PASSENGER TRAVEL NEWS.
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The Latest Doings and Developments in the Bus and Coach World.
BRADFORD'S TRANSPORT BILL.
The Proposals of the City Council Receive Formal Sanction After Much Discussion at a Recent Meeting.
"El ORMAL, sanction to the proposals of the Bradford City Council to promote a Bill giving powers to run omnibuses to all the neighbouring centres, . to let out motor omnibuses on hire, to empower the Keighley Corporation to enter into a joint service between the two towns and to give powers to Bradford to carry geode and animals, was given at a recent meeting of the council, the voting being 49 in favour of the proposals and 24 against.
At the meeting,letters objecting to the proposals were read from the Bradford Chamber of Trade, the Bradford and District Commercial Vehicle Owners' Association and the Bradford Horse and Motor Vehicle Owners' Association.
The organizations, in appealing to the members to vote against the proposals, or to refer them back for further consideration, objected to the corporation providing omnibuses at enormous exPense and cost to the ratepayers of the city, when the licensing committee was refusing to grant licences to private firms seeking to run buses on the same routes as those scheduled in the Bill. It was Paid that it was not in the publc interest that the corporationshould become common carriers of heavy goods and cattle on the bus routes. It was stared that the last Bill cost the corporation £15,000, but the cost of the Present one would depend upon the opposition put forward.
Alderman Gadie, M.P., objected to the Bill, and said many routes had been scheduled which would not be wanted in the lifetime of the members of the preseut council. On one route for which it was asking for powers there were only 22 houses in a distance of 2i miles.
Mr. J. A. Guy said he had been returned to the council on November 1st on the main principle that he was opposed to any curtailment of motor omnibus traffic in Bradford.
Mr. G. H. Eady, who opposed the Bill, said he wished members had seen the report which had been before the tramways committee the Otevious day before proceeding to discuss the Bill. The re
port, he said, showed that the committee was in a bad financial position,. and he could not understand why a Bill of this sort could be expected to get it out of the difficulty. It had been clearly put before the committee r that whenever it ran trams, say a mile and a half from the Town Hall, it began to lose money on the system. The tramways had done good service, but they had sufficient to undertake at the present time, and to attempt to enter into competition with private traders and private bus owners was practically impossible.
Objection was also raised by several members to the ratepayer' money being spent outside the city, but the suppor ters of the Bill said that it was necessary to get powers to protect the existing trantways. Mr. W. Leach, a labour member, said the council had very inadequate powers to handle or control private bus traffic or private passenger services.
Objection was raised to the references by Mr. Eady to the financial position of the tramways department and, on the invitation of the Lord Mayor, the city treasurer was allowed to speak. He stated that, generally speaking, he regarded the Bradford tramways undertaking as being in a good financial position.
Replying to the discussion with regard to trams, omnibuses and tailless vehicles, Mr. Irvin Smith, the chairman of the tramways committee, said the committee would not be wedded to any type of vehicle. It was just asking for permission to be able to use any and every type of vehicle that proved to be suitable for the district.