P.S.V. Directories for 1963
Page 46
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THE second (1963) edition of "The Blue Book ", published by Transport Journal Publications Ltd., 79-80 Petty France, Westminster, London, S.W.1, at 12s. 6d., comes as something of a disappointment Although agreeably up-todate in such matters as changes of general manager, no attempt seems to have been made to overcome the greatest drawback of the original 1961-2 edition.
This is the uncertainty as to which groups of operators are intended to be included. In general, smaller concerns are omitted, allowing the clear, wellspaced layout to be combined. with compactness. This would be quite logical if a clear criterion for inclusion were apparent.
Unfortunately, it is not. Some operators with six vehicles are included and yet no entry is to be found for at least five concerns with over 50 vehicles each. It might, somewhat lamely, be said that such concerns as Sunderland District and Durham District are subsidiaries of larger B.E.T. or T.H.C. concerns, but the fleet totals are not included with the figures for the parent companies. Moreover they are separate entities and considerably larger than two subsidiaries of NorthWestern, which are included.
According to the Ministry of Transport there were 1,350 operators of fleets of six or more public service vehicles in Great Britain on December 31, 1961. "The Blue Book ", which also includes Ireland and the Channel Isles, lists 484.
The entries in the " Passenger Transport Year Book 1963 ", published by City Magazines Ltd., 30 Bouverie Street, London, E.C.4, at 40s. are not so easy to count, but there are about 4,000 names in the British Isles section of the index. Quite a number of these are fleet names but the proportional coverage of the 5,000-odd p.s.v. operators of all sizes is obviously very much better. It is possible to catch it out occasionally, but very few operators of any size are omitted.
The Passenger Transport Year Book covers a much wider field than either The Blue Book or the Passenger Transport "Little Red Book '', including as it does sections on overseas operators, descriptive entries on manufacturers of chassis and bodywork and a trade directory. The format is very similar to that for previous years and the volume can fairly be described as a mine of information. The new price represents a sharp increase on that for last year's edition, which costs • 21s., but it is still good value. A.A.T.
Costly Congestion
I F Glasgow Corporation buses could travel their routes one mile an hour faster, then the Corporation would save about £250,000 a year, said transport manager Mr. E. R. L. Fitzpayne in his annual report.
In 1957 the scheduled speed was 12-78 m.p.h. Last year it was 12-34 m.p.h. "At current wage rates this loss of speed costs the department about 470,000 annually in wages," he said.