AT THE HEART OF THE ROAD TRANSPORT INDUSTRY.

Call our Sales Team on 0208 912 2120

PASSENGER TRAVEL NEWS.

14th March 1922, Page 20
14th March 1922
Page 20
Page 20, 14th March 1922 — PASSENGER TRAVEL NEWS.
Close
Noticed an error?
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.

Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

The Latest Doings and Developments in the Bus and Coach World.

BLACKPOOL COACH STANDS AND FARES.

An Owner's Review of Coaching Conditions in a Popular Northern Centre.

"N°' we are not living in 1920, when circumstances favoured coach owners. This year we are going to be up against the cheap fares and competition of the raiIwey companies," said Mr. John Hodge, a Blackpool owner-driver, to a representative of The Commercial Motor. Mr. Hodge is the owner of an A.E.Q. 28-seater coach, better known to the people of Blackpool as" The.Scarlet Runner."

Interviews with owner-drivers are always interesting, for the men who is a. business getter, tours organizer, manager and secretary, and fills other roles, enjoys experiences somewhat different from the managers of big fleets. In our chat with Mr. Hodge it was apparent that much criticism has been levelled against the owner-driver that is not altogether warranted. Mr. Hodge claims to have been the first coach owner in Blackpool to have inaugurated long-distance tours, having started them in 1914, soon after Messrs. Chapman. His modus operandi is toi advertise the tours in the Press, and, starting from Blackpool, he picks up passengers on the outward journey. Last year these tours, occupying up to ten days each, were run regularly throughout the season until the end of September, 24 passengers usually constituting the load. The remainder of the seating space was used for the storage of luggage.

The booking of hotel accommodation involves a considerable amount of work. On every tour the policy of this owner has been to arrange for meals and aecommodetion at only the best hotels, and in this connection e complaint is made against the hotels of maintaining unnecessarily high charges. "Why do not I engage in local coach work? Well, you can see for yourself the rates that obtain in this town. Today, for instance, there is a football match at Preston, and the railway companies are offering cheap return tickets, at 2s. 9d. a head. Some of our coach owners, however, think they can go one better and offer to make the run for 2s. return per passenger. There are also, in the summer, runs to Liverpool and to Windermere for 6s. return.'

Mr. Hodge went on to state that the question of street 'stands for motor coaches had. an important influence on rates. There are &erne stands near the promenade—no, not on it—and others at the back of the-town. Blackpool was the only place of which he knew where the coaches were not allowed to load up on the promenade, and, owing to jealousies amongst' local owners and their inability to maintain rates, the charges for the conveyance of passengers from Blackpool seemed to be determinedby those •coach owners -whose stands were not in such a good position to cornenanda big trade. Obviously, the stands in good central positions are better situated to obtain good rates and more business than 'those up a baek street, so

el0 to speak ; but, instead of the owners using these adhering to fair rates, they seem to accept the lower standard of the man or firm using the street stands of a lower value.

" What, is my remedy? Well, in the first place, the stands scattered as they now are about the town, are not known to the public as motor coach stands—a very obvious disadvantage—and what I would like to see," said Mr. Hodge, "is all the char-a-banes owners of Blackpool demanding the right for their vehicles to be spread along the promenade—as in other towns. People would not only know where to find the coaches when they wanted them, but every coach owner iii the town would then have a stand of equal value, and there would, therefore, be no excuse for a man cutting his rates and better co-operation could be ensured.

" It would then be possible for us all to adhere to rates, for, by reason of this equality of opportunity, the rates of all ownevs to the various destinations might be uniform. To have a string of chars. aabancs along the promenade is, in my opinion, the best safeguard for the

observance of rates, instead of the present unsatisfactory system."

Mr. Hodge feared that therailway competition would adversely affect the number of people coming into Blackpool by motor coach this summer. It was possible, he said, that Blackpool would have as many visitors as in previous summers, and if they came by train at cheap fares this was likely to stimulate the demand for short coach trips from Blackpool. These excursion trains usually arrive rather early in the day, and leave in the evening. Passengers, therefore, would have a good deal of time on their bands.

Coaches bringing passengers usually arrive from 11. o'clock and noon onwards, departing about 6 p.m. These passengers, after a long run, are not very inclined. to spend the afternoon motor coaching; they want to see the sights.

Mr. Hodge ventured the suggestion, in view of these circumstances, that it might pay Lancashire coach owners to concentrate, this summer, on the beauty spots nearer their home towns, or, at any rate, on those places not so well served by railway as is Blackpool. As to this season's fares, Mr. Hodge could not indicate what these are likely to be. He intends to run long-distance tours from May onwards to the South of England and to Scotland, and contemplates' purchasing a smaller type of • coach on pneumatic tyres.

Tags

Locations: Liverpool, Preston

comments powered by Disqus