TRAFFIC management in St Albans needs a radical overhaul before bus operators can run an adequate service, according to a report from Sovereign commercial director David Hurry.

Mr Hurry said the environment in St Albans, 'does nothing to attract additional bus patronage,' and 'the ongoing problem of congestion in St Albans makes it very difficult to schedule services that can run on time.'

His report will be submitted to the next meeting of St Albans District Council's transport strategy forum on September 5.

In it, Mr Hurry criticises the complete lack of bus priority schemes in St Albans and the poor condition of waiting facilities at many sites around the city.

He said: 'If more people are to be encouraged to travel by bus as a means of easing congestion then not only does the bus service need to be reliable but the bus journey needs to be quicker than by car, taking all factors into account.

'The last experience of bus travel for a significant section of the population was the uncomfortable journeys they used to make to and from school in an elderly, decrepit, noisy, smelly rust-bucket ten, 20 or 30 years ago.

'Buses have changed, bus travel has changed, perception of bus travel has not.'

Mr Hurry said the lack of consultation with local authorities had led to two of the four bays at the City Station interchange being unusable and a bus shelter in Quantock Close, Marshalswick, for a bus stop that is in the wrong place.

Due to increasing fuel costs, Sovereign will be reducing the frequency of the S2 service, which serves Marshalswick, Jersey Farm and The Camp, from next September.

Mr Hurry urged local authorities to:

start bus priority schemes

improve the co-ordination of traffic signals,

upgrade waiting facilities at bus stops

and invest in a workable Park and Ride scheme.