Favouring Public Transport

“Reliable, integrated transit services that can compete with
the comfort and convenience of the car will be integral to the
most heavily-loaded transport corridors.”

Reliable, integrated transit services that can compete with the comfort and convenience of the car will be integral to the most heavily-trafficked transport corridors.

Technology offers the prospect of more efficient and flexible, inter-connected transit and vehicle - highway systems (e.g. the door-to-door seamless journey, a personalised journey, more favourable overall travel costs).

There will be widespread use of guided busways and/or dedicated transit lanes, plus queue management to favour transit vehicles. Modal interchange facilities to long-distance and local collective transport will go ahead on a grand scale, eg 'Transferiums', or multi-modal travel centres, offering large-scale park and ride facilities, integrated payment, pre-booking and ticketing arrangements.

Parts of this package can only go ahead with the active cooperation of the highway Network Operator. In future they will work closely with the vehicle operators to achieve flexible and reliable transit operations, including demand responsive features. Examples are semi-automated road trains of minibuses using intelligent cruise control and/or electronic tow bars.
  

• 3 in 10 homes in Britain do not currently own a car. One fifth of households will still not own a car by 2030. Public transport vital to reduce social exclusion, particularly for those without access to a car.
  
  
• 10-year plan anticipates growing public demand for better quality and more choice in transport.
  
  
• As the car has become the dominant mode of travel, public transport has declined.
  
  
• Real cost of monitoring has remained unchanged since 1970’s whilst cost of using public transport has risen substantially.
  
  
• Low population densities increase the cost per head of providing public transport which in turn limits its provision. Only 36% of households in rural areas are within a 10-min walk of a regular bus service.
  
  
• On current forecasts, rail passenger demand will grow by 34% over next 10 years, but capacity constraints would limit growth to 21%.

• Develop the highway infrastructure to allow efficient collective transport operations. (e.g., widespread use of guided busways and / or dedicated transit lanes, plus queue management to favour transit vehicles).
  
  
• Develop modal interchange to long-distance and local collective transport on a grand scale (e.g. Parkway stations, Coachway pick-up points at motorway junctions, ‘Transferiums’, multi-modal travel centres, park and ride facilities, integrated payment and ticketing arrangements, etc.)
  
  
• Work with operators to achieve flexible and reliable transit operations on the highway, including demand responsive features, (e.g., semi-automated road trains or minibuses using intelligent cruise control and / or electronic tow bars).
  
  
• Ensure the connected customer has reliable, high-quality information about collective transport.
  

• Start to improve the reliability and convenience of bus, coach and rail travel, through a series of active traffic management initiatives.
  
  
• Introduce active traffic management in congested corridors, in collaboration with enforcement agencies, land / property developers, vehicle manufacturers, bus priority, dedicated park and ride and other interchange facilities, etc.
  
  
• Develop pilot interchange facilities with local and long-distance collective transport.
  
  
• Secure the Travel Information Highway on a multi-modal basis, as part of “Transport Direct”, and in partnership with other modal operators, local authorities, major trip generators.
  
  
• Secure delivery of real-time information for pre-trip planning and mid-journey options, covering travel mode options, journey times, routes and costs and inter-modal comparisons.
  
  
• Aim for zero tolerance on coach crashes.
  
  
• Work with CPT and vehicle manufacturers, owners and operators to develop advanced public transport operations for the highway (safety risk assessment, driver fatigue, hazard / operability studies, personal security, operator training, standardisation of equipment, etc).