Bolting Horses
Page 22
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
APUBLIC inquiry should hardly be necessary to tell the Government what everyone else knows—that only the elimination of the 2s. 6d. per gallon duty on the fuel consumed by public service vehicles will save rural bus services from further vitiation or even abandonment. That is the only practical recommendation that the Jack Committee can make. But their report is not due to be presented to the Minister of Transport until the autumn. By that time, higher wages and other costly concessions to the workers will have been in force for some months, and operators will have had to take drastic action to balance the books.
Unremunerative rural services will again be the first to suffer, accompanied by all-round increases in fares. The swing from public to private transport will, therefore, be accentuated. When eventually the Chancellor of the Exchequer takes action to aid bus operators, many of the services which the Jack Committee are seeking to preserve may have disappeared. It will be far more difficult to restore a facility which has been withdrawn than one which has been reduced. The Chancellor should close the door before the horse bolts.