REMEMBER TELEBUS? - THE ROWVILLE REPORT

The paper begins by reviewing the experience obtained in the introductionof the TeleBus service to the Chirnside Park area in 1978. The paper then briefly discusses the changes in TeleBus over the intervening years, andlooks in some detail at the current operational environment in Rowville, an outer-eastern suburb some 30 kilometres due east of Melbourne CBD, and the patronage generated by that operation. Results of a market research study conducted in 1993 are presented to highlight the operational environment within which the Rowville service operates. The paper concludes by discussing the current environment for public transport operation in Victoria as one which places great emphasis on the cost of provision of services,rather than on the benefits provided. In addition the trend, within the constraints of the multi-modal MET ticket system, is to place on bus operators the responsibility to generate at least some of the cost of the operation of services from farebox revenue. This means that, at the operator level, the development of different, more flexible, and low resource use services must be a strategy employed to balance the social, economic and environmental costs and benefits of providing an appropriate level of public transport at the local level. (a) For the covering entry of this conference, see IRRD abstract no 861490.