Subsidiary cornpany for Newcastle?
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• In a letter to Dr. Tony H. Ridley, director-general of the new Tyneside Passenger Transport Executive, the Newcastle City Council has asked if a subsidiary company can be set up within the PTE to take over the running of the city's present bus system. The council quotes from the White Paper Public Transport and Traffic which says: "In this way the existing interest and pride in the local bus services could be retained in the new system, and the undertakings themselves would be more responsive to local needs."
The transport working group of the city council thinks the establishment of a subsidiary would offer definite advantages and that the Executive will agree that it would be useful to appoint to the board of the subsidiary as unpaid directors some members of the city council. The working party further quotes from the White Paper: "The arrangement would also ensure that each subsidiary had a close link with those responsible for traffic policies, which can have so marked an affect on the efficiency and attractiveness of bus services."
This close link, the council points out, has been a reality in Newcastle upon Tyne for the past three years making possible an integrated approach to problems of passenger transport, traffic management and the road construction programme.