§ Mr. WrayTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport what contact he has with the Association of Metropolitan Authorities regarding the effect of bus deregulation(a) in urban areas and (b) in rural areas.
§ Mr. PortilloThe Association of Metropolitan Authorities has sent me a copy of its recent report on bus deregulation in the metropolitan areas, and has written to me with representations on the Department's recent review of deregulated bus services. I am meeting the association on 3 November.
§ Mr. WrayTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport what are the specific mechanisms and instances used to monitor the working of bus deregulation, following the closure of the transport and road research laboratory.
§ Mr. PortilloBus operators provide regular returns which enable the Department's statistics directorate to monitor changes in vehicle miles, patronage, receipts, fares, unit costs, vehicle stock and staff numbers. To supplement this information in the initial period following deregulation the transport and road research laboratory constructed a data base derived from service registrations. This has now been discontinued but TRRL continues to conduct studies into specific aspects of deregulation such as passenger information, competition, operator strategies, innovation, safety and subsidies.
§ Mr. Brandon-BravoTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport what is his latest information on the number of new bus operators who have entered the market as a result of deregulation.
§ Mr. PortilloBy 1 May 1988 there had been a net increase of 465 operators running local bus services as a result of deregulation.