'Cut the bumpf say chairmen
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THE BURDEN of paperwork upon operators could be reduced if Traffic Commissioners' chairmen's recommendations are taken up by the Department of Transport.
In their 1982/83 annual reports, several of the chairmen have drawn attention to aspects of paperwork which no longer have much relevance to their regulatory and supervisory work.
Eastern chairman Ken Peter has questioned whether any purpose is served by notifications of new express services for which no road service licence is required. He said that 11 new services were started and two were reported withdrawn, while Scottish chairman Hugh McNamara has reinforced the point by saying there was no way of knowing how many express services have been discontinued. Notification of 55 new services was received there.
South Eastern chairman Randall Thornton has questioned the need to treat service withdrawals or reductions as formal applications in the context of liberalised licensing.
He pointed out that such reductions may be against the interest of a "limited section" of the public, but cannot be refused if they mean the rest of the service should be run at a loss, and he and his colleagues favour notification of cuts rather than full applications.
The Metropolitan Commissioners, whose area has greatest penetration by commuter coaches, wants the position of legal commuter club coaches to be clarified, either by an amendment to the law or by a test case.
There is still a widespread concern about illegal minibus operation in several traffic areas, and about the standards of some school buses, and the reports show that action taken against operators reduced the number of vehicles on 26 operators' licences, 12 of them in the Metropolitan area, No such action was taken in the Yorkshire, East Midland, Eastern, or West Midland areas.