Money makes the bus industry’s world go around but help is needed to control costs

The recent woes around, concessionary fares, rising fuel costs and BSOG reforms facing the bus industry of late all boil down to money. More public funding is needed, says Paul Turner, and short of writing a blank cheque, bus priority measures, cashless ticketing and car restraint hold the key to controlling the key variable of operating costs

Recent issues of Transit have not made cheerful reading for the bus industry. The debacle of the concessionary fares scheme in England, reports of resulting service cuts as hard pressed local authorities struggle to manage their transport budgets. Then there’s the problem of rising fuel costs, continuing wage inflation and falling budgets for supported

services.

All this saps morale, wastes scarce management time and destabilises services for passengers. Infact, what the industry needs...

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