One-man Operation
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Inevitable—
Although the Economy is Not as Great as Might be Expected and Traffic May be Lost When a Conductor is Not Carried
IN their paper, M. A. Laparre and M. M. Cassan presented an exhaustive study of the business of collecting revenue on all forms of public land transport. Commercial, administrative, mechanical and social considerations were dealt with and the authors, whilst stating their preference for certain types of procedure, reached some interesting conclusions.
Generally, they believed, the tendency was for the mobile conductor to be replaced by a stationary one. Although this development might be deprecated, they said, it would appear to be inevitable and might lead towards the eventual adoption of a one-man system.
The basic advantage of the one-man system was economy in operating, assuming that there was little or no loss of receipts. The economy was not equal to the salary of the conductor, as it was generally necessary to increase the salary of the driver to compensate him for the additional work required of him. The most serious disadvantage of the one-man system was its sensitiveness to fluctuations in the number of passengers.
Where these were frequent, as in the case of station services, the vehicle lost time and the timetable could not be maintained. Passengers had to wait relatively long periods when entering the vehicle or insistence had to be placed on passengers providing themselves with tickets beforehand.
Traffic Lost
The passenger was no longer assisted or welcomed by the conductor, and if employees did not show all the tact desirable, paSsengers became sensitive to the somewhat disagreeable requirements of one-man operation and no longer travelled on the service.
Increasing speed of modern vehicles, had made necessary the adoption of new systems of operation, more particularly in so far as the collection of fares was concerned. The rapid, collection of fares was essential, othrwise a large loss of receipts resulted.
Fares systems were of three types: Zonal, sectional and standard. The first referred to the case where passengers paid a standard charge for a journey of any length within a central zone, and additional payment when the journey passed outside that zone.
Sectional fares, examples of which were common in this country, could consist of either a uniform rate for each stage, or of a basic rate for the first stage and a lower constant rate for each successive stage, or of a basic rate for the first stage plus a decreasing rate for each additional stage.
Standard fares applied to a journey of any length, including, perhaps, a transfer. In addition, there were special fares of various types.
Turning to the special features of fares systems in various countries, the authors dealt with Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Great Britain, Holland, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, the U.S.A. and Turkey. Data concerning the populations served by national undertakings, the average number of journeys per passenger per year, and much other information had been gathered. A comparison between the various systems was made. All the countries except Britain and Switzerland had, in the main, standard fares. The two exceptions used the sectional system.
Simplification Sought
The proportion of the total operating costs represented by platform and administrative staffs' salaries amounted to 80 per cent. Simplification of the fare system and increased speed of collection were thus particularly sought after.
A fares system which related payment to the distance travelled (the kilometric fare) could not be applied to a public urban transport system. It penalized passengers travelling longer distances to the benefit of the short-distance travellers. It was also difficult to operate. It could lead to dense overcrowding of vehicles by passengers travelling short distances, thus necessitating an increase in central area services.
Sectional fares were a compromise between the kilometric fare and the standard rate. The length and arrangement of the stages depended on geography, traffic attractions, and the character, number and density of the population.
It was suggested that sections should comprise short stages in the centre of the area served, extending to a maximum of slightly over 11 miles as they radiated from the centre.
Standard (or flat-rate) fares were more closely suited to the high speed of present-day services. They permitted a simplification of fare-collection systems. In the United States, use was made of fare-collection boxes and no ticket was issued. Flat-rate fares were particularly suitable in towns of over 100,003 population with centralized business or industrial regions, and where routes radiated within a stated area.
The case of Copenhagen was unusual. A standard fare system had been in use since 1899, because the undertaking was a municipal one, and the primary consideration was that all the inhabitants of the town might, as far as possible,
have the same access to the vehicles at the sant fare, irrespective of the place where they lived. Dealing with the choice of a fare system, the authors summarized their findings as follows: On urban services with heavy traffic, a low standard fare could be used; where there was a heavy peak-hour increase in traffic and average vehicle speeds were high, or the average journey was relatively long and short-distance passengers few, a higher standard fare could be charged.
Numerous and frequent short-distance passengers necessitated a stage fare system. This also applied to cases where the one-man system could not be employed, or where traffic was generally low. Suburban services necessitated constant or increasing stage lengths and inter-urban services a kilometric fare.
The authors then e?tamined the effect of national economics on fare systems and the consequential development of special or concession fares. It was pointed out that the Algerian Tramways Co., which offered eight categories of concession fare (as did most French transport systems) collected an average fare of 9.71 francs in 1949. The percentage of concession tickets was 62, The single ticket cost 16 francs, the maximum rate being 20 francs.
Major Pre-occupation
Fare fixing was, said the authors, one of the major pre-occupations of transport undertakings. It was shown how fares had not kept pace with the general rise in the cost of living, which indicated how transport concerns became involved in financial difficulties. Fares adjustments without delay were necessary to Maintain budgetary equilibrium.
Turning to the question of methods of fare collection, the authors specified the characteristics of an efficient farecollection procedure, and then dealt with various methods employed. Some views on the influence of vehicle design on fare collection were expressed and the advantages and disadvantages of mobile, stationary and conductor-driver systems tabulated.
The stationary conductor, leading eventually to the one-man crew, would appear to be the best arrangement. The case of the English undertakings, most of which operated large-capacity doubledeck motorbuses and trolleybuses, would appear to be different, stated the authors.
A highly specialized type of vehicle had been brought to perfection by these undertakings. The vehicles were perfectly adapted to the conveyance of large numbers of passengers under excellent conditions of comfort. This type would appear to exclude the adoption of the driver-conductor arrangement.
As a social development, the general trend towards the one-man system might be deplored. Whilst producing an improvement in the standard of living and comfort of the employees of bus companies, it led to the treatment of the passengers, not as people but as anonymous entities subject to relatively disagreeable requirements The evolution towards the one-man system was, however, inevitable.