sand politics ewcastle City Council has doubted the ri or
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necessity of certain of the PTA wls, but once the Tyneside Authority is shed we shall do our best to ensure its is for the benefit of the travelling public. 3 clear that the success of this new e will depend to a marked degree upon )od will and co-operation of all coni. In this context it is to be deplored that presentation has been so fixed as tO a that the new Authority will be La;ontrolled, thus introducing party politics very start.
s most unfortunate for Tyneside that among the PTAs it will thus not have a ,er of the local City Council at its head the vital formative years,
vcastle is providing the vast majority of uthority's assets and will have to bear m's share of its future losses. But pernore important, the PTA is being estabprimarily to deal with the problems of within and to the city. One would have ht it only logical that a member of the :.*.ouncil experienced in the sphere of transport should be the first chairman. . Neville Trotter was the obvious person a position. With his wide knowledge and nterest in transport he has proved a very ssful chairman of Newcastle Transport at has been a most difficult period in its
future of public transport cannot be lerecl in isolation from its rival the pri:ar, and th.s is fully recognized in Newwhere the work of five former council ittees has been successfully combined ville Trotter in the traffic, highways and ort committee which he created.
committee is responsible for all asof transport in the city, including traffic taring, control of car parking, conon and maintenance of roads and operxf the city's bus fleet.
transfer to the PTA of the bus fleet will us close co-ordination. The effect would st have been minimized if the Authority le committee responsible for the city's had had the same chairman.
leader of the Labour Group on the city II has stated that Cllr. Trotter is not table because of the views he has ;sed about PTAs—commonsense views are shared by many local authority s and no doubt by many in the transport s short-sighted and dogmatic attitude is omen for the future and if continued will eke it any easier for the PTA to achieve ccess hoped for by its sponsors.
ARTHUR GREY, r of Newcastle upon Tyne City Council.
Drivers' hours As well as finding out once and for all whether the statutory 30-minute break will be classed as "on" or -off" duty under the Transport Act, it would be interesting to learn why the Government decided to be vague on this important point.
When the Bill was before Parliament trade and industry continuously pressed the Government for clarification.
Our understanding is that rest breaks will count as being "off duty" if they are -taken away from the vehicle, although a test case is certainly going to be required before we can be absolutely definite.
How the Government expects companies to plan for the new drivers' hours arrangements when these are undefined is, of course, beyond comprehension.
J. M. GUITRIDGE, Public Relations Officer, Freight Transport Association.