WHAT THE STARS FORETELL
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IN applying themselves to important aspects of "Tomorrow's bus world" those taking part in the Newcastle upon Tyne University seminar this week have riot been looking into some almost impossibly distant phase but rather examining developments that are being, or are ready to be, matched into the current pattern of the passenger transport industry. A definitely management-level operation, the gathering included more than 20 overseas nominees, including representatives of Hyderabad, Italy, Holland, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, France and Sweden. The final session closes this (Friday) afternoon, and next week's Commercial Motor will contain a summary of the discussions.
Techniques had been developed that allowed buses throughout their routes to be accurately located from a central control point, said Mr David Stone (chief of vehicle location group, Automation Division, Marconi Co Ltd), dealing with "A system for the automatic control and monitoring of bus services". Together with various means of signalling instructions to their crews this enabled powerful bus control systems to be constructed. A variety of approaches to the problem of how such a system should be used had been proposed and a considerable range of benefits identified, he continued.
Bus only lanes
A central control system had to contain three separate components: (a) a central means of tracking all buses under control, (LA a control philosophy which includes criteria for detecting unacceptable bus running situations and a range of tactics for dealing with them, and (c) a method permittirt control to be applied to any bus. Mr Stone then went on to examine technical aspects of these components.
Bus only lanes could provide easy flow, said the speaker, but an alternative was to equip automatic traffic lights with a "bus detector" to give buses a green light. If such traffic signals were to be influenced by bus control needs, as could be 'determined by central control room equipment, they might be employed to regulate movement of buses. A bus having an excessive gap between it and the one in front could be accelerated to some extent by traffic signals being used to ensure its free passage, and bunches of buses could be broken up by the use of well-timed red aspects, Justification for proposing central control was based on the belief that a signal control officer, acting from a central point with the aid of a complete picture of all bus movements on a route, was in a much better position to regulate buses than several officers at intervals along the route. With a centralized automated scheme the staff needed to undertake the control function were considerably fewer than those under conditions of conventional working.
Where a bus was closely accompanied by others on the same service the result was almost invariably that certain buses were not earning their keep and a gap existed elsewhere in the service. In order to provide predetermined standards under such conditions more buses were inevitably needed than when they were regularly spaced along the route. Consequently any improvement in regularity on a route would result in the need for fewer vehicles to service it.
The control computer could readily record all bus movements along a route throughout the day. In the event of a major disturbance happening to the running on that route these movements could be played back in fast motion via the computer graphic display so that the manner in which the situation built up could be assessed as well as the effectiveness of any control action ta ken.
Brussels system
"An example of computerized duty rosters in operation in a large mixed fleet" was the title of the paper presented by Mr Fred 0. Crouch (Rees JeffreYs Lecturer) and Mr Norman Morton (senior research officer, Highway and Traffic Engineering Division, Department of Civil Engineering, Newcastle University), this dealing with the system employed by the Societe des Transports Intercommunaux de Bruxelles. The Brussels Transport Authority was responsible for road passenger transport in the city, they said, It operated 428 buses, 641 trams, plus 217 trailers at certain times of the day, and had a crew staff of 2,500. It had eight depots but at three trams and buses were treated separately, making in effect 11 depots for crew scheduling purposes.
Transport operators, said the authors, had so far failed to find a satisfactory alternative to the slow and cumbersome manual procedures for bus and crew scheduling. Brussels was one of the few places where a scheme employing computer techniques had passed beyond the stage of being studied and had been put into operation on a large-scale basis. Once the programmes had been decided the duties could be processed through the computer very rapidly.
"Duties for a complete depot," said the authors, "were finished in our presence in two hours and the whole of the duties for 2,500 employees can be dealt with in seven hours." The primary aim of levelling out duties and ensuring that all employees share them in turn had been achieved. In addition, the amount paid out in make-up or overtime pay on scheduled duties had been reduced from 44 minutes per duty per eight-week period to six seconds, representing a saving of some £100,000 annually.
Staff pressure
The Brussels scheme was one of the few to be applied successfully anywhere in the world and had now been in operation for over three years. A point of special interest was that the study was first undertaken as a result of pressure from the staff for a more equitable sharing and balancing of duties. A 43-hour week of six days was worked, the basic day being 7hr 40min. Duties were scheduled in 14-day periods, commencing Tuesday and finishing on Monday night.
Staff had one regular rest-day per week, plus 10 public holidays yearly, also supplementary days that could not be absorbed into normal summer holidays. There were also six compensatory days, reductions in the working week being given in this form instead of the basic day being shortened. Time on the vehicle must not exceed 7hr 30min in one duty if it finished on the road or 7hr 45min if finishing at the depot. For a split duty, time on the vehicle must not exceed 8hr 30min.
Because of relatively high wages and little or no overtime, reasonable relations had been established between management and employees in the Glasgow bus works said Mr E. R. L. Fitzpayne, former general manager at Glasgow, in his paper "The future of human relations in the bus industry". Staff were retained and there were many long-service workers. This was quite contrary, he observed, to the position with the uniformed staff where in 1968 some 70 per cent had five years or less service. This contrast led to the reasonable assumption that difficulties with traffic staff arose primarily from wages and conditions of employment.
As Mr Fitzpayne was absent in Japan the presentation of the paper at the symposium was made by Mr J. Macpherson, assistant traffic superintendent, Glasgow Transport.
Transport workers, said Mr Fitzpayne, had repeatedly over recent years pointed out that whereas before the war they were in the top bracket of weekly wage earners they had now descended to being one of the lowest. To this argument employers replied that by overtime working and penalty payments their earnings were reasonable, but it did seem unfair that men should be required to work long hours week after week to maintain a standard of living. Because of a desire to maintain tfteir earnings, employees opposed cuts in service on week-days and Sundays. Was it unreasonable to suggest that in future busmen would work Mondays to Fridays and special arrangements would be made for work on Saturdays and Sundays? It was even possible that as in the past buses would not be required to work on the Sabbath.
Higher status
One only needed to visit other countries, said Mr Fitzpayne, to appreciate the higher status enjoyed by the busman as compared with Britain. In Copenhagen he was a well-paid, salaried worker; admittedly this led to an annual £1m deficit. In Australia not only were the busmen highly paid but their five-day 40-hour week was so scheduled that the driver was able to have his days off cycled so that they ranged over a period from three to six consecutive days.
Large undertakings such as London and Glasgow had for many years employed a medical staff and with the larger units to be set up by the 1968 Act the employment of industrial doctors would become general throughout the industry. For many years busmen's overweight had been stressed by the Glasgow doctor and his advice on balanced diets had been invaluable. Continued medical checks were a worthwhile service but he was not sure, said the author, that the compulsory annual examinations for men over 60 were beneficial as they often caused needless anxiety. The Glasgow method of insisting on a medical check on any employee, irrespective of age, after an illness of a month or more appeared to be more humane.
Apart from physicar care Glasgow had also considered the spiritual welfare of the busmen and ministers of religion had voluntarily attached themselves to the garages, being available for advice and sympathy when necessary. This service could not be measured in tangible terms but, where employees were faced with difficulties that could not be resolved by the management, professional men such as doctors or ministers provided an alternative.
Computerized control
"Computerized area control of urban traffic" was the subject of Mr J. A. Ferguson (resident engineer, Glasgow Area Traffic Control Centre), his paper being principally concerned with the equipment and methods used for this research work. Members of the Road Research Laboratory were in charge of the experiment but staff from Glasgow Corporation had been working with the research team throughout the development of this advanced form of control. • In Britain two computer control centres had been operating over the past two years, one in Glasgow and one in West London, to investigate the problems and effects of this form of control. A tunnel approach computer control scheme was working in Liverpool and it was intended that this should be expanded to control the second Mersey Tunnel in 1971.
The GLC was in the process of designing a central integrated traffic control that would initially govern 300 signal-control junctions and would eventually take 800 junctions. This would use the West London method of dropping control for short periods during the cycle. A display of five levels of congestion, using occupancy detectors, would enable police to investigate the cause of this congestion on site or on television monitors.. This information might also be used by the transport authority.
What specifically was our rail task as related to bus operation? This question was, posed in the paper by Dr Tony M. Ridley (director-general, Tyneside Passenger Transport Executive) whose subject was -The rule of the passenger transport executives in tomorrow's bus world". We must decide how buses fitted in with, and could replace or be replaced by, rail services, he said. If we decided not to pay a subsidy to British Rai):ways in respect of commuter services we had to ask whether the buses could meet the existing or future level of passenger demarid. In reaching a decision on subsidies it wobld be necessary to ask how these compared With the possible cost of additional road capacity that might have to be provided.
On the bus side the first priority was to secure adequate services in the area, poSsibly moving later to complete integratior. Re believed, says Dr Ridley in his papen. that there should be a central scheduling team with representatives of all bus operator in the area, working without regard to the financial itnplications as between the operators of ahy passenger services that they decided upon. The financial implication would be worked out separately, but they should not harnper the development of the best overall pattern of service.
Tyneside policy
Under the new arrangements the 'companies and the PTEs would co-operate to, the fullest possible extent to provide public transport for the whole area on the basis of a common fares policy. It remained to be seen whether the revenue obtained from fares Would cover the whole cost of operation; at the present time this was the policy adopted On Tyneside.
In October of this year the PTE and PTA had to produce a policy statement for publication, and for submission to the Minister. A year 'later plans would be produced giving details of proposals for the development of public transport in the Passenger Transport Area. Among other things, this plan must put the public transport view of traffic management measures, parking policy and highway development in the whole area, these being matters over which we had no power but were critical to the proper fulfilment of our task, said the author. We had to look to the future to find what the pattern of demand was likely to be, what investment was needed and if new technologies were a possibility. We could not hope for good public transport in the area if parking was so easy and convenient that public services could not compete.
The recent Royal Commission proposals on Local Government, and succeeding White Paper, would make matters e.asier, he said. If the latter proposals were implemented then the PTAs would disappear arid in the case of three areas would be adsorbed by the Metropolitan Authorities and on Tyneside by the Unitary Authority, the Executive's area being extended to coincide with the latter's boundary. It was perhaps likely that the Executives would have the same relationship to these Metropolitan and Unitary Authorities as the LTE now had to the