PTA-NBC confrontation soon?
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• More trouble could lie ahead for the Passenger Transport Authorities as they seek to reach agreement with the National Bus Company on the operation of bus services within the PT Areas, writes Derek Moses. Under Section 18 (1) (c) of the Transport Act 1968, the Authorities should publish statements describing the nature of any such agreements within 12 months of the establishment of the PTAs.
No firm agreements have been reached to date, although general policy statements, which the same Section of the Act required to be published, have been made by SELNEC, Tyneside and Merseyside PTAs. Tyneside reported that joint management by the NBC and the PTA of bus services inside its area might be the only long term solution.
No statement has been published by West Midlands PTA, however, despite the fact that it was the first Authority to be established. It is understood that the Minister has given the Authority a six months' extension due to the problems faced by the working party set up by Midland Red and the PTA. Meanwhile, increased hostility to the whole PTA concept has been expressed by the West Midlands Authority.
The nub of the problem is the situation when the Executive takes over from the Traffic Commissioners the responsibility for determining fare levels inside the PT Area—a problem facing the other PTAs as well. Mr Walter Womar, Midland Red gm, has asked how the PTA and his own undertaking could possibly operate side by side, with the Executive setting its fares, but using an entirely different yardstick to that dictated by the NBC.
Midland Red is losing very heavily on many rural services—its most profitable operations lie inside the PT Area. Yet members of the PTA have made no secret of their outright opposition to sharing any of their territory with the NBC undertaking. It can only be a matter of time before these rumblings—confined so far to private meetings—break out into the open. This could lead to irreparable harm to the public transport services in the West Midlands.