Examination of Witnesses (Questions 273
- 279)
WEDNESDAY 1 MARCH 2000
MR IAN
BUCHAN, MR
PETER HENDY,
MR FRANCOIS-XAVIER
PERIN AND
MR NICK
BUCKLEY
Chairman
273. Good afternoon to you, gentlemen. I wonder
if you would like to identify yourselves for the record? Perhaps
we will start at the end of the table.
(Mr Hendy) Peter Hendy from Firstgroup.
(Mr Buchan) Ian Buchan, Business Development Director
for Firstgroup.
(Mr Perin) Francois-Xavier Perin, Managing Director
of Transdev plc.
(Mr Buckley) Nick Buckley, Business Development Director,
Transdev.
274. Thank you. Mr Perin or Mr Buckley, do you
have anything you wish to say to begin the session or are you
prepared to go straight to the questions?
(Mr Buckley) We will go straight to questions.
275. Gentlemen?
(Mr Buchan) Fine.
276. To what extent can improvements in conventional
bus services be as effective as investment in light rapid transport
systems particularly in relation to reducing dependency on cars?
(Mr Buchan) I think they can be very effective. If
you look at the work we have done in Leeds, for example, with
the guided busway system over the last three years we have attracted
a 65 per cent increase in passengers on that service, and of the
increase we reckon some 30 per cent has come from people who formerly
used cars, both at peak and off-peak times. I feel if a light
rail transit system had gone in there I would doubt if it would
have increased the patronage by very much more than that. I think
by putting a very high quality reliable service in with very high
quality vehicles, well marketed, it has been very effective.
277. Gentlemen, I am going to ask that where
you agree with your colleagues we shall not need your comment,
but if you have a different point of view, we would like to hear
from you. Is that clear?
(Mr Buckley) Yes. We have a slightly different point
of view.
278. Please, Mr Buckley.
(Mr Buckley) We have found in our experience in France
that putting light rail in increases the total patronage right
across the urban network, not just in the corridor, by up to 50
per cent in about a five year period.
279. 50?
(Mr Buckley) Yes.
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