Better National deal
Page 7
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People who rely on National Bus services to get to work an to pursue their leisure interests deserve Government rt assurance that these services will continue to operate. Th call for fuel conservation should be a pointer to the -nee to promote travel by the most efficient means—by bus.
The policy of Government support, both by paying a grar for new stage carriage vehicles and by giving cash in th form of Transport Supplementary Grant to local authoritie to support bus services in their area must be right. Bt surely the company that provides over 90 per cent of rur2 services deserves more than 10 per cent of the cash allocate out of the Government kitty for 1975/6. Lack of increase support promised for the period 1976/7 has led Nationz Bus to draw up plans to cut service mileage by 40m mile unless more money is forthcoming (CM last week).
The DoE has stated that it intends greatly to reduce th TSG expenditure next year — but to give a greater shar to rural areas. This can only result in National Bus gettin little, if any, of the extra cash it needs to keep service running. The immediate action needed is for a national prc motion of bus services. Not only would this brighten th image of National and bring more cash in but it would alsi boost moral of NBC staff — the people without whom th best organised service cannot be run efficiently and reliably