The operation of dial-a-bus, fixed route minibus and conventional bus services in old Harlow was monitored; details of their operating characteristics, ridership and user characteristics are presented. A quantitative assessment of the services was made by comparing them when operated for the same hours, at the same fares and when costed on the same basis. The fares were normalised using a previously developed demand model. Pair-wise comparisons were made between dial-a-bus and minibus and between minibus and conventional bus. From these it was possible to isolate the influence of service type and frequency respectively. It was concluded that when operated at the same frequency, the demand actuated and fixed route services were equally attractive to passengers. However, the dial-a-bus service was found to be more expensive to operate, not only because of the cost of control but also because of the higher vehicle requirement which resulted from its lower operating efficiency. The comparative assessment of the fixed route services favoured the low frequency service using conventional vehicles. This was the only one which generated approximately enough social benefit to cover its resource cost of operation. (Author/publisher)
Abstract