Archive for July, 2008

A 21st Century Routemaster?

Posted in July 26th, 2008

The death this week of former British Leyland boss Lord Stokes at the age of 94 reminded me of the famous story – which I am assured is true – of his refusal to put the rear-engined Routemaster bus (the FRM) into production in 1968 and his insistence that London Transport should buy ‘off the [...]

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Winter bus patronage shows decline outside London

Posted in July 26th, 2008

by Chris Cheek in Bus, Statistics

BUS patronage fell during the first quarter of 2008 in all parts of the country outside London, when compared to the previous quarter, according to the latest provisional figures released by the Department for Transport. However, the statistics, which are seasonally adjusted, show that passenger numbers remained ahead of the same quarter in 2007 in [...]

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Eurostar benefits from shifts in terminal and mode

Posted in July 26th, 2008

by Chris Cheek in Rail, Statistics

Congratulations are due to Eurostar, following the release of figures which show strong growth in patronage in the first half of 2008. The growth has been driven by the move to St Pancras last November, plus modal shift as people take advantage of the faster journey times or fly less because of environmental worries. The number [...]

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Beacons of Excellence

Posted in July 16th, 2008

by Chris Cheek in General

The first ever Passenger Transport Management Awards were presented last Friday, 11th July, at a ceremony at the Dorchester on Park Lane, one of London’s most prestigious hotels. It is a very special venue, and was well on form, so that everybody had an excellent lunch and was very well looked after. The prizes were [...]

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Farewell to evidence-based policymaking

Posted in July 8th, 2008

by Chris Cheek in Bus, General

At its very best, the system of select committees introduced into the House of Commons by Lord St John of Fawsley when Leader of the House between 1979 and 1981 is a powerful adjunct to democracy. Parliamentary Committees that perform well can do an excellent job of holding government to account, and provide a forum [...]

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Punctuality Improvement – or just slower buses?

Posted in July 8th, 2008

by Philip Higgs in Bus

The wait is over and, after almost twelve months, the Department for Transport has published the headline results of the Bus Punctuality statistics for 2007. There’s no need to shoot the messenger, for the news is good – 75 per cent of non-frequent buses in Great Britain outside London departed from bus stops “on time”, [...]

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