CfIT appoints consultants to review operation of Bus Service Operators Grant
Fri 08 February 2008
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The Department for Transport (DfT) has asked the Commission for Integrated Transport (CfIT) to examine the practical aspects of implementing a policy to replace the existing Bus Service Operators Grant (BSOG) outside London with a per passenger payment.
CfIT has appointed consultants Steer Davies Gleave to undertake the work and, particularly, to investigate the cost of replacing BSOG with an incentive per passenger payment (IPP) outside London. The move comes after the DfT's Putting Passengers First White Paper, published in 2006, which recommended consultation with stakeholders in order to better address bus operator performance and environmental impacts.
Supporters of the IPP model believe it would encourage operators to improve services though there are concerns that the removal of BSOG will undermine the economics of lesser-used services, such as those in rural areas.
The consultants have been commissioned to make recommendations on how passengers could be counted accurately and cost-effectively, payment mechanisms and a 'safety net' for rural services.
Also under CfIT's research progamme - in a joint commission with the Motorists' Forum - the Institute for Transport Studies at Leeds University is studying the effects of introducing a voluntary intelligent speed adaptation system across the entire road network on deaths and injuries as well as on emissions of CO2 and other pollutants.
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