PROBLEMS OF THE HAULIER AND CARRIER.
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Inter-urban Bus Service and the Possibilities of Developing Business Side Lines.
week I propose to deal with a problem—that 1_ of inter-urban bus services—in an indirect way. The remarks which follow are inspired by careful observations in the course of recent travels, during which I had many opportunities of studying modern local passenger transport in villages situated between two or more towns. The chief district of which I am thinking is one well known, very popular among holiday makers, but it is by no means yet fully developed in the passenger transport line.
Every day numbers of coaches go from the principal centre to minor towns and local beauty spots, but, as a rule, passengers book their seats for circular trips or from one town to another, ignoring, as a rule, the villages. These services were first in the field, but. they were soon imitated by others, in which the villages were the principal consideration, passengers being 'picked up not only in the towns, but more often in the villages and taken to the towns. This, of course, involved obtaining extra public-hire licences, but the outlay was-well repaid by the large number of passengers who were persuaded to avail themselves of the transport offered.
It would be as well for my readers to understand the nature of the country and the principal outlines of local geography in order that I may make the best use of this space.At the northern end of the chain of roads of which I am thinking is a large holiday town, and seven miles farther south is a Smaller centre; nevertheless, a fairly popular one. AS it offers scenery , rather than artificial amusement it is not quite so popu
lar among coach travellers. Still 'farther south is another centre, but one offering not quite so many attractions as the first of thethree; In a direct line between these places lie. many villages, some purely agricultural, others partly agricultural and partly existing on holiday trde..Jn one, or two.,case.s,.mostly those
• of small hamlets, holiday makers Provide the only means of making a living.
From end to end of this route is approximately 18 miles, but. the buses cover some five miles more each . way owing to detours made to link up the villages. As the main-road route does not provide a great number of pick-up [Mints, the straight-through run would not be economically possible.
Railway communications have been established for many years, but they are of the out-of-date type in that very few trains rim daily, and the Stations, by .reason of geographical requirements, have to be situated in the valleys, where they are, in many cases, as .far as 14 to 2 miles away from the villages they serve. It is interesting to note that since the inauguration of motorbuses in the district the railway service has . had to resign itself to taking a very poor second place, stationmasters have given place to porters-incharge, and little attempt has been made to combat the competition. As a result of the improveMent in transport facilities brought about by the bus the villagers now go into towns much more often than was their wont, and their shopping is carried out in the large centres rather than by purchasing requirements from the small stores in the village streets. This, again, introduces a further problem as many parcels have to be carried back, and the ordinary, buses do not offer luggage accommodation enough to cope with the marketday burdens.
At this juncture fares have to be considered, as it is interesting to note that in the early days is. 9d. was charged for a certain return ticket, the total distance being six miles. That was in about the year 1920. At the present time by bus the same distance is covered for is return, and the Volume of business has expanded in consequence. Not only do the proprietors of the buses benefit by the larger turnover, but the owners of local places of amusement find their customers are not only the holiday makers in the towns, but the local inhabitants flock in to see the pierrots, " pictures " and the various plays at the theatres, in many cases once a week as a regular thing. On the same services 3s. is charged for 40 miles. This offers an interesting comparison, as the six-mile journey is accomplished at a rate of 2d. per passenger-mile, whereas the longer trip is at nine-tenths of a penny per passenger mile. Inquiring into this wide difference, 1 was told that the number of people who want to make a trip of 20 miles each way is small comparatively, and a great concession has to be made to attract any traffic 'from the railway. On the other hand, such a large number of people want to go into town from the small villages that they are willing to pay as high a rate as 2d. per mile, as this compares reasonably well with railway' fares, with the added convenience of a passenger being able to travel almost from door to door instead of going on foot for perhaps a couple of miles before starting the actual journey ; this turns the scale in favour of the coach.
• Added to this is the rigid time-table of the railways and the widely, spaced intervals between train and train; this is heavily against them in the eyes of the housewife who has to do.her shopping in a limited time and to get backAutekly to prepare,the next meal, or to look aftei, Some of the stock during the day, which Is a very. common -case with those who run poultry farms and mixed farms within a distance of, say, four to six miles of a holiday centre. • On the whole, vehicleowners reported favourably
upon the passenger traffic situation, but temporary conditions connected with industrial troubles caused some black clouds upon the horizon which, it is hoped, will soon pass away.
Enterprising local vehicle owners not only devote their attention to actual road transport matters, but have looked farther ahead in order to see the possible effect of road-borne passengers upon the district, and have endeavoured to cater for their requirements in the direction of food and amusements. When, perhaps, 200 or 300 people are taken to one small bay daily for the seaside enjoyments, they usually stay for several hours, and need to be fed and provided with cigarettes
and the hundred-and-one other oddments which cannot always be taken on every pleasure-seekhg expedition. In the district of which I am thinking, caMs, tobacco kiosks and newspaper shops have been run up at the various points close to the bus booking offices, so that when passengers are set down they are close to sources of supply. This has been found to be a very produc tive method of working, and the system is being developed more and more.
Lanl usually has to be purchased or leased for the erection of temporary buildings, and often more has to be obtained than Can really be used profitably. A paying proposition consists of letting the spare ground at 6d. a time as a car parking space for those who leave their motors while they go down to the beach for pleasure purposes.
From these notes I hope that my readers will be able to deduce some points which are of interest to themselves, and be able to turn many of the items to their own advantage. The idea of developing side lines which meet urgent public requirements when people are away from an actual living centre is worthy of the closest attention by passenger vehicle proprietors. S,T.R.