P.M.T. Phase Two Increase : 12 journey Tickets for Dundee ?
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HAVING been successful in obtaining permission to increase fares last January, Potteries Motor Traction Co.. Ltd.. again applied to the West Midland Licensing Authority last week for fares revisions New charges were authorized, which come into effect next Sunday. Permission to raise to 2d., former Id. fares, now nd., was refused, and the possibility of a third application was suggested, as even with the new fares the concern would incur a deficit of £62,000 in 1952.
In the main, tickets now costing 10.-50. will go up by 0., except those which became lid. after the previous application. Those over 5d. will rise by Id.-4e1 in the case of single tickets and by Id..6d. in the case of returns. Permission to increase the workmen's minimum concession rate from 1 id. to 2d. was withheld.
Costs Rise 1130.000 When the previous application was
heard, said Mr. David Karmel, K.C., for P.M:T.. it had been expected that the new charges would increase revenue by £158.000. This was subsequently reduced to £140,000, because of pro-, posals refused. , Excluding the , latest wage increase, Costs had since risen by £130,000 a year.-The new wage scales would Cost the company atiother £60,000 in a full year. It was therefore estimated that this year there would be a deficitof £51,700, rising to £62,800
next year.' • • The minimum . sum required to bridge the gap temporarily, said Mr. .Karmel. was £135,000. The traffic manager' of the concern revealed that £109,000 of the additional revenue Would deriye from the increase of single fares other than the 11d.
Despite, three fares increases since
1948, Dundee Transport Department was still operating at a heavy loss,' said the Corporation treasurer, presenting a new application to the Scottish Licens-ing Authority, last week. It was proposed to add Ld. to all existing fare's,
and to introduce a concession rate, in the form of a book of tickets covering 12 journeys. These books would be available throughout the year on any day except Sunday.
Progressive Saving These would enable passengers, in effect, to travel at a rate id, or Id. less than the normal single fare. A book of tickets for 12 journeys costing 2d. (the minimum charge suggested) would cost Is. 6d,, that for the 21d, fare 2s_ and so on. The highest denominations of ticket on wItiph the concession would be available wSuld be the 4d. and 411. ones, for which one book costing 3s. 6d. would be offered.
if the new rates were put into effect on January 1, revenue for the current year would increase by £24,000. Taking into account wages increases pending, the undertaking would incur a loss of
a32 £61,491 this year. The concession was an emergency experiment, and if 10 per cent, of the passengers used it, revenue would decrease by £9,350. The Licensing Authority declared that he was not sure whether the Corporation could afford the concession, especially as it could be used at any time.
Durham District Services, Ltd., has been granted permission to-raise charges on two routes to bring them into line with those of the Northern General Transport Co., Ltd.
New Oxford Application?
` The East. Midland Licensing Authority has granted. Trent Motor Traction Co., Ltd., permission to increase fares on 27 services in the Derby area. City of Oxford Motor Services; Ltd., has also been granted certain revisions. In a letter to a local council, the general manager of City of Oxford stated that the new wage grant, which would cost the company £35,000 a year, would result in new application for higher fares.
Yorkshire 'Traction Co., Ltd., Barnsley, has applied for authority to augment fares' on 167 services. The basis of the application is the raising of certain concession fares up to the general level. For example, it is proposed to add 1.11. to Id. single tickets, Id. to return tickets costing up to Is. 4d. and 2d. to those over Is. 4d.
Workmen's tickets up to ,I Id. will be -increased by ld.. those over 11d. by 2d., and certain 2d. tickets by id. if the appli cation. suceeeds. These are fares unchanged after the concern's previous application for a general revision of charges..
2d. Minimum for Bolton?
Bolton Corporation's application,
calling'for additions of Id. to lid., 31d., &id., 5d., 6d., 7d., 8d. and 9d. tickets, thus introducing a 2d. minimum fare, has now been published. Fifty-three services operated by the undertaking and 19 either jointly operated, or provided by Ribble Motor Services, Ltd., in the undertaking's area, are concerned.
New applications for higher charges as a result of the recent wage awards and the higher price of fuel, are being considered bya number of concerns. The general manager of the Birmingham and Midland Motor Omnibus Co., Ltd_ for example, announced last week that the wage award would cost his company £250,000 a year, and the new price of fuel another £15,000 a year.
Yorkshire Woollen District Transport Co., Ltd., stated that the award would mean an increase of £40,000 in the company's annual costs. Manchester and Salford Corporations have estimated that the higher cost of fuel would add another £10,250 and £2,460 a year respectively to the costs of the departments.
After protracted discussions, Coventry Transport Committee has decided to take steps to deal with a deteriorating financial position. Application is now to be made to abolish all the present return fares. As a concession, the maximum single fare for all journeys begun before 8.45 a.m. will, if the aPplication succeeds, be 3d. No concession is suggested for journeys costing less than 3d. k iS understood that the committee is to investigate a universal fare system for the city.