M.H.C.S.A. MEMBERS SHORT OF IDEAS
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Disturbing Tranquillity Pervades Last Week's Statutory Meeting THE statutory meeting of the Motor Hirers and Coach Services Association was held in London on September 28th. Mr_ H. T. Rickards being unavoidably absent, Mr. F. A. Flin took the chair: Mr. Rickards was unanimously re-elected as president, and it was decided to reduce the number of members on the management committee from 20 to 15. Voting took place by the 200 or so members present, and the following were elected to the committee, the figures in brackets indicating the number of votes received :Messrs. M. Logette (38), R. Birch (34), F. A. Flin (34), A. L. Guilinant (33), J. Hearn (33), j. H. Lowe (32), A. E. Tapper (31), Miss C. Cuiverhouse (31), Messrs., J. B. Elliott (28), E. Monkman (27), E. J. Southall (27), C. Dobbs (22), F. Nightingale (22), G. Bowen (19), W. P. French (19). Captain C. E. E. Paha had withdrawn his name before voting commenced.
After some discussion, it was decided to change the name of the association to the National Association of Public Service Vehicle Operators ; this will need to be ratified.
At 8 o'clock the meeting was declared an open one. Mr. Guilmant took the chair, and in an opening address said that operators were paying appnoximately 1d. per vehicle-mile in petrol tax alone.
Mr. Logette said that there was no doubt whatever that the Road Traffic Act was being administered in quite a different way from that intended.
Appeals against Commissioners' decisions should not admit fresh evidence, but as there were instances of decisions being arrived at after but little evident had been heard by the Commissioners, cases should if necessary be referred back to the Commissioners for further evidence. He also spoke of the difficult matter of the liability of operators to the public in the event of services being suddenly stopped by the Commissioners.
With regard to the speed limit, he said that a speed of 35 m.p.h. for express carriages would be absolutely safe. The present arrangement which made it possible for a long-distance service to be rendered inoperable simply because of the refusal of a backing by the Commissioners of an intermediate area, even though that backing was not required for picking up or setting down passengers, was, he said, absurd. He also criticized the regulation requiring lights in long-distance coaches at night, when, obviously passengers wished to sleep.
An important point raised by Mr. Logette was the impossibility of proving public demand for new excursions. He recommended that a licence for an experimental period should be granted, because excursion business was always built up on the principle of the supply creating the demand.
A matter affecting the national finances was that of coach tours for foreign visitors. Mr. Logette said that upwards of 500,000 overseas visitors come to England annually for an average stay of five days, and spend on the average a() /each, or a total of 1.5,000,000. Of all the American visitors coming to Europe each year, however, 66 per cent. avoided Britain because of the various restrictions in this country. The regulations of the Metropolitan Commissioner preventing the picking-up of passengers in the central area for tours to places like Hampton Court was one of those restrictions.
Mr. E. .1. Southan gave an instance of the Commissioners telephoning at 11 a.m. to grant permission for a special tour which should have commenced at 7 a.m.
When certain members spoke of the need for operators to co-ordinate prior to coming before the Commissioners, instead of lodging objections to each ether's services, Miss CnIverhouse, of Venture Transport (Hendon), Ltd., said that it would also be to the public advantage if the Commissioners coordinated their efforts instead of working at variance. The question of period return tickets on excursion licences had been raised, and Mr. Logette has explained that, although the intention obviously was that such tickets should not be allowed in connection with excursions, the Commissioners were not unanimous in their attitude.
Some members recommended that a parade of placarded coaches in London might draw the attention of the public to the difficulties of operators, but the general feeling of the meeting seemed to be that local publicity to local grievances was the most effective method of securing public support. The meeting concluded without any practical line of advance against the operators' troubles being decided upon by those present.
It has been arranged to hold the annual general meeting of the association at Olympia. on Wednesday, November 11th.