Another Little Inch ALTHOUGH-mo tor vehicle users pay in taxa
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tion far more than is Needed to Allow required to construct an adeto be Handled • quate system of highways and to keep existing roads in good repair, traffic is still compelled to fit the roads. The result is that • restrictions are imposed which needlessly impede progress, particularly in the design of public-service vehicles.
, Protracted agitation brought slight concessions by way of the Motor Vehicles (Construction and Use) (Amendment) Regulations, 1950, and by the Public Service Vehicles (Conditions of Fitness) (Amendment) Regulations, 1950. Under these enactments, which became effective on May 15 last year, the maximum legal length of new singledeckers was increased to 30 ft. and that of doubledeckers was extended by 1 ft. to 27 ft. These concessions, however, do not meet operators' needs. Manufacturers have frequently to build different models for the home and export markets, for restrictions abroad are often either non-existent or are drawn in wide terms.
To circumvent restrictions on size, operators have exploited the double-deck bus, thereby carrying the maximum of passengers with a minimum of vehicles and crew. Nevertheless, the doubledeck vehicle has certain disadvantages.
.Cooductors' Difficulties The conductor's responsibility for the safety of his passengers dates from a time when speeds were much lower than they are to-day. When short. distance travel is combined with heavy loading, the conductor has no easy task, and in these circumstances any device that assists him in his work merits the most -careful consideration. It is true that modern ticket systems expedite fare collection, but the giving of change causes serious delays.
It is often extremely difficult to secure platform staff, and jobs which were eagerly sought before the war now go begging. Consequently, men are "engaged who are unsuitable for the work. Many Of them will never make the grade and the undertakings employing them will lose no little revenue because of their inefficiency. Further, essential services, and particttlarly peak services, are maintained only by costly and excessive overtime. Much could be done to Meet the difficulties -of road passen ger transport if permission were given to increase the length of single-deck buses by as little as 5 ft. The -extra length would provide passenger accommodation equal to that of a doubledecker, but would simplify the conduetcir's task and assist passenger control.
Id addition, it should-be possible to avoid excessive peak duplication by 'carrying more standing passengers, thus obviating the -need for doubledeckers. Such a development would probably: increase safety, because double,deckers offer more, encouragement to 'platform. accidents -than -singledeckers. Most of them' are 'fitted -with a mirror whichgives the conductor a clear view of theplat form. The conductor, however, cannot See beyond the platform, and approaching passengers are not observed. An accident may therefore occur in cir'cunistances which'Would not be present in a singledeck bus.
Welconaed By Operators Apart from enabling operators to change from double-deckers to single-deckers, the relaxation' of present restrictions on overall length would be welcOmed by those who, because of local conditions, are compelled to use single-deckers.
With the latitude allowed overseas, it is not sur prising that single-deckers are so much in use. For instance, an American company produces a '55-seater for the United States. It has an overall length of 41 ft. ins, and is said to be the largest single-deck rigid passenger vehicle ever made. In Switzerland, Zurich Municipal Transport 'operates a single-decker which, whilst only 36 ft. 1 hi. long, carries 75 passengers, or 11 more than a fully loaded British double-decker. , The use of articulated buses has increased capacity still further. Fifty-eight-seater articulated buses are in service in New York. Even these, however, are dwarfed by an 80-passenger vehicle operated by the Danish State Railways. The overall length of this monster is 54 ft. 10 ins. In Australia, the Metropolitan Omnibus Co., Ltd.; runs an articulated bus which carries 89 passengers. British manufacturers have had to exercise the utmost ingenuity in securing maximum payload. The underfloor engine has provided increased passenger accommodation and the half-deck vehicle carries the exploitation of space a stage farther. It is, however, difficult to see how additional passengers can be carried without increasing the maximum legal length of buses, except by designing vehicles for exceptional standing loads.
Hauliers Remain Caged AGOVERNMENT majority on the Standing Committee of the House otConamons which has been considering the Transport (Amendment) Bill almost guaranteed the rejection of the proposals to ease the burdens of the free haulier. The industry's disappointment is, however, no less keen on that account. Mr. G. E. P. Thorneycroft struck at the root of the ideology which conceived the British Transport Commission when he said that the model of Hitler's transport system was "a wholly miserable precedent for a free country and a free people." The reply of Mr. Alfred Barnes, Minister of Transport, was distinguished by a completely misleading half-truth. The monopoly of the B.T.C., he said, was limited by Act of Parliament, because it in no way sought to interfere with the rights of private business. It exempted specialized traffic and left untouched the field of local transport. This answer would lead the uninformed to believe that the Commission left entirely to private enterprise the handling of specialized and short-distance traffic. Nothing could be farther from the truth. The encroachment by the State transport undertaking into these realms increases daily and is part of a deliberate policy of grasping every available ton of traffic. Despite the failure of the measure, its presentation in Parliament will have served an extremely useful purpose in focusing public attention on the injustices which a minority Government has inflicted on the operators of an essential public service.
Disagreement on Price OPERATORS arc complaining that when, to obtain delivery of a vehicle, they are compelled to take one with non-standard tyres, they are being asked to pay an excessive price for it. A typical case is one in which an operator orders a vehicle with truck-type tyres, but is delivered one with heavy-duty equipment. The vehicle is invoiced at the price of a standard model with truck-type tyres, plus purchase tax, and a surcharge is made for the heavy-duty tyres, to which purchase tax is again added. The vehicle manufacturer adds his profit to the surcharge on the heavy-duty tyres, so that the operator has to pay a far greater amount than would be required if he bought them in the open market. The purchase tax rises accordingly. It is easy to see both sides of the argument. The manufacturer is continually harassed by mounting costs, and .there is inevitably a time-lag between increases in commodity prices and advances in the prices of vehicles. During this period the maker's profit is reduced. The operator is, in various ways, equally embarrassed by economic circumstances beyond his control. The method of arriving at the price of a vehicle with non-standard tyres is one for amicable negotiation. A standard practice should be observed throughout the industry, and the interests of the operator merit careful study.