LOW FLOOR BUSES - SMART THINKING FOR THE FUTURE?

This article reports current UK projects and plans for introducing low-floor buses. In July 1993, the UK's first genuine low-floor bus is going into service in Liverpool with eight buses. Three experiments with fully accessible buses are planned to be running by February 1994, in Merseyside, Tyneside, and London. They are designed to show whether such high-quality vehicles can not only open up conventional public transport to those with impaired mobility, but also help to reverse a decline in bus use and perhaps lead to a revival of the bus industry. The Merseytravel low-floor buses are part of the Smartbus project, which is also testing a real-time passenger information system, new shelters, and a range of bus priority measures including traffic light transponders. In addition to Smartbus, there are major plans to improve the bus terminal facilities in Liverpool. However, there is continuing disappointment that commercial bus operators in this area are concentrating on seizing a share of the existing, declining market, rather than trying to expand the total market by innovation and investment in quality. In Tyneside, there is a demonstration project involving a four-bus service, and there is an open mind about the low-floor concept. In London, 68 new low-floor buses have been ordered, to enter service in autumn 1993, for trials of two manufacturers' projects.