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More bus priority measures to tackle congestion

Tyne & Wear has been identified as an area which would particularly benefit from more bus priority measures as a means of tackling congestion and increasing passenger numbers. A new report by the Confederation of Passenger Transport (CPT) suggests that Tyne & Wear, alongside Bristol, Birmingham, Leeds, Manchester and Liverpool, would benefit most from the measures and cites schemes that it believes would have the most impact. These include bus lanes, corridors and gates, priority for buses at traffic lights and mixed priority street schemes.

The report notes that York, Cambridge, Brighton, Edinburgh and parts of Manchester and Leeds have already seen the advantages of such schemes.

Last year, a total of 23.5 billion passenger kilometres were covered on the bus: an increase of 500 million and the highest figure for 10 years, suggesting that people are travelling further. And with more people travelling on the bus, bus operators have seen their turnover increase, which means a considerable investment in newer vehicles. The average age of the bus on the road is now seven years old, three years younger than those in operation a decade ago.

CPT spokesman Simon Posner said: “Bus companies are working hard to provide a truly viable alternative to cars. Operators can do all they can to create successful services but they cannot do it alone. The greatest successes occur when partnerships are created between local authorities and passenger transport groups. “Bus priority schemes have a long track record of success. Road management strategies have to be carefully planned and operators and authorities need to plan together. There is still plenty to do to improve passenger services, considerable achievements can be made but only if operators and local authorities work together.”

The research for the On the Move 2006 report was carried out by transport think-tank, the Centre for Transport Policy. To download a copy of the report, visit: www.cpt-uk.org/documents/On%20The%20Move.pdf

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .