BETTER AND CHEAPER PUBLIC TRANSPORT

Owing to economic development and rising petrol prices, car travel has diminished and use of public transport has increased. If public transport is to be more attractive, journey times must be reduced (at present these are more than double the times by car), routes and timetables adapted to travel needs, service frequency in evenings and holidays increased, punctuality improved, overcrowding in vehicles reduced, stops provided with shelters and information. Several projects have been carried out with the object of improving public transport service. These are (1) coordination, planning and direction of different forms of public transport, (2) coordinated improvements to reduce journey times and increase vehicle mobility, (3) traffic management schemes - evaluation and proposals, (4) public transport in 10-20 years, (5) improved bus services in existing housing areas. Stage 1 of no 5 surveyed problems connected with bus-only streets. In 1981 there were about 90 bus-only streets in housing areas. Traffic safety is generally good, but problems arise due to cars using these routes. One way of counteracting this is to make the routes one-way only. In stage 2 introduction of bus-only streets in existing housing areas is being studied. In stage 3 implementation is being analysed.