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Page 37
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MANY bus operators may feel they have been .transported back nearly 20, years when reading the suggestion (see page 78) of a return to the ill-fated Area Schemes. These were envisaged in the 1947 Transport Act but never came to fruition.. However, two factors force serious consideration of the suggestion. One is that it has been put forward•only in respect of Scotland, and the second is that it was proposed by that eminent, recently retired Traffic -Commissioner, Mr. W. F. Quin. •Few people can have the interests -of Scotland more at heart and also pOssess. so much detailed, specialist knowledge of the particular inherent problems.
The reported discussion following Mr.. Quin's suggestion (which came in a paper to the Scottish Road Passenger Transport Association Conference on Wednesday) reflects Scottish operators' views. But, however valid the suggestion might be north of the Border, any Government inevitably must consider it in a national context. Mr. Quin likened his projected Scottish Transport Board to the existing London Transport Board. It is doubtful whether it is, in fact, a valid comparison. The London Board operates within some 2,000 square miles of dense population, using about 8,000 vehicles.Scotland is a sparsely populated area of some 30,000 .square miles, in which approximately the same number of buses is running as in London.
As elsewhere, the heart of Scotland's problem is unremunerative rural bus routes. Rebate of last October's fuel tax impost is a start: cannot the Government be persuaded to look once more at this problem and face up to its obvious implication—whether provision of non-paying bus services is, in fact, not a social charge to the nation?