Just the ticket to speed up bus travel timetable

IONCE tried to get hold of some local bus timetables from years ago, sadly to little avail. My intention was to try to prove a hypothesis I had, namely that services had become slower.

Of course one reason for this would be the sheer level of traffic on our roads. In 1960 there were less than 5 million cars, a total that had risen to 39.2 vehicles in 2021. As a result you often find buses unable to proceed because of cars parked on both sides of the road, leaving not enough space for two vehicles to pass.

There is also the move towards low floor buses. Which while certainly welcome so far as wheelchair users are concerned, has the disadvantage that passengers don’t start getting on until everyone has got off.

Now I’m not saying for a moment that we go back to stepentry buses. But if vehicles in London can have two doors, one for exiting, why do we in the north have to be the poor relation once again?

To me however the single biggest cause of lengthier and slower bus travel has been the move to one-man operation. Yes it saved money, and probably stopped some less commercial routes from closing.

What’s more, the lack of conductors isn’t so much of a factor in rural services where there aren’t stops every hundred yards or so. But in a built up area the time taken for passengers to purchase tickets and question drivers has helped bring about the situation whereby buses are a less attractive proposition for potential travellers.

Now I realise that reintroducing conductors will cost money, and cause fares to rise. If that is the case, private companies have to bear the entire responsibility. Yet if the Government can promise billions for HS2 and other such schemes, why can’t they subsidise the return of conductors on our buses?

After all it’d also create jobs and make it safer for passengers, who’d be more willing to make journeys at night.