Common fares for South Yorks
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THE Yorkshire Traffic Commissioners last week granted the South Yorkshire PTE permission to raise stage carriage fares in Doncaster and Rotherham.
This, it was explained by the Executive's financial controller, Mr M. N. Pestereff, was not designed specifically to raise more revenue. It was seen as the final step in achieving a common fares policy.
The policy of the South Yorkshire County Council, he said, had been to freeze fares by subsidy, and had remained unchanged by the Government circular which said that in the present economic climate bus services should move closer towards a position of commercial viability.
The cost in the current year, ending March 31, 1976, he said, would be £5.4m to meet PTE deficits; £3.7m for concessionary fares; and £2.7m for fare restraint and concessionary fares on services provided by other operators in the area.
The wording of the resolution of the county council concerning grants to meet operating deficits was such that the grant may not exceed the deficit actually incurred on direct operations. Consequently, the additional revenue resulting from the application, £80,000 in the current year and £550,000 in a full year, would have no effect on the net operating surplus.
For the PTE, Mr T. D. I. Hoskisson said the county council had to determine how far the financial requirements of the PTE should be met out of fare revenue and how far out of the rates. The PTE was obliged to comply with the policies laid down by the county council.
Mr P. D. Baggaley, operations and marketing manager, said it had always been the policy to standardise fares in the area. In April, 1974, when the PTE took over the Doncaster, Rotherham and Sheffield undertakings, there were five separate fare scales. When the PTE last made a genera] increase in fares, in January, 1975, these were reduced tc two. Although at that timE complete standardisation conic have been justified under thE Pay and Prices Code, it wa: felt that it would have meani a far too large an increase ir fares in the Doncaster an Rotherham Districts.
The result of the presen application would be a stan dard mileage basis for ordinar■ fares and a common range o concessions.