M.P.T.A. Chief Calls For Co-ordinated Transport System
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" THERE is no doubt in my mind that ultimately there will have to be a co-ordinated system of transport throughout the country." said Alderman S. P. Hill, president of the Municipal Passenger Transport Association, in his address to the Association at their 60th annual conference at Southsca on Tuesday. He suggested that the passenger side would have to be interrelated—rail and country buses and municipal transport—with goods and mineral traffic sent chiefly by rail with local haulage for local delivery. Much of the heavy road transport should not be allowed to pass or enter our towns or cities, he contended.
An almost insoluble difficulty facing the industry was the matter of continually rising costs. Economies had been made in every direction to keep expenditure down and operators had increased their revenue by raising fares. To economize further, in most cases. would mean reducing services. Speaking of the lack Committee, Alderman Hill asked: "Why was it not realized that its limited terms of reference prevented properly balanced and unanimous recommendations?" If some form of subsidy was the final outcome, surely the non-paying urban services should be entitled to the same consideration as rural services, He did not think operators were getting a fair deal. The "complicated business" of obtaining fares increases, the fuel tax. Excise duty, etc., were all obstacles in their way. Such matters should surely be dealt with at Ministerial level.
Turning to one-man bus operation and the Trade Unions, Alderman Hill—himself a trade unionist—said that recent discussions at national level with the unions had met with little or no success. Surely union leaders could see that gradually they were being priced out of the market, he said.
M.P.T.A. Conference papers are reviewed on page 218.