44A.