Independent Operators' Deputation to M.P.s
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TWO deputations of independent passenger-transport operators in Yorkshire and Lancashire respectively interviewed Yorkshire and Lancashire Members of Parliament at the House of Commons on Wednesday evening. The purpose of the meeting was to enable operators to put before Parliament their views on the Minister of Transport's proposed amendment to the contract-carriage law, and to urge the need for other reforms in those sections of the Road Traffic Act, 1930, which are considered to place undue restrictions upon operators.
Mr. Frank G. Bibbings, general secretary of the Yorkshire Stage B34 Carriage Operators Association, one of the members of the Yorkshire deputation, stated, when interviewed by a representative of The Commercial Motor:—" We feel that the moment is opportune for a milch wider measure of relief than the mere simplification of that part of the Act dealing with contract carriages.
" For instance, we want licences to be valid for a longer period than 12 months; we feel that where the primary licence is granted, backings in other areas should follow automatically; and we contend that something should be done to protect the interests of noncombine operators. Whereas, on the
one hand, we see the elimination of large numbers of smaller operators, on the other hand, we witness the amazing growth of the large companies.
" We feel that the whole field of traffic regulation should be reviewed."
Represented in the Yorkshire deputation were the Yorkshire Stage Carriage Operators Association and affiliated bodies—namely, the Sheffield Coach Owners Association and the Chesterfield and District Stage Carriage Operators Association (a part of Derbyshire is in the Yorkshire Traffic Area); the North-Eastern Division of the Commercial Motor Users Association; and Yorkshire Motor Coach Owners, Ltd.