TENDERED BUS SERVICES
Services to Lochgoilhead, Carrick Castle, Garelochhead, Kilcreggan and Coulport are examined by ROY WHYTE, who assesses how buses have been supported in the rural region over the years
At this time of financial uncertainty, it is good to know subsidised bus services are still functioning in rural areas of the United Kingdom, where the necessity to provide a bus service is essential and where it couldn’t survive on a purely commercial basis. Strathclyde Passenger Transport Executive explained the tendering process in its subsidised bus timetable leaflets: “As a result of the 1985 Transport Act, all bus operators must strive to become strictly commercial undertakings from October 1986. Within Strathclyde the role of Strathclyde Passenger Transport Executive changed from being that of co-ordinating and integrating bus and rail services to being one of assessing what the commercial bus operators choose to run and then attempting to cater for unmet demand by putting services out to tender.” Argyll & Bute in Scotland is peppered with such routes. The focus for this article is the development of two of the bus services which radiate out of Helensburgh – service 302 to Lochgoilhea…
