New Bill to Amend 1930 and 1933 Acts
Page 49
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
ABILL to legalize the sharing of taxicab fares and to vary the period of validity of carriers' licences, has been introduced into Parliament by Sir Assheton Pownall, supported by Sir George Harvey, Sir Isidore Salmon, Sir Francis Fremantle and Sir Robert Foster: The Bill, which is designed to amend Section 61 of the Road Traffic Act, 1930, and Section 3 of the Road and Rail Traffic Act, 1933, is entitled the Road Traffic Act, 1937. It is to be read a second time on December 11.
The first object of the Bill is to permit the carriage of passengers at.separa te fates in vehicles adapted to carry fewer than 'eight persons, without the
need for stage or express service licences, on the following conditions:—
(a) The number of passengers carried must not exceed four.
(b) The party raust not be brought together by the driver or owner of the vehicle, or, where the vehicle is the subject of a hiring or hirepurchase ag-reement, by the person who has let It for hire, or by -anyone who receives any remuneration for making the arrangements.
(c) The journey must not be advertised.
(d) The journey must not be one on which passengers are carried at separate fares frequently, or as a matter of routine, in the same vehicle, or in vehicles (other than machines used under a road service licence) belonging to the same owner, or belonging partly to one per' stun and partly t° another who i8 a party to a hiring or hire-purchase agreement of which any of the machines is the subject.
(e) The journey most not be made in conjunction with, or in extension of; a service operated under a road service lidence if the vehicle be owned by or made available under any agree
meat with the licence holder.
Section 2 of the new Bill provides for the extension of the period of validity of A, B and C licences to a prescribed extent. It also provides that, in order to arrange a convenient programme of work, a Licensing Authority may, in his discretion, shorten the currency period of a licence to meet the requirements of that programme.
A.R.O. holds the view that there should be a more uniform licensing system to cover all types of passenger vehicle not falling within the terms of the 1930 Act. Some measure of control of the fitness of hackney carriages, pseudo private cars, etc., should be exercised. This remark does not, of course, apply to the Metropolitan Area.