Calls for new ideas on public transport

Aug 4 2008 by Chris Knox, The Journal

DRIVERS could claim free bus travel in exchange for their old cars as part of proposals to be put forward at a public transport conference.

One of the region’s bus operators has thrown down the gauntlet to the industry by inviting them to share their ideas on the future of public transport.

Go North East is inviting representatives of organisations such as Stagecoach and Nexus to a meeting in Birmingham with the condition that they must bring with them a concrete idea – or they will be charged for attending.

The event, which will be held at the city’s Ibis Hotel on September 4, is being hosted by the Gateshead operator and is based on the ‘bring a bottle’ party idea.

Its managing director Peter Huntley, who has invited 22 bus operators along to the event, said: “The idea came to me, as I was worried that those attending would think of the event as a free lunch and drinks at our expense.

“This way they will come prepared with well thought out ideas which everyone can discuss, or else they will be charged.”

Some of the more radical ideas that have already been proposed ahead of the meeting include a free one- to three-year travel pass in exchange for passengers’ old cars and a discounted fare for those paying over a certain amount for their own vehicle’s fuel.

Mr Huntley is also keen to address the group about the possibility of a ‘one pass fits all’ system, similar to Transport for London’s Oyster card, which Go North East is currently developing.

Most public transport firms, including Stagecoach and Arriva, have recently published pleasing results as more people have left their cars on the driveway and jumped on a bus or train to avoid rocketing fuel costs.

However, Mr Huntley remains concerned that not enough is being done to coax people back onto public transport. He has seen his firm’s bus passenger numbers decrease slightly over the last few weeks and believes that the credit crunch has kept some people from making non-essential trips altogether.

Although most firms have hedged fuel prices to a reasonable level, Mr Huntley admits that this will not be enough to protect them in the long term. “Everyone knows the cost of fuel is a major worry for everyone and soon enough it will catch up with the bus companies,” he said.

“However, we can turn this to our advantage by helping people to make that next step and leave their car at home in favour of cheaper bus and rail travel. Operators need to work closer together for the future of our industry.”

Alan Campbell, Labour MP for Tynemouth, said: “I think it’s an interesting scheme and it’s an example of thinking outside the box.

“I also think we need to incentivise the right choice, not just for the environment but for them (passengers) as well. The environmental agenda should be based around people being able to make choices.”

Tony Bosworth, senior transport campaigner for Friends of the Earth, said: “We would encourage people to try and use public transport as much as they can and leave their car at home. But this on its own is not going to tackle transport’s contribution to climate change.”

Car tax rises 'poorly explained'

THE proposed changes in vehicle excise duty (VED) car tax rates have been "poorly explained and communicated" and do not go far enough, a report by MPs will say today.

The projected carbon savings from the introduction of new VED bands were "far less than they could be", the report from the House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee stated.

The report went on: "We are surprised that the Treasury has risked provoking such political opposition for an environmental measure which, according to its projections, is of limited benefit."

The committee was also disappointed "that the Treasury had not calculated what the impacts of the (VED) Budget (changes) will be on emissions from second-hand cars, when this was one of the main objectives of the changes".

MPs said a failure to advertise green tax details to the public "breeds suspicion about their objectives, increasing the perception of them as revenue-raising measures with no environmental purpose". The Treasury should pay more attention to communicating the details and objectives of VED and other environmental taxes in the future, and should examine the case for a more ambitious reform of VED, the report added.

The committee was looking at the whole question of VED following the announcement in this year’s Budget that VED rates were to rise for existing cars with higher emissions registered since 2001.

The committee said that attention had since focused on the 1.1 million high-carbon cars, registered between 2001 and 2006, that will see their VED more than double, from £210 to £430 or more.

The MPs said they strongly supported the Treasury’s use of VED as an environmental tax and welcomed the changes announced in the Budget.

But their report went on: "However, we are seriously concerned that even the projected differentials between VED bands remain too small to be effective and, in consequence, the projected carbon savings are far less than they could be."