Official Insanity
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By F. J. Speight, M.Inst.T.,
Secretary, Geo. Etter and Co., Ltd„ uno Chairman, Passenger • Vehicle Owner,' Association.
'INSOFAR as road passenger trans port is concerned, the impression one gets from reading the Bill is that Part 4 has been hastily compiled and included at a late date, without any proper thought being applied to the consequences which might arise if that part of the Bill, in its present form, ever became law.
Many of the provisions seem to be incomplete and obscure, and this is the more remarkable when it is realized that, so far, no indication has been given by the Minister as to what is to be the policy of the TranspOrt Commission when it is eventually set up. This might have been expected tohave been indicated in the form of a White Paper, or at least by a statement from the
Government, in the absence of which the ultimate fate of road passenger transport appears to be left largely to the whims of whatever section of the Transport Commission is eventually detailed to put forward schemes Operators may quite well be left in 3 state of complete uncertainty for several years if the Commission decides that the time is not yet ripe for dealing with passenger services. This, in turn, would result in operators being unable to formulate for periods ahead any properly thoughtout scheme, either for long-term maintenance or development and capital expenditure.
The council of the Passenger Vehicle Owners' Association, after careful consideration of all aspects olthe Bill, is fully in agreement with the view, already widely expressed throughout the industry, that a public inquiry is the only justifiable course for the Government to take.
As Part 4 is incomplete, in that schemes are to be formulated and put forward at uncertain dates in the future, although in even a year or two, both home and world conditions may well be vastly different from those of to-day, there appears to be no adequate reason for including road passenger transport in the Bill. The only " justification for this action would be to satisfy the demands of those with influence in Government circles, who, at all costs and under any condition, ihsist on every section of transport being dealt with, irrespective of merits or even common-sense practicability.
Apart from any other consideration, the compensation provisions are obscure, ill-conceived and apparently have no relation at all to the realities of the present set-up of the industry. They are largely dealt with by referring back to earlier parts of the Bill, which may conceivably, before the Bill becomes an Act, be amended in such a way as to be completely inapplicable to road passenger transport.