29 October 2007

NEW TRAFFIC COMMISSIONER TIER WOULD ADD BUREAUCRACY SAYS CSS

Passengers at local level would see little benefit from a proposed new bureaucratic tier in the Traffic Commissioners system, according to CSS.

CSS (formerly the County Surveyors’ Society) believes that any additional resources should be made available to the existing Regional Traffic Commissioners to enable them to play their part with local authorities in putting passengers first.

The suggestion of setting up a centralising bureaucracy is one of the options proposed by the Department for Transport (DfT) in its consultation on the future role of the Traffic Commissioners.

Colin McKenna, Chairman of the ATCO/CSS Integrated Transport Working Group, says: “The Regional Traffic Commissioners are not well resourced at the moment and that is where any additional resources should be targeted. Local authorities in general welcome the opportunity to work with local bus operators and their Regional Traffic Commission to focus on putting passengers first.

“Behind the consultation seems to be a view that more resources and procedures should be put in place to ensure that local transport authorities and bus operators are active in improving reliability and punctuality.

“We would like more discussion on good practice and incentives and we believe this would be more productive in delivering improvements for passengers.”

In its consultation response CSS says that it would like to see encouragement of the formation of local passenger user committees, which would take a wider view of the passenger interest and could be affiliated to an existing national group such as Bus Users UK.

ends

Media contact  

Barrie Hedges, Daybreak Communications office 0845 644 3845; mobile 07899 923756; barrie.hedges@daybreakcomm.co.uk

 Notes to editors

• CSS represents local authority chief officers who manage some of the most pressing issues facing the UK today. Membership is drawn from all four corners of the United Kingdom with members responsible for three-quarters of the road network, two thirds of the land area and just under half of the population of England and Wales. Operating at the strategic tier of local government, they are closely involved in crucial transport, waste management, environment, planning, energy and economic development issues.