An analysis is made of the prices charged by privately owned bus and coach companies for works and school contract services in a particular area. A regression equation is obtained which relates the contract price to the type of contract (works or school), vehicle size and distance run. This equation is used to compute the fare required for a works contract service to break-even at varying loads and journey lengths. This shows that it is unlikely that, because of their low capacity, break-even services could be operated with minibuses. In order to break-even at stage bus fares, a contract coach service would need to attract about 25 passengers. Increased loads would result in proportionally lower fares. To become financially attractive to car drivers a service would need to carry 40 passengers for an average journey length of at least 10 km. It is shown that, on average, each vehicle earned about £150 per week from its peak hour contracts. Standard costing indicates that an equivalent period of stage-carriage operation would cost at least £200 per week. (Author/publisher)
Abstract