Second, transport capacity will pose a problem, as diverting workers to public transport is “not going to be a viable solution for all, given work site hours and location”, said Assoc Prof Theseira.
“The existing private bus capacity is likely insufficient, and policies may need to change to accommodate growth in that sector,” he explained.
“It has to be noted that what makes transport capacity a real challenge is that capacity is often sized for the peak, but this means capacity gets under-utilised the rest of the time. This is the reason why it is often so difficult to economically meet travel demand.”
Finally, said Assoc Prof Theseira, businesses will incur additional costs that he believes “will just have to be passed on to end service buyers”.
He doesn’t think costs will be the determining factor – but without an industry-wide ban or regulation at the moment, “it is obvious why any one firm does not want to be the first mover, if it makes them less cost-competitive (than) others”.
“To be clear, one might also decide that (transporting workers on lorries) is not acceptable in principle, but that the costs of changing the system are also insurmountable,” he added.
“I personally don’t think that is the case, but if it is so, then we should be prepared to understand that we are accepting a system that is disagreeable on principle for economic reasons.”
