" Congestion Hitting U.S. Bus Industry A DDRESSING the Humberside branch
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r-1of the Institute of Transport last week, Mr. J. W. Rolfe, secretary and chief accountant of the Birmingham and Midland Motor Omnibus Co., Ltd., said traffic congestion was slowly strangling the American city. Britain was following this pattern, and it would require all our energies to combat it.
Mr. Rolfe. who has recently returned from a three-month visit to American and Canadian transport undertakings, said one American in three used a car, whereas. in this country the figure was one in 13_ One consequence in the United States had been a transfer of population from the cities to the suburbs, and this posed a serious problem for the bus companies. In 1945, nearly 19m. passengers were carried, but by 1956 the figure had dropped to fewer than 9m.—a reduction of 54 per cent. in II years.
Large-scale efforts were being made to convince the car owner that driving to town was not worth the trouble and expense, but many bus operators had been put out of business. A feature of the industry was the "flat rate" fare, regardless of distance travelled, varying from ls. Id. to is. 9d. over a 16-mile limit.