Public Transport

Buses

The majority of bus services in the package area are provided by a single major operator, the Wilts & Dorset Bus Company Ltd, which has invested in a fleet of low-floor wheelchair accessible vehicles. This has resulted in the City of Salisbury being the first in the United Kingdom to achieve a city-wide network of wheelchair accessible buses. However, a consequence of providing modern buses is the need to charge fares at a level that reflects the quality. This has resulted in complaints from bus users.

The operation of bus services in the package area is adversely affected by congestion on the local highway network, by delivery vehicles, and others, obstructing the carriageway and parked vehicles obstructing bus stops. Waiting facilities for bus users, particularly in residential areas, are poor and information about bus services is inadequate. Because nearly all bus services terminate in the city centre, there is a consensus amongst consultees that buses do not really take people where they want to go without the need for an unattractive change of bus.

The County and District Councils have an informal partnership arrangement with the Wilts & Dorset Bus Company Ltd. which has seen the implementation of bus stop enhancements in the city centre. As resources permit, enhancement work will progress to the remainder of the Salisbury and Wilton area.

The Councils and the bus company are currently building upon the close liaison established to date and intend to address further areas of partnership including the issues of fare structure, ticketing and passenger information as well as bus priority and network management to improve service reliability.

Rail

Between 1991 and 1998 rail use (boarding plus alighting) at Salisbury has risen by 42%, while the number of train services has increased by 7%. However, the edge-of-centre site of Salisbury station, plus the closure of other stations such as Porton and Wilton means that the raii network is not particularly accessible, either as an access mode to the city or for picking up services to other destinations. Integration with bus services is currently poor.

Parking at Salisbury station has been identified as a constraint upon further growth of rail journeys boarding at Salisbury. However, increase of long-stay parking at the station would potentially conflict with the objective of restricting growth of traffic into Salisbury. There is already evidence of passengers driving to other stations such as Andover, and the benefits of improved accessibility for longdistance journeys needs to be taken into account when evaluating the case for stations at Wilton and Porton.

Taxis

There are about 120 taxis and 100 private hire vehicles licensed within the Salisbury District. Most of these operate in Salisbury. Of the taxis, 50 are wheelchair-accessible.

Currently, there are five taxi ranks in Salisbury, with a capacity of 26 vehicles. A problem exists in New Canal, where the rank for 15 vehicles often overflows. Its use as a taxi park when custom is sparse is questionable.

There is a desire to make taxis more responsive to demand both in time and geographically. In the shorter term, taxi hail points on inbound routes are being considered.

Experimentally, taxis have been permitted to use the contraflow bus lane in Milford Street. If this causes no problems the facility is likely to be made permanent.

A taxi strategy is being developed, with the aim of establishing partnership between the County and District Councils and operators. Various measures will be evaluated, including the scope for taxi sharing, particularly in connection with the district hospital at Odstock.