The Public Transport Users Association (PTUA) has called for an upgrade of buses to every ten minutes on Stud Road, to make better use of new bus lanes. The upgrade from the existing 15 minute service would add two extra buses an hour.
“Although we applaud the installation of new bus lanes, they would be better justified with a ten minute service,” said Jeremy Lunn, the PTUA’s Outer East Convenor. “Upgrading the bus service would help to take traffic off the road by providing a more convenient service.”
Mr Lunn said that it is commonly recognised that running buses at ten minute intervals is the level which significant numbers of people will start to use public transport rather than driving.
“There is also the potential to carry more people than would otherwise be possible using cars with the same road space. Running buses every ten minutes is actually equivalent to providing capacity for 400 cars each hour. As the number of bus journeys increase, this figure will only become higher.”
The PTUA believes that time savings already achieved from the installation of bus lanes should already some of the resources needed for additional bus services. The upgrade would also help to alleviate concerns that the bus lanes appearing empty.
“With more buses, we’ll have less traffic, less pollution and a far greater quality of life in the outer east,” Mr Lunn concluded.