This took me back to primary school mental arithmetic books, for which I do not thank you.
For real world consequences, I'd compare this to what happened when buses went from two-man to one-man operated, when all the conductors got sacked.
So, Michael, what happened when buses went from two-man to one-man operated, when all the conductors got sacked in Glasgow?
Fares stayed the same. Journey frequency stayed the same. No new routes opened up (there's an argument that some routes stayed open that would otherwise have closed sooner).
Vandalism and anti-social behaviour on buses went up (with no conductor to keep the peace, so fewer people used the service.
My guesses, sorry, first order aproximations, would be that no new buses would be bought before the current fleet reached their planned end of life, so we're looking at the difference between a standard and driverless replacement, or, possibly, some retro-fitted kit to existing fleets.
This is driving me (sorry) into thinking about the economics of bus companies. Much like trains, they seem to be reliant on Government franchises. Demand for the service doesn't seem to have a correlation with supply (I heard Coalition politicians talking about how you solved overcrowding on trains by raising ticket prices recently). It seems to me that any reduced costs would not be used for extra services, but to increase profits. Woo hoo!
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2012-02-23 02:41 pm (UTC)For real world consequences, I'd compare this to what happened when buses went from two-man to one-man operated, when all the conductors got sacked.
So, Michael, what happened when buses went from two-man to one-man operated, when all the conductors got sacked in Glasgow?
Fares stayed the same. Journey frequency stayed the same. No new routes opened up (there's an argument that some routes stayed open that would otherwise have closed sooner).
Vandalism and anti-social behaviour on buses went up (with no conductor to keep the peace, so fewer people used the service.
My guesses, sorry, first order aproximations, would be that no new buses would be bought before the current fleet reached their planned end of life, so we're looking at the difference between a standard and driverless replacement, or, possibly, some retro-fitted kit to existing fleets.
This is driving me (sorry) into thinking about the economics of bus companies. Much like trains, they seem to be reliant on Government franchises. Demand for the service doesn't seem to have a correlation with supply (I heard Coalition politicians talking about how you solved overcrowding on trains by raising ticket prices recently). It seems to me that any reduced costs would not be used for extra services, but to increase profits. Woo hoo!