Private Car "Pirating" Alleged
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D URAL operators in North Wales IN.may be compelled to suspend certain services if the " pirating " of their passengers by private-car drivers is not stopped, said Mr. J. E. Neal, a wellknown Montgomeryshire bus proprietor, to a representative ofThe Commercial Motor. "The position that has now arisen is the very state of affairs that the Act was intended to cure," he commented.
Investigations have recently been made by the Montgomeryshire and District Bus and Road Haulage Association into the whole question, particularly ,so far as it concerns the small country services that are made remunerative only by market-day traffic. It is said that, solely -through this cause, as much as £1 a week each is being lost on some very small services.
Many farmers and others are alleged to be making sufficient profit to cover their motoring expenses by means of carrying passengers on their market journeys at fares less than those scheduled. Cara are stated to run slightly in advance of the buses, in some cases dropping passengers just outside the town and picking them up at the same point for the return. • A further complaint concerns the "
lifts" that are now frequently given —without reward—by motorists to holiday-makers. This practice, it is contended, has an unfair reaction on operators who are compelled to provide services, day-in, day-out. However, it is upon the class of case where unauthorized charging of fares is suspected that the opposition is concentrated.
" It is a most urgent matter for men who take the responsibility of providing passenger transport over a wide
area-such unfair competition shoul be' countered, for the loss of traffic on the best days . of the week often means that any remuneration has entirely evaporated," said Mr. Charles H. Parrish (secretary of the Montgomeryshire Association). " We believe that these activities are more extensive than is apparent at the moment."
It is understood that the matter has been reported to the Commissioners.