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Aunt Sally
Page 63
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N0 industry comes under such constant criticism from the public as transport. All forms suffer alike, and neither nationalized nor independent undertakings are exempt. The correspondence columns of the daily Press are punctuated by complaints about the railways, and at times of crisis the editor may well turn over the whole column to the one subject. Even subsidiary railway activities attract more than their share of opprobrium. The "stale buns and sandwiches " on station buffets have become a byword, although now often undeserved.
London Transport have an equally bad reputation. The mere proposal to increase fares or-reduce services is met by untempered abuse. In revenge, the public pledge themselves to boycott the buses, or stage a sit-down strike when asked to leave a train.
Public opinion is only a little more favourably inclined towards municipal transport services outside London, or to bus and coach operation, or to airlines, or even to road hauliers. who at the present time urgently need public support. The haulier does not have to face the sustained barrage that is sometimes directed towards the Ivory Tower. He must feel uncomfortable at times when he reads what some people think about him. The rising annoyance at the occasional traffic delays caused by the passage of an abnormal indivisible load exploded into a minor publicity offensive with the object of banning that sort of load from the new motorways.
It did not matter that the primary purpose of the motorways is to help the movement of commercial and industrial traffic that continually grows in volume and tends to include more and more outsize pieces of equipment. It scarcely matters even now . that the limited experience already available on the Preston by-pass seems to show that the lavest loads can be carried on .that road with little inconvenience to other users. There are members of the public still, prepared to maintain that the outsize load should go by rail, although it is likely, that, if they had their Way, they , would at once begin to complain because the passage of the load was holding up passenger trains.
. Would-be Publican Public agitation is remarkably easily aroused on behalf of an unsuccessful applicant for an A or B licence. There is nothing like so strong a feeling for the would-be publican, whom one would have considered far more likely to arouse widespread sympathy.. There need be no more than a suspicion that nationalized transport and a few large hauliers are conspiring t6 keep, a little man ,out.. At once there are outraged protests, and newspaper comment is usually heavily weighted against the existing operators.
An instinctive dislike for transport appears to be almost universal. It takes, perhaps, its extreme form in India, where, according to reports, the railway Minister has had to' ask Parliament to Mcrease the penalty for travelling without a ticket, for wanton pulling of the alarm chain, and for assaulting railway staff. There, trains are not only regarded as a public utility, but also used to express political dissatisfaction. "Chains get pulled in protest against linguistic policies, increase in the cost-of-living index, in support of cow protection, or in protest against the Government's policy for resettling East Pakistan refugees," says The Manchester Guardian correspondent.
More phlegmatic, the British public have so-far not gone to such lengths in wreaking their frustrations on 'British Railways, although there are frequent cases where a group of otherwise respectable citizens see fit to Wreck the carriage in which they are travelling. In a somewhat exaggerated form, the evidence from India is a reliable indication of the general attitude towards transport all over the world.
Most industries may have features they prefer to keep hidden, and they naturally present their best face to the public. All that the purchaser sees in the shop is the product tastefully displayed on the counter, often in a pack that is designed, with the help of the best artistic talent available, to be as attractive as possible, and that he has been taught to admire by judicious advertising. Behind the product is the ingratiating face of the salesman, The product may be manufactured under ideal conditions, a, is often claimed, but even if the conditions are appalling the purchaser need know nothing about them.
Open to View Transport operators, particularly those who carry passengers, have no cupboard in which to keep skeletons. Their activities are visible all along the line. Any hitch, however trivial, is at once noticed by the customer. He entrusts his goods or himself to a vehicle, and knows when it is supposed to reach its destination. The operator cannot, so to speak, keep a spare stock of transport available for emergencies. If the vehicle breaks down or is otherwise held up, the customer experiences the delay at once. In a serious case, a spare vehicle may be sent to carry out the rest of the operation.
The idea of transport as a public utility has taken deep root. In India, or in some parts of it, the purchase of a ticket is apparently the exception rather than the rule, and it is not unknown for people to travel in Britain without paying. Not so long ago, Alderman.W. E. Body, chairman of Hull Town Planning Committee, was suggesting that everyone should travel free on the Hull municipal buses. and that the cost would be borne by the rates. With this scheme in operation, cars would be left at the city boundary, and the problem of parking in the city centre would thus he solved.
More frequently is heard the proposal of a fiat rate for goods transport, particularly to help scattered and outlying communities. The public are sympathetic, because so often their Only experience of goods transport takes place when they lave purchases delivered to their home. They are seldom expected to pay extra for the service, and they may be excused for assuming that the cost of transport is negligible and could easily be provided free by a Government that had the interests of the public at heart.
Transport is the modern Aunt Sally. It is particularly vulnerable to criticism, and the ease with which it attracts enemies might provide an interesting subject for a sociological study. The fashionable explanation until recently was that the transport undertakings, particularly those that were nationalized, suffered from a lack of good public relations. It has only gradually dawned upon the critics that a good many of the public relations experts within the transport industry are recognized as masters of their profession. Some of them have been singularly successful in other spheres, and it would be strange if they were all to lose their cunning when called upon to deal with the
transport problem. If at some time there is a public inquiry into that problem. it may well include the public. relations aspect within its terms of reference.