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LTB deficit down £1 m despite 'fares setback'

25th April 1969, Page 32
25th April 1969
Page 32
Page 32, 25th April 1969 — LTB deficit down £1 m despite 'fares setback'
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

• "A year of achievement" is the claim made by London Transport for its operations in 1968, according to the Board's annual report for last year, presented to Parliament and published on Wednesday by HMSO, price 9s 6d.

The detailed review of the year's operations shows that, in spite of the Transport Tribunal's refusal to agree to fare scales which had already been agreed as necessary by the Prices and Incomes Board, the total deficit for 1968, after interest payments, at £10m was nearly Lim (£0.9m) less than that for 1967. The fare increases, which were introduced last August and September were, says the report "too little and too late" to avoid a deficit before charging interest.

Main achievement of 1968 claimed by LTB is, of course, the opening of the new Victoria Line, although the Board also lists the introduction of the first large instalment of the new single-deck o-m-o buses in conditions where heavy concentrations of passengers have to be dealt with. It represents "the first step in a programme designed both to reduce the work force needed to man the buses and, by shortening routes, to minimize the effects of traffic congestion".

Traffic receipts totalled £105.1m, an increase of £2.6m compared with 1967. Of the total, buses and coaches accounted for £65.3m (£2m up on 1967). However, the working expenses were £71.6m, resulting in a deficit of £6.3m.

The report refers to the Joint Review initiated by the Government and the Board in 1966, preceeding the White Paper "Transport in London''. Commenting on the report of the directing group the White Paper stated that "Judged against transport undertakings in large cities abroad which provide a similarly comprehensive range of services, London Transport have done well. They have so far had no capital grants for investment expenditure. Fares, though often criticized, are lower than in many foreign undertakings."

Discussions with the Government and the Greater London Council continued throughout 1968 on the legislation needed to give effect to the agreement reached at the end of 1967 to transfer the overall control of the undertaking to the GLC, the report states.

In accordance with the Transport Act 1968, it is estimated that the Board will receive about £5.6m in infrastructure and bus grants in respect of expenditure to December 311968.

The report criticizes the decision to adopt the £1 /new penny /fp decimal system and the absence of a 21p coin to replace the 6d piece. This will "cause considerable difficulties to London Transport". For example the automatic gates on buses which at present accept one 6d piece will have to be converted at considerable cost to accept a coin of a different size or more than one coin.

Turning to road service operations, the introduction of the new o-m-o buses and the new Red Arrow, suburban flat fare and country (green) bus Autofare services is recorded. The first order was for 3611 singledeckers but it has been found possible, by altering the internal layouts and fare collection systems, to reduce the length to 3311 5in. without appreciably reducing the passenger capacity. From the autumn of this year new deliveries will be of buses of the shorter length.

The report emphasizes that the reshaping plan is still in its early stages. Changes in the design of buses and fare collection equipment since the proposals were first formulated in mid-1966, together with experience with the new services and types of vehicle introduced during 1968, are being carefully evaluated so that future stages of the plan can be adapted as necessary to take full account of the latest techniques and passenger requirements.

The year saw the delivery of the last five Routemaster double-deckers, together with 392 o-m-o 36ft AEC Merlin /MC Al singledeckers. Vehicles on order for 1970 include 17 double-deck o-m-o buses on a standard rear-engined chassis, just under 31ft in

length. These will be operated on central routes alongside single-deck o-m-o buses so that a direct comparison can be made of the relative advantages of the two types. (A spokes nan for LTB told CM this week that this latter order has not yet been placed.) During the year the staff shortage had worsened and in the summer of 1968 the establishment was down 16 per cent for drivers and 13 per cent for conductors. This led to unavoidable lost mileage (12.2 million-5.2 per cent of the scheduled mileage) and missing journeys. However, the introduction of nearly 300 o-m-o single-deckers during the last four months of the year led to a temporary surplus of conductors at some garages; the majority were transferred to other garages. There was a net loss of about 1,000 drivers during the year.

In 1968, buses represented only a seventh of the total volume of vehicular traffic into London but carried 60 per cent of the passengers by road. Private cars represented 80 per cent of the traffic volume, but carried less than two-fifths of the passengers.

Although some progress was made with traffic management schemes during 1968, the implementation of these measures slowed down in the latter half of the year. London Transport stressed the need to maintain a progressive programme as a matter of urgency if the adverse effects of increasing traffic were to be contained.

"If traffic management measures and parking controls are to achieve their purpose, strict enforcement is essential", adds the report, and "London Transport would like to see a more rapid extension in the use of traffic wardens," it states.

• Plans have been approved by Hamilton Town Council for the construction by Central SMT of a E142,500 bus terminal at Brandon Street, adjacent to the railway station. A large car park is also planned within the site.


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