PITY THE PUBLIC TRANSPORT PLANNER

Public transport planning in most cities is very difficult because no city fits an ideal pattern. The author discusses the problems faced by London Transport following legal enforcement of the doubling of the fares and the cutting of services. The number of people using any public transport system depends on the interaction between the cost of fares, the ownership and use of cars and where people live and how many can walk to a bus stop or a railway station. The relative merits of bus, light railway systems and full railway systems are examined. Buses are most economic to run but are most subjected to traffic congestion. Travel by train is the cheapest and quickest way to travel longer distances and three-quarters of urban and suburban commuters travel by train. Transport planners must also take density into account to determine how many potential commuters live in a specific area. Density determines the number of people wanting to use a service and the numbers likely to use public transport outside working hours; it also influences the number of people who use cars. However a high demand from a dense traffic area often means that low productivity must be traded against attractiveness to the customer. (TRRL)