Combining Scheduled Commuter Services with Private Hire, Sightseeing and Tour Work: the London Experience by Derek Kenneth Robbins and Peter Royden White*
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CEE INGS Twenty-sixth Annual Meeting Theme: "Markets and Management in an Era of Deregulation" November 13-15, 1985 Amelia Island Plantation Jacksonville, Florida Volume XXVI Number 1 1985 TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH FORUM In conjunction with CANADIAN TRANSPORTATION 4 RESEARCH FORM 273 Combining Scheduled Commuter Services with Private Hire, Sightseeing and Tour Work: The London Experience By Derek Kenneth Robbins and Peter Royden White* ABSTRACT dent operators ran only 8% of stage carriage mileage but operated 91% of private hire and contract The Transport Act 1980 completely removed mileage and 86% of all excursions and tours quantity control for scheduled express services mileage.' The 1980 Transport Act removed the which carry passengers more than 30 miles meas- quantity controls for two of the types of operation, ured in a straight line. It also made road service namely scheduled express services and most excur- licenses easier to obtain for operators wishing to run sions and tours. However the quality controls were services over shorter distances by limiting the scope retained, in the case of vehicle maintenance and for objections. As a result of these legislative inspections being strengthened. The Act redefined changes a new type of service has emerged over the "scheduled express" services. Since 1930 they had last four years carrying long-distance commuters to been defined by the minimum fare charged and and from work in London. Vehicles used on such because of inflation many short distance services services would only be utilised for short periods came to be defined as "Express", despite raising the every weekday unless other work were also found minimum fare yardstick in both 1971 and 1976. The for them. 1980 Act used the more logical yardstick of dis- tance, defining Express services as those carrying ALL of their passengers a minimum of 30 miles, I. INTRODUCTION measured in a straight line. Tours and excursions in excess of 30 miles were also deregulated but those Table 1 shows the composition of the UK public under 30 miles still require an RSL. service vehicle (PSV) fleet in 1982. Whilst the ma- The Government has now begun a legislative pro- jority of vehicles are under some form of public gramme to remove quantity controls over the re- ownership there is still a high percentage of vehicles mainder of the industry e.g. stage carriage services (43%) operated by private (independent) operators. and excursion and tours under 30 miles.2 However, The UK bus and coach market had been heavily the 1980 Act did relax entry into the stage carriage regulated since the Road Traffic Act 1930 which market making it easier for operators carrying pas- identified four types of operation: sengers under 30 miles to obtain an RSL. This relaxation was important in the development of com- i) scheduled stage carriage services—local bus muter services. Although the majority of the pioneer services with frequent stops. services began as notified express services, they ii) scheduled express services—longer distance later applied for and obtained RSLs and offered coach services. journeys to points outside the centre of London, iii) Excursions and tours. which were less than 30 miles, to justify the RSL. iv) Private hire. Other operators applied to run on routes of less than The Road Traffic Act introduced quality controls 30 miles. Today there are very few commuter sery to ensure the good character and competence of the ices which are not stage carriage licensed. In partic- Operator and the driver, and also the safety standards ular, stage services qualify for fuel tax rebate and of the vehicle. But, in addition to these quality also are exempt from the stricter EEC driver hours' controls, there were also quantity controls over the regulations. first three types of operation. To operate either a scheduled service or a tour and excursion one needed to obtain a Road Service License(RSL) from II. THE LONDON COMMUTER MARKET the Traffic Commissioners. The RSLs were awarded so as to limit entry into the market and prevent what Map 1 shows the Greater London area and the was seen as "wasteful competition". Therefore be- surrounding Home Counties. Throughout this cen- tween 1930 and 1980 the only deregulated part of tury there has been an outward spread of commuting the market where free competition prevailed was the from these areas to London. As improvements in the private hire market. This accounted for the vast rail network increased average rail speeds the catch- majority of independent's output, along with excur- ment area for commuters grew and more were able sion and tour work. Even in 1981 private indepen- to take advantage of the cheaper house prices in the Home Counties. Commuting from outside the GLC area by rail peaked in 1976 at about 200,000 pas- * Transport Studies Group, Polytechnic of Central sengers entering central London between 7.00 and London. 10.00. Since then a combination of office relocation 274 TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH FORUM TABLE 1 COMPOSITION OF THE UNITED KINGDOM PSV FLEET 1982 No. of Operators % of Vehicles Nationalised Operators NBC, SBG + Ulsterbus 53 28% London Rdgional Transport and PTEs in main cities 8 23% Municipal (owned by Local Authorities) 50 7% .Private (Independent Operators) c5,000 43% Source: Robert.R.Davies, "Frederic Speight Memorial Lecture 1983" MAP 1. LONDON AND THE SOUTH EAST REGION SHOWING THE MAIN AREAS SERVED BY COMMUTER COACHES. • ort • •• •'' • ' .... • . ,• • • ., " C.N.; - , . • I * LA;) ,f4al ..\'''Ttia:ipe•Lsici.,,ri.2 "(04. 4.....,,,,i. .4,;.i. a..rin..e ....:ri:. d •• • ...'y, .e;hell:- .. ....„.....,, „..• •-••." -,‘, ....,„' -<,a- ,--, r'' • . '.. ,,-. '. • 1,,. 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' -•: , .. , '- - /______, • -' t,'q : .2...- --; -- - fi>77. / '' ---- .-- .k, • .- - • i „-..r/." - - )t\. 1 , 1. , )‘• ....._, ( , :''•'!/. 1<,_ __ ..._,....: •-,.....,,,,,,, .71 • :7 S ,4- ‘, T • A .. /-----'-,% y "f L..„........(• ' - '.....c ...,, .4 .0, .1.% T Ts •• . • • - f ,,..:..., 2 - ,_ - i - , ,-.ti::::_.._•;,, .......-, ,....,..'',,•••: ,„ ,,Bouami ornov Reo EA COMBINING SCHEDULED COMMUTER SERVICES 275 in suburban centres and increases in rail fares in real name INVICTAWAY' and Alder Valley who re- terms have resulted in reduction, to around 185,000 vamped their London services as `LONDONLINK'. in 1983 and this market is still declining. Subsequently United Counties developed some serv- The 1980 Act enabled all sectors of the coach ices from the north of London and Green Line devel- industry to compete against rail and each other in oped new services within its operating ring around this declining commuter market. Many of the suc- London. (see Map 2). cessful services make use of the motorway network to improve journey times. Places well served by commuter coach include the Medway towns, Grave- B. Municipal Operators send, Southend, Chelmsford and Braintree, Luton, Reading, Newbury and Aldershot (see Map 1). Prior to the 1980 Act municipal operators were This paper limits itself to coach penetration into limited to providing local stage carriage services. this commuter market. Longer distance express However, both Reading Corporation and Southend services such as those operated by the National Ex- Transport saw the opportunity to diversify their ac- press network are not considered although there was, tivities. Initially they established a joint all-day of course, increased competition here also after the through service from Reading to Southend via Cen- 1980 Act.' tral London but this did not work well, due to its length (3 hours 45 minutes) and the congestion in central London causing some problems for reliabil- III. GROWTH IN THE COMMUTER COACH ity. The services were separated in May 1982 since MARKET which date both have expanded, particularly South- end. Ironically from October 1980 the timings of the Initial response to the opportunities afforded by joint service enabled only journey to work traffic the 1980 Act was slow. The first day of the new from Reading to London. Southend Transport did deregulated environment was 6 October 1980 when not see a potential commuter market. By March around 20 vehicles provided services during the 1985, however, Southend had some 29 vehicles in- peak period. All three sectors of the industry were cluding three double-deck coaches, involved in peak represented from the start. period arrivals and departures from central London. A. Subsidiary Companies of the State-Owned C. Independent Operators National Bus Company (NBC) Olsens of Strood operated several services from Those who immediately entered the commuter the Medway towns and Gastonia Coaches estab- market were Maidstone and District using the brand lished a service from Cranleigh and Guildford. MAP 2. OPERATING AREAS OF NBC SUBSIDIARY COMPANIES IN SOUTH EAST ENGLAND. ,s RUGBY LAJUiv Seco % • NOPIHAMPTON MIDLAND CAMBRIDGE D SOt O'N • IPSWICH 111‘b, • EN AM MILTON .TRICT SOUTH EYNES HELTEN MIDLAN COLCHESTER 0 ER EA OXFORDQ