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Amalgamation for Survival
Page 101
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Says a Student of Transport
WITH all the talk there has been of late about the effect on bus traffic of television and private motoring, among other things, one simple fact has been over
looked. It is that these are healthy symptoms of the promised higher standard of living for which we are all working.
Not for nothing is the bus described as "the poor man's car," and if the Government's promise to double living standards in the next 25 years is fulfilled, the future of the bus operator will certainly not permit complacency.
Many palliatives—and no cure— have been suggested for the migration of traffic away from the buses. One of these was that " private-car comfort" should be offered. But surely no operator can seriously believe that this is an acceptable sub 'stitute for one's own car?
There is no cure as the industry stands today. The present structure of the industry is the core of the disease, of which the increase in private means for travel is a symptom. Part of the cure lies in the hands of local authorities who run their own transport. departments.
No Hope of Alleviation in its present form, municipal transport is an anachronism. There are too many separate undertakings, each of them with heavy overheads. Many are in serious financial difficulties and there is no hope of alleviation. The industry cannot afford them any longer.
The only local-authority undertakings that can hope to survive in their existing form are those serving such cities as Manchester and Birmingham, from the centres of which private cars will almost certainly be excluded in time.
Wherever practicable—and south Lancashire comes to mind—municipal undertakings should amalgamate, and co-ordinate their services with those of the bus companies running in the area. Fares could be cut, the need for many protective rates would cease.to exist, and there would be more money available to subsidize uneconomic routes.
Where amalgamation with other council undertakings is impracticable by reason of distance, let the local authorities hand over their bus interests to company operators.
Only by making such a drastic change can the industry as a whole look to the future with optimism. In this context, suggestions such as private-car comfort in buses have possibilities.
Although they would help to buttress the industry, against its effects, such steps would not remove what is recognized as being one of the greatest single threats to future prosperi ty,television.
By next year, B.B.C. television should cover about 98 per cent, of the population in the United Kingdom. I nde pen d ent Television's present plans in terms of coverage are not so ambitious and it will be some years before they are completed, But it is from the I.T.A. that the industry has most to fear.
In time, a new pattern of pro. grammes will emerge. The accent will be on local programmes, and these will almost certainly have a greater pull with the viewer than all except such national shows as • Sunday Night at the Palladium."
Off-peaks Will Suffer
The permitted number of programme hours will increase, and off-peak traffic will be hit by the consequent screening of programmes during the day. Day-time television in New York is watched by more than half that city's housewives.
Bus operators should not be overconfident about recent reports that independent television is a failure. Television companies in the United States lost nearly 15m. dollars in 1948; in 1954 their profits were more than 90m. dollars.
By its nature, independent television is a far greater enemy than the 13 B.C. Whilst both are anxious to claim big audiences, there is the essential difference that for independent television they are a commercial necessity.
For this reason, there is little to fear if the B.B.C. are successful in their efforts to secure permission to introduce an alternative service. The danger lies in the possibility that the second service may go to the I.T.A.
But even television has its compensations for, ironically, it has already stimulated interest in equestrian events and cricket: among other sports. This has had the rather odd effect of increasing attendance at—and traffic: to—such events.
The cinema does not appear to be succeeding in its efforts to lure its old patrons away from their television screens. And when British film exhibitors do start to exercise their imaginations bus services are not likely to benefit. For with the increase in the number of cars and the promised better roads, their line of attack is likely to be the " driveM "cinema.
Refermce to road improvements calls for comment on the paradox that this subject represents to bus operators. On the one hand better roads will cut their operating costs; on the other they will serve as a. stimulant to private transport.
Even at this early stage, the effects of .railway modernization are proving astonishing. In their first week of operation, oil-engined railcars travelling between 'Birmingham, Sutton Coldfield and Lichfield carried three times the traffic that steam trains moved on the line in the corresponding week last year.
Rail Traffic Doubled This type of train has also doubled traffic between Bacup and Bury. Nor can these figures be discounted as "freaks." There has been an increase of 80 per cent. in passenger traffic since oil-engined railcars were introduced in Cumberland a year ago.
It is expected that within the next four years this type of rail vehicle will be operating on suburban routes in many parts of the country, as well as between certain cities. The electrification of further lines is also hoped to be well under way in the same period.
To meet this challenge, bus operators should model their services, as— far as this is possible within the narrow limits at their disposal, on those of the railways. The bus still has the advantage of offering what is virtually door-to-door travel, and, as The Commercial Motor of June 15 pointed out, with imagination, this could be used to create new traffit.
Some alleviation of the peak-travel problem will probably come about through the staggering of working hours. But this will be a slow process; it is, not likely to be given the impetus of enforcement. Social habits acquired through generations cannot be involuntarily swept away civerni