loTA Conference reported by Johnny Johnson
Page 31
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Large-scale bus use the best way to conserve oil reserves
• In a situation where the rapidly diminishing world power supplies were giving concern, large-scale use of the bus was probably the best and most economical way in which to conserve remaining oil reserves, according to Mr E. W. A. Butcher, general manager of the Bristol Omnibus Co Ltd. He told the Institute of Traffic Administration annual conference, held in Birmingham over the weekend, that although there might be investment in innovations such as Cab Trak, moving platforms, travelators and so on as well as an increase in rapid transit systems, it was the bus which would provide the preponderance of passenger transport in and around cities for some years to come.
Mr Butcher was encouraged by the growing awareness in political circles that public transport was the answer to many of the problems in cities and felt that the local authority reorganization would have a profound effect.
He thought that the present system of block grants would give way to a revenue subsidy and it would be up to bus companies to make a strong case in justification. There was a possibility that in future the county council would be the customer rather than individual passengers.
There were 139 cities in Great Britain with a population over 50,000. Disregarding the 12 largest of these, that left over 125 cities in which the only public transport vehicle was still the bus. His own company operated stage carriage services outside a main conurbation and from the point of view of this kind of operator such innovations as Cab Trak had disadvantages.
Apart from the traditional services designed to transport people to city centres for everyday activities such as shopping and work, for instance, it was necessary for 3perators to reawaken interest in the use of buses for leisure activities. Cab Trak was unable to cater for people wishing to go out nto the country at weekends.
Vehicle manufacturers were beginning to .ealize that the first priority was the provision of a reliable vehicle but more Mention must be paid to vehicle interiors. The rear-engine bus had posed some 3roblems but operators were beginning to ive with this type of vehicle. However, from .he passengers' point of view the interior vas all important.
There was a lot which could be done with he present bus but the amount of research nto the matter was relatively small. More mention was now being given to the use of :omputers in bus operation.
So far as management was concerned, nore co-operation between departmental leads was in evidence. There was a growing villingness for the technical department and he operating department to consider each other's problems, for instance, thought Mr Butcher.
In answer to a question from Mr Wilkinson, Bromsgrove College of Further Education, about the use of day-release courses for management training, %Mr Butcher agreed that attendance at evening classes by such employees as foremen was not an easy way to learn. Where it was possible to do so his company would have no hesitation in agreeing to send staff on day-release courses but a lot could be learnt in on-the-job training also.
Cleanliness Mr Guy Baker, Midland Red, said that he thought not enough attention was given to the cleanliness of vehicles. Mr Butcher agreed that this was a point that could do with a lot more attention being paid to it. However, vandals were a problem and operators would have to give more consideration to prosecuting offenders.
Answering Mr L. C. Harrison about what could be done to make bus crews more aware of the importance of timekeeping, Mr Butcher said that bus operators had been increasingly persuaded to adopt tortuous routes to satisfy demands but there was a case for reverting more to main roads. This would help the crews to keep better time. Probably about 80 per cent of bus company's staff were co-operative and interested in the job and removing some frustration would reawaken interest in timekeeping.
On the freight side, Mr L. S. Payne, director of technical services and development, National Freight Corporation, told the conference that, though staff might work only four days a week, the weekend as it now exists would have to be dispensed with.
Continuing affluence in the next decade would bring problems of distribution between manufacturer and consumer. Such affluence would create bigger demands for goods of all kinds which would result in considerably increased production of those goods. The resultant transport engendered would need access to city centres and must have it if .those centres were to continue to exist. Out of town shopping centres were not the answer.
Cars had therefore to be eliminated from city centres and road transport drivers educated to be the responsible people that they were in the past Increasing affluence and the growth of leisure would mean that transport activities had to be spread over seven days a week despite the tendency for the working week of the individual to become only four days.
There must be some effort made to consolidate the technical advances of the Sixties in the Seventies. Society had failed to integrate those technical advances and thus has failed to get the maximum benefit from the labour intensive transport industry.
' Working hours Answering Mr G. G. Fiegel who said that people did not want to work outside the present normal working hours, Mr Payne said that transport drivers, for instance, already did this and night deliveries were nothing new in the dry-cleaning industry.
Night deliveries would have to become commonplace in the future and some kind of "air-lock" system to ensure security was not impossible.
Other forms of transport were not regarded by the railways as in competition but partners conveying passengers and freight to concentrated railheads, was how Mr C. E. W. Green, divisional passenger manager, Nottingham, of British Railways London Midland Region, described the modern railway outlook.
He said that the railways had obvious disadvantages in high fixed costs and inflexibility to meet rapidly changing markets. This was in contrast to the bus operator and road haulier who could usually adapt their routes at very short notice at little cost.
The railway had the advantage of having tremendous capacity for heavy traffic volumes and, unlike the road haulage operator, could operate on a 25-ton axleload in operating 100-ton wagons.
Major investment on the railways was being concentrated in fields where it wasthought that the railways had most to offer. These included mass transit schemes for cities, high-speed inter-city services and block freight trains.
Public opinion There had been a remarkable swing in public opinion in the last two years, however, and there was now a more sophisticated belief that the railways had an essential but specialized role to play in civilized life which could not be fully accounted for in a balance sheet.
The merry-go-round coal trains to power stations and the Freightliner container services were enjoying their success but the boom traffic was undoubtedly the block trainload business carrying automobile components, oil, cement, chemicals, steel and aggregates.
Passenger journeys had been increasing at the rate of five per cent a year after a number of years on the decline. It was hoped that the high-speed trains now being developed, including the Advanced Passenger Train would result in the doubling of passenger journeys on some routes in the future.