" BUS FARES WILL RISE UNDER AREA. SCHEMES" ) N
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my view the introduction of 'area schemes under a public monopoly can only lead to the equalization of road and rail fares, with the inevitable consequence, that road fares will be substantially increased; the elimination of some services and the reduc-• tion in frequency of others; with always, in the background, the repressive hand of the Treasury, restricting, the expenditure of money on the con-, stant development which the travelling public have come to expect."
Mr. J. S. Wills, M.Inst.T., chairman of Ribble Motor Services, Ltd., was criticizing the Transport Bill when he made this statement at the company's annual general meeting
Dealing with operational matters; he pointed out that large-capacity doubledeckers were now being used by the company to an increasing extent. Referring to the shortage of .vehicles, he said that to date only 31, out of several hundreds on order, had been delivered. The
company ran altogether, 1,100 vehicles.
Difficulty in obtaining suitable hotel accommodation and failure of manufacturers to deliver new vehicles had made it impracticable for the company to resume its pre-war extended tours.
On the question of co-ordination, he said that about half the Ribble services were covered by an inter-working arrangement, and a tentative agreement had just been reached with Preston Corporation. The Traffic Commissioners had also approved applications by Lancaster Corporation and the Ribble concern for a joint service.