Volume 7, 2007
Bus patronage, bus deregulation and Ten Year Transport Plan targets in Gateway Cities: the case of Greater Manchester and Merseyside
Richard D. Knowles,
Research Institute for the Built & Human Environment, University of Salford
Adwoa A. Ametepe
MSc Transport Engineering and Planning, University of Salford
Abstract
This paper examines whether the system of deregulated bus services operating in Great Britain outside London is able to deliver the growth in bus usage required by Gateway Cities to underpin their economic development and specified in the Government’s Ten Year Transport Plan in 2000. It examines the deregulated bus market at four geographic levels: national, county, district and bus corridor and finds that market dominance (above 40% market share) and near-monopoly control (above 66.7% market share) by individual bus companies are more prevalent the more local the geographic scale. Analysis of bus markets at bus corridor level in Greater Manchester and Merseyside equates closely with the regular travel patterns of most bus passengers. Evidence is produced to show that at this very local level the deregulated bus system yields little choice and competition and does not generate the conditions for increasing bus usage in Gateway Cities.
Distribution of earthworms across the Sefton Coast sand dune ecosystem
Kevin R. Butt and Emma J. Chamberlain,
School of Natural Resources, University of Central Lancashire
Abstract
An investigation of earthworms at the Sefton Coast sand dune system examined species distribution and abundance with respect to soil conditions and management across areas of vegetation succession. Laboratory work examined growth, maturation and survival of one species in soils with increasing proportions of sand (0-100%). Nine earthworm species were found on the dunes, but not where soil organic matter content was <1%. Dendrobaena octaedra and Lumbricus rubellus, found 300m from the strand line, were considered pioneering species. In areas of human disturbance a greater number of species was present. Earthworm distribution was influenced by dune successional stage and management.
The Kirkby Fell rock-slope failure, Malham, Yorkshire Dales
Peter Wilson,
Environmental Sciences Research Institute, School of Environmental Sciences, University of Ulster at Coleraine, Northern Ireland
Abstract
A two-phase development sequence of rock-slope failure on Kirkby Fell, Malham, is proposed based on field observations and Schmidt hammer data. The first phase was a rotational movement and the second was a rock slump-earthflow failure. An interval of unknown length separated these phases. Glacial/deglacial slope conditioning and seismic activity are considered to have been important triggering factors for the first phase of failure and seismic activity may have also played a role in the second phase. Rock-slope failures have been a neglected aspect of landscape studies in the Craven district and, as a consequence, their extent, variety, age and significance are largely unknown. Greater awareness and knowledge of these features is required in order to evaluate their contribution to landscape evolution.