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New One-man Regulations P

19th November 1965
Page 26
Page 26, 19th November 1965 — New One-man Regulations P
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

LONDON TRANSPORT REJOINS PTA

SPEAKING at the annual dinner of the Public Transport Association in London last week, Mr. Tom Fraser, Minister of Transport, announced that draft regulations concerning one-man operation would be issued within the next few days. Presumably he was referring to regulations permitting the top deck of a double-decker bus to be sealed off outside peak periods, allowing the vehicle to be operated as a one-man "singledecker."

Mr. Fraser's speech was largely a reiteration of the present Government's plans for encouraging public transport by various methods which have frequently been mentioned. The man in the street, he said, expected a service at the right time, place and price, with comfortable vehicles—and then used his own car. The Government had to fit public transport into a wider context. Britain did not have the resources to provide for the uncontrolled increase in the numbers of private cars and, even if it did, it would be quite impossible to reconstruct the cities to accommodate them. So the aim must be to get more people to use buses.

The Government realized fully that the industry could not provide a better service alone; nor could the Government. What was required was a partnership, and the matter was already being given serious and active consideration through the National Plan. More traffic measures such as bus lanes, waiting and loading restrictions, still more serious parking restrictions and other restraints were needed. Mr. Fraser emphasized the "other restraints ".

Everyone wanted to use a car as well as owning one, but the motorist must accept a measure of restraint where traffic was acute. Rush-hour restraint was not the whole answer, however. Vehicle design and dimensions were some of the things being looked at to make the bus more attractive. The Minister regretted that Mr. Callaghan did not possess the £27m. to ease the burden of fuel taxation, but at least the Government had not added to the burden for bus operators, showing -that buses could be treated exceptionally.

There had to be a good deal of re-thinking about the pattern of services, fare scales, fare collection, and so on. Much more market research was needed, and the Government would be glad to , provide The necessary facilities for this research.

Finally, Mr. Fraser mentioned co-ordination. Was the pattern of transport which had remained since the 1930s right for the 1970s? Was there not a case for one transport authority to cover all operations in each conurbation? The right answers must be found and the PTA would certainly play its Part in this Bus Lines Called For Responding to Mr. Fraser's toast to the PTA, Mr. W. M. Little, chairman of the council advocated a "bus line" as a solution to the traffic problem. A bus line would be a single clear route across a city or town centre for the sole use of buses at certain times of the day. Mr. Little said that there was at last perception that the bus could play a part in retaining cities as we seemed to want them, and indeed could afford them. But this could be done only on one condition —that the journey time was better than any alternative, including the private car. A passenger would not get out of his car to sit in a bus in the same traffic jam. Equally, in co-ordinated bus and train services, a passenger would not go by train and bus if the bus itself could get there just as quickly.

Opening his remarks, Mr. Little reported that at the meeting of the Association council that afternoon, it was with acclamation that an application was received and accepted for return to Association membership by London Transport. This addition to the strength of the PTA brought the representation of operators of 45,000 vehicles to 53,000, which suggested to him a reappraisal of the industry.

Mr. Little told Mr. Fraser that this reunited Public Transport Association could now serve the Minister and his officers in a way that had not been possible for many years. This they hoped to do effectively and expeditiously in times when the industry was moving fast

A plea for new thinking on speed limits for p.s.v. was made by Mr. Little, who said that there were perhaps now more stretches. of improved class A and dnalcarriageway roads than would he thought if one listened only to the critics. He knew that a road could not be classified' as a motorway unless there was an alter, native route for the horse and cart and invalid carriage—must the bus operator , be classified with these vehicles?

A plea for quicker action from The Ministry in amending the necessary legislation to improve the services pro-'-. vided by buses was then. trade by Mr.., Little, Perhaps pressure on Parliamentary time was the governing factor. He asked: Could Mr. Fraser steal a little more of this commodity for the benefit of the passenger industry?


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