Public transport falling apart?

Government transport policy in tatters

By PH Staff / Thursday, 23 June 2005 / Loading comments

One-third of passengers dissatisfied

Is public transport falling apart? You might be forgiven for thinking so given two recent events -- the low satisfaction ratings of bus passengers and calls for more railway station closures.

According to Department of Transport statistics released yesterday, one-third of passengers are dissatisfied with bus journey reliability, 30 per cent think buses offer poor value for money, and overall satisfaction was a mere 81 per cent throughout the country, falling to 78 per cent in London.

The figures are barely changed from the last time the survey was undertaken, three months previously.

What's surprising perhaps is that passengers have not been asked to comment on journey time -- especially in rural areas where buses tend to wander from village to village, taking hours to complete a trip a car could cover point-to-point in maybe one-third of the time, and in more comfort.

Meanwhile, the Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC) has requested that lightly used stations or services be closed down to release capacity for long distance trains. With rail fares in the UK already among the highest in Europe -- they've risen by seven per cent in real terms since 1997 while motoring costs have fallen six per cent in that time -- ATOC is suggesting in a recent report that it should hike fares yet again in order to discourage people from travelling.

This report also contains widely-publicised proposals to introduce rail congestion charges for peak-time travellers -- although many would argue that we already have these in the form of higher peak-time fares.

It seems bizarre that road charging is being proposed with the aim of reducing congestion at peak times, while the train companies are suggesting they do the same thing in reverse. What can this achieve apart from forcing more cars onto already crowded roads?