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THE PROBLEM OF PLYING FOR HIRE.

7th February 1928, Page 126
7th February 1928
Page 126
Page 127
Page 126, 7th February 1928 — THE PROBLEM OF PLYING FOR HIRE.
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

• Clear Explanation of the Law on the Subject and Advice upon the Best Course to Pursue in Plying for Hire.

-N addition to a taxation licence, the proprietor of _every bus or motor coach which is used for plying r hire in any urban district, or in a rural district hich has licensing powers, requires a licence from the cal authority to ply for hire. There is no clear statury definition of plying for hire, but in general terms means the use of a vehicle for the purpose of picking ) anyone who wishes to travel in it, as compared ith the picking up only of those who have booked leir seats beforehand. Simple examples of plying for re are provided by the buses which run on regular iutes and motor coaches which obtain their passigers by waiting on a stand at which any member ' the public can obtain a seat.

It should, however, be pointed out that the mere Ating down of passengers does not amount to plying a. hire, and that can, therefore, be done in a district I which the proprietor does not hold a licence to ply )1. hire. Nor is a licence to ply for hire required in district to which passengers are brought and taken way again, so long as the persons who are brought ick are the same as those who were brought in the shicle and the fares for the whole journey were paid hen the passengers entered the vehicle at the original arting point.

How to Obtain a Licence.

In order to obtain a licence to ply for hire, the prorietor of a motorbus must apply to the clerk to the peal authority for each district hi which the vehicle ; to ply for hire, as the fact that a vehicle is licensed ) ply for hire in one district does not allow it to be ) used in any other district. The applications are sually considered by-the watch committee of the local athorities, which reports to the council.

As a rule, the vehicles have to be examined by the ackney-carriage inspector in order that it may be en that they are in a suitable condition, and that they Dmply with the requirements of the local council. There anyone is considering starting a new service it advisable that, before buying a bus, he should ascertin the requirements of the local authority with agard to the construction of buses, as conditions which ary from place to place are imposed with regard to ach matters as the provision of a second exit, the osition of the petrol tank, and the amount of room rovided for the driver.

Appeals to the Minister of Transport.

A local authority is not obliged to issue a licence to ly for hire, but if it refuses •to do so or if it is only repared to issue a licence subject to the applicant greeing to observe certain conditions, the applicant ; entitled to appeal to the Minister of Transport, who as power under thle Roads Act, 1920, to require the )cal authority to issue a licence or to issue one free rota conditions, or, on the other hand, to uphold the ecision of the local authority.

The first step, when appealing, is to write to the linister of Transport, 7, Whitehall Gardens, London, setting out the facts fully but concisely and tating that the applicant for the licence wishes to ppeal against the decision of the local authority. As rule the Minister writes to the local authority in the rst place, in order to ascertain its views, and, in a tillable case, arranges for a representative to hold an madry. In every case, however, it is as well for the pplicant to discuss the matter with his local associaion before taking up the question of an appeal with he Ministry.

In some cases when an application is made for a D52

licence to ply for hire the local authority requires the applicant to sign a form agreeing to observe certain conditions as to the routes over which the vehicle is to run, the time-tables for the service and other matters relating to the use a the vehicle. Applicants should be very careful not to sign such a form unless they are prepared to observe the conditions, because once they have signed the form they will probably find themselves prevented from appealing to the Ministry against the conditions to which they have themselves agreed.

If the conditions stated in the application forms are such that the applicant is not prepared to carry them out, the better course is for the applicant to refuse to sign the forms of application and to appeal at once to the Ministry against the refusal of the local authority to grant unconditional licences.

The whole question of the law relating to licences to ply for hire Is one of great difficulty at the present time, which is not surprising when it is remembered that, apart from the London area, the law is mostly contained in the Town Police Clauses Acts, 1847 and 1889.

Plying for Hire from Private Ground.

Many attempts are made to discover some means by which a bus may be used for plying for hire without a licence from the local authority of a particular town in which it is desired to operate. One which is often suggested is that the difficulty might be overcome by hiring a piece of private ground, a garage, or an hotel yard, and by picking up passengers only in such place, but that is a suggestion which is always doomed to failure, because it is clearly laid down by the Act of 1889, and it has been upheld by the courts, that in the case of a bus or open coach a licence to ply for hire is required whenever the vehicle plies for hire at any place within the district of the licensing authority and not only when it plies for hire in any street or public place.

Other schemes which have been tried are to decide not to collect any fares until the vehicle has passed the boundary of the local authority, or even not to make any charge at all for the part of the journey which is within the district of the local authority, but these, and other equally ingenious schemes, have always failed when tested in the courts.

Return Tickets.

There is, however, one means which has been tried by which the need for a licence to ply for hire can be avoided, and that is the method of issuing return tickets. This means can be used where a vehicle is licensed to ply for hire in the town from which a service starts, but is not licensed in another town to which it is desired to run the service. In the case of a service from A to B, if the proprietor holds a licence to ply for hire in A, but does not hold a licence in B, he can pick up passengers in B provided they are the holders of return tickets which were issued in A. The passengers who are picked up in B need not return by the same motorbus as the one in which they travelled from A so long as the motorbus in which they return is owned by the same proprietor:

In one case an ingenious scheme 'was tried under which a numher of proprietors issued return tickets under which the holder could return in any motorbus which was owned by one of the proprietors, who afterwards pooled the fares, but the courts held that such widespread use of return tickets was not permissible and that the motorbuses which picked up the holders of these return tickets were plying for hire. It is

desirable that where it is necessary to issue return tickets they should be marked "not transferable" and that the return halves should only be available for use on the day of issue, or the following day, or within some quite restricted period.

Booking Offices.

Another method which has been tried for avoiding the need for licences to ply for hire is the issuing of tickets at hooking offices before the arrival of the omnibuses, but the utility of this method has been considerably curtailed by a recent decision of the High Court, the effect of which appears to be to rule out the use of booking offices for the purpose of issuing tickets except in cases where all the tickets are issued before the omnibus leaves Its starting point.

Itshad previously been held that an omnibus was not plying for hire if the driver was not prepared to pick up anyone who had not previously taken his ticket. In the recent case the proprietors of a service from London to the seaside had a number ,of booking officerti at various points en route and they arranged for their local agent to issue tickets subject to the condition that no ticket should be issued within ten minutes before the 'omnibus was due to artive at the local office, but the High Court held that the method adopted was not permissible unless the tickets issued by the local agents were issued not later than the time at which the omnibus started from London.

As a result of that decision there appear to be considerable difficulties in using booking offices for the purpose of avoiding the necessity of obtaining licenceS to ply. for hire where a regular service is being run. There is, however,, no objection to the, method belt adopted where a, vehicle is used for a particular tr provided that no tickets are issued at any booking of& after the time when the vehicle starts (from its origin starting point) upon its journey and that the drivi carries out the strict instructions which are given .. him that in no circumstances whatever is he • allow any passenger to be picked up who does not pr duce a ticket which was issued before the vehic started upon its journey.

It is necessary to emphasize the words "in it circumstances whatever" because all kinds of meat are tried by the police or the licensing authorities their endeavour to obtain evidence that the vehich are plying for hire and to show that persons are, i fact, picked up who have not previously taken the tickets.

Future Regulations.

For the purpose of this article it is not necessary i discuss the proposals for the future regulation of bi -and motor coach traffic which are outlined in the Roa Traffic Bill, but it will be as well to remind those wl are now in the business and those who are thinkir of entering it that there is no doubt but that the ne regulations, when they are made, will, to a very long extent, if not entirely, eliminate the possibility of usir psssenger-carrying vehicles without licences from a local authorities. It is, therefore, desirable tha wherever possible, a proprietor should obtain a licen( to ply for hire instead of adopting one of the meth(k which is at present available for running vehich without the necessity for a licence. N.B.

Tags

Organisations: High Court
Locations: London

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