Operating
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Aspects of
PASSENGER TRANSPORT
MINISTER'S PLANS TO ALLEVIATE CONTRACT-CARRIAGE DIFFICULTIES 'simplified Procedure for Applications for One-day Licences
N order to overcome the difficulties
that at present exist in connection with contract-carriage work, the Minister of Transport has devised a scheme to facilitate the granting of licences for services to be operated on one day.
The Minister has prepared a draft of a memorandum with regard to the procedure for the application of such licences, but he does not propose to issue the memorandum in substantive form before January 31, 1934. He will be prepared to consider representations on the matter made to him before the date mentioned.
This proposal has resulted from the decisions made last year by the Southern and Yorkshire Traffic Commissioners to license pre-booked-party work. It is now announced that the Minister has dismissed the appeals of Southdown Motor Services, Ltd., and others against the grant of a prebooked-party licence to Elliott Brothers (Bournemouth), Ltd.; of the latter against the conditions of the licence, and of the West Yorkshire Road Car Co., Ltd., and others against the grant of such a licence to Messrs. F. and II. Croft.
The appellants will not be required to pay the costs of the inquiries, which were reported in our issues dated July 23 and August 4 last. An advance statement of the Minister's decision to make no Order on the appeals was published in our issue dated November 10.
The draft of the memorandum states that, pending further consideration of the question of amending legislation to clear the position of the contract carriage, it appears that simplified licensing procedure should be introduced to meet certain cases in which the criterion of "special occasion," as inter
preted by the High Court, is not satisfied. Furthermore, in view of the uncertainty which may still exist in various marginal cases, operators may wish to secure themselves against any risk of legal proceedings by seeking licences, when in doubt Whilst any operator of a genuine contract carriage is entitled to be exempt from licensing, he may also run under a licence a service that he might legally be entitled to operate without it. At present, it is possible to obtain a short-period licence at the reduced rate of 2s. for each day of operation in respect of journeys, the dates of which are determined some time in advance of the event itself.
If, however, an operator finds that it is impossible to follow the normal procedure of applying for a licence, the Commissioners may dispense with certain stages and grant a licence at the rate of 5s. for not more than a week.
In order to facilitate applications for one-day licences, the Minister has caused to be prepared a new form of application. The proposals involve some amendment of the Licences and Certificates Regulations in the matter of the .fees chargeable and the description of the service required to be published in "Notices and Proceedings."
In considering applications for such licences, it may„ the memorandum states, be appropriate, in certain cases, that the proposed fares should be regarded somewhat differently from those of a regular scheduled service. The absence of any rate which may be considered a reasonably "comparable
approved fare" may indicate that a proposed service involves no wasteful competition, so that the question of the exact fare may be of relatively little importance so long as it is not unreasonable.
The Minister is disposed to think that it may be sufficient compliance with the law if applications for one-day licences be scheduled in tabular form in "Notices and Proceedings," giving the number of the application, the date of the service, the name of the operator, terminal points and return fare.
To enable the Commissioners to review the scope and extent of services of this description, it is proposed that operators should supply suitable reports of journeys made. These reports should be filed at the Commissioners' offices for ready inspection.
We have received a copy of the new form, identified as P.S.V. 999X. It is required that information should be given as to the date of the service, the reason for the application not being made earlier, if the date be less than eight weeks from the date of application, the times at which the journey is to begin and end, picking-up points, farthest destination of the journey, route, total seating capacity of vehicles to be used, particulars (if any) of the tarty, inclusive return fare to be charged for each person, or the amount to be paid for the hire of the vehicle as a whole, and any comparable approved fare.
Within seven days of the date for which the journey is authorized, the licence shall be returned to the Commissioners with these particulars :— The total number of passengers carried (any person carried in both directions being counted as two), 'and the total amount paid.