1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156 
All Aspects of the Problem
Page 105
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
Voluntary Co-ordination Investigated by Alderman A. H. Gledhill, LP., in a Cohensive Paper Read in Passenger Transport at mpre the M.T.T.A. Con THE co-ordination aspect of road passenger-transport administration was exhaustively dealt with by Alderman Arthur H. Gledhill, 'J.P., chairman of Halif-x Corporation's tramways and motor omnibus committee and of the L M.S. and L.N.E. Joint Committee, in a paper
entitled "Co-ordination of Road Passenger Transport and the Formation of Transport Boards," which he read, on Wednesday, at the annual conference of the Municipal Tramways and Transport Association. The conference, which is being held at Douglas, Isle of Man, opened on Wednesday and closes to-day.
Alderman Gledhill opened his paper. with a summary of the various attempts to co-ordinate traffic in London before the passing of the London Passenger Transport Act, 1933. He dealt in detail with the formation and objects of London Transport.
Referring to joint committees of municipal and other operators, the author pointed out that, when, in 1928, the railways obtained road-transport powers, they approached several municipalities with a view to operating buses in co-ordination with those undertakings. As a result of these negotiations, four joint committees of municipalities and railway companies were formed, the first two being at Sheffield and Halifax, whilst Huddersfield followed a little later, and Todmorden on January 1, 1931.
Halifax Well Advised in Forming Committee.
Alderman Gledhill said that Halifax Corporation was well advised by the negotiating committee when it recommended that a joint committee with the railways should be formed. The local services outside the borough have been transferred to the joint committee, whilst those within the municipal area are run by the corporation. The Tongdistance services operating through Halifax presented numerous difficulties in the way of co-ordination, and it was not until March 4 last that a uniform system of fares was inaugurated in the district.
The corporation strove for one of two policies, these being protection for its tramways and substituted bus services, or the payment of a percentage of all fares collected in its area, if other operators were to be allowed to pick up passengers at equal fares. After many meetings and two appeals, Halifax Corporation and the joint committee established their right to protective fares. An agreement was then concluded providing for the co-ordination of fares on the basis of the payment, by the company operators, of a percentage of' all fares collected within the area.
• The agreement has, Alderman Gledhill remarked, already proved to be a boon to the public, and a paying proposition to both parties to the agreement.„ "For areas in which the transport conditions are similar to those in the Halifax area," said the speaker, "it is, in the author's • opinion, the ideal which all passenger-transport operators should strive to obtain." • ' Alderman Gledhill also dealt with the joint committees of Huddersfield, Sheffield, Todmorden, Burnley, Caine and Nelson, and York, as well as with the Stalybridge, Hyde, Mossley and Dukinfield Tramways and Electricity Board and the Keighley-West Yorkshire joint undertaking. The committee at Huddersfield, he explained, comprises representatives of the corporation and the London, Midland and Scottish Railway Co., the gross profits being divided on an equal basis and each party bearing its own capital charges. Since the joint committee was established, a number of small operators' businesses has been purchased.
Sheffield Corporation went into partnership with the L.M.S. and the London and North Eastern Railway Co., and it was arranged that the bus routes entirely within the city should be operated by the corporation, and those f Xending outside the city should be run under the joint con trol of the municipality and the railways. The municipality's long-distance town-to-town services were purchased by the railways. There are now Only four 'all-day stage-carriage services not operated by. the committee, the remainder having been taken over. The committee has interrunning schemes with all important surrounding concerns.
Although Todmorden is somewhat smaller in population than many towns providing municipal transport, continued Alderman Gledhill, it was, he believed, the second municipality in the country to introduce buses. When negotiations with the L.M.S. were commenced, there was only one service entirely within the borough, and it was agreed that the whole of the undertaking should be brought within the control of the joint committee.
The speaker went on to explain the history and constia tution of the Burnley, Colne and Nelson Joint Committee, and stated that the S.H.M-D." Board was the only one in the country consisting of four corporations incorporated to provide transport and to supply electricity.
Discussing at length the proposed joint transport board for south-east Lancashire, Alderman Gledhill described the project as "an enligthened and progressive scheme which, prima facie, has much to commend it." He expressed the opinion that., where a number of authorities is so contiguous that the individual boundaries cannot be recognized, "some such scheme must eventually triumph." He found it impossible to believe that the complex financial problems of the proposed board could not equitably be solved.
Waning Interest in Lancashire Project.
He explained that, at the inaugural meeting, 11 local authorities were represented and, subsequently, the general managers of those municipalities' undertakings reported in favour of the principle of such a scheme. Now, however, only five undertakings continue to show interest in the proposed board.
Alderman Gledhill also explained the co-ordination scheme in existence at Belfast, which was praised in the book on transport co-ordination by Mr. Herbert Morrison, Under this arrangement no operator other than the corporation shall, without the consent of the municipality, pick up and set down passengers within the city or within a quarter of a mile of the boundary, or within a quarter of a mile of any tram route extending beyond the borough. Agreements have also been reached with long-distance operators, including three railway companies, under which local passengers may travel on those concerns' vehicles, the operators making payment to the corporation.
In connection with the principles determining the establishment of a joint committee or board, Alderman Gledhill quoted the report of the Select Committee on Transport in the Metropolitan Area, published in 1919, which stated that "a supreme traffic authority [for London] is essential to enforce a working scheme between all the services, in which the only consideration will be the maximum of convenience and comfort to the public, consistent with the reasonable financial requirements of each operating concern."
Aiderman Gledhill suggested that a suitable basis for the settlement of the financial problems attaching to the formation of a committee or board would be to issue debentures of a sufficient amount and rate of interest to meet the municipalities' liability for capital charges, and the division of profits on agreed percentages. The speaker favoured the formation of a small controlling organization, and expressed the view that a board of 85 representatives, such as is proposed in connection with south-east Lancashire, would be " altogether too unwieldy" and "would almost certainly be doomed to failure.'
There were, he concluded, few areas in Great Britain suitable for operation by a joint board on the lines of London Transport, but many suitable for joint committees.