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London Transport's driver training—pattern for the training board?
Page 39
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by John Darker, AMBIM
SEVERAL delegates to the world meeting 14., of the International Road Federation recently paid an instructive visit to London
Transport's crew training centre at Chiswick. The visitors, who came from as far afield as Ethiopia, spent some time with senior instructors and ended the visit with a candid question and answer session with the training school principal, Mr. A. F. Lythgo.
I was glad to have an opportunity of a trial drive in the Simulbus, which, as its name suggests, simulates the effect of a double-decker on a typical piece of suburban road, complete with hazards (variable by the instructors) such as parked vehicles, and road-up signs. A standard Routemaster cab complete with preselector gear controls and speedometer lends an air of verisimilitude to the Simulbus, and a shadowgraph screen in the foreground provides a reasonably authentic simulation of road conditions (though the road lay-out, unfortunately, cannot be brightly illuminated, and experienced drivers tend to be given a headache by the rather dimly lit screen).
I was told, however, that non-driving trainees do not suffer from a "muzzy" feeling when they are tested on the Simulbus —something the psychologist could no doubt explain.
When recruits make steering errors with the Simulbus they are appropriately buzzed.
Although no harm is done if a "solid" object such as a parked bus is deliberately rammed at speed I gather that even the dedicated instructors do not much care for the experience; one's sixth sense is very much put out by such behaviour!
Since the Simulbus was introduced 2iyears ago about 2,000 trainees have been tested on it. London Transport is now satisfied beyond all doubt that though • the Simulbus will not make a good bus driver it will detect the men who will never be competent.
Confidential forecasts of trainees' results were kept when the Simulbus was first installed. To the surprise of the trade unions and, indeed, of London Transport's senior management, the predictions made about the first 183 trainees proved remarkably accurate. When the indications suggested that a recruit would not make a driver, actual road tests confirmed their validity in every case. , It was admitted that some of those accepted for training after a favourable Simulbus trial were subsequently proved to be unsuitable for driving, but the negative value of the tests saved a great deal of money as it used to take from 14 to 28 days to discard an unsuitable man.
The scale of bus crew training carried Out at Chiswick may be imagined from the fact that there are 145 buses used exclusively for training, with a permanent training staff of 160. Driver training demands a higher ratio of instructors to trainees; whereas one instructor can teach a class of 15 conductor trainees the same number of trainee drivers occupies five instructors.
Chiswick's throughput of crew members averages 2,500 to 3,000 annually. This number includes up to 1,500 conductors, and other staff are trained for supervisory and clerical duties. If these numbers seem considerable it has to be remembered that London Transport has 99 garages and the staffing of each of these may require 40 men to be trained annually.
Mr. Lythgo gave some interesting details of the cost of driver training. An experienced lorry driver could be made into a proficient bus driver for around £80 but the training of recruits with no previous driving experience (such as conductors, who sometimes opted for driver training at the age of 60) cost on average from £250 to £300 per man. About 70 per cent of driver trainees make the grade, including aproportion of elderly conductors.
Exaggerated skill
On average, trainee drivers are under training for 25 days, though some young men are passed proficient in 21 days. Trainees with previous driving experience may reach the required standard in as little as nine days but Mr. Lythgo said many trainees who claim to have driving experience exaggerated their skill to an absurd degree. Put to the test, many are found to have but rudimentary knowledge of roadcraft.
Asked whether London Transport had considered psychological tests of aptitude as an alternative or supplement to Simulbus testing, Mr. Lythgo said he was aware that such tests were applied to Paris Metro recruits; but the same tests applied to African workers had been useless. London Transport believed no aptitude test was wholly satisfactory.
Mr. Lythgo said that London Transport employed about 17,000 drivers—rrtore than double the number of buses operated. The disproportion was due to the heavy peak demands for services and the high level of shift work this entailed. Overall staff turnover was rather better than the national average of 15 per cent. London Transport found that the recruiting curve rose sharply under the influence of political or international crises—an indication that people saw the value of a secure occupation at such times.
One of the delegates, from Stockholm, asked Mr. Lythgo his views on the employment of women as bus drivers, such as was done (on single-deckers) in Stockholm. Mr. Lythgo said this was a possibili He saw no reason why a woman should I drive a Routemaster bus. But he felt so doubt that the average woman woi readily do so for 7+ hours a day. Men I, than 5 ft. 4 in. in height generally fou difficulty in driving a bus and the avert Englishwoman was 5 ft. 2 in. General said Mr. Lythgo, women in this country recent years had not been brought up to fairly heavy manual work. A 12-ton I required strength of shoulders to drivp though power-assisted steering would doubt be employed increasingly in the futu The delegates' tour of the Chiswi establishment included a demonstration the skidding tests which all London Trap port drivers must undertake. The uncontr lable skids induced by very slight ro camber when handbrake only was appli fiercely on a wet road surface were surprise to some visitors who "enjoye this somewhat alarming experience w expert instructors at the wheel. Techniqt for correcting skids by rapid intermittc brake applications are part of the ba: road skill of all London Transport driversskill which is claimed to be more exacti than any other driving tests (including poli tests) in the world.
No doubt the Road Transport Traini Board will soon be considering the questi, of driver training. The normal procc whereby lorry drivers graduate from sm delivery vans to ever larger outfits worksafter a fashion. Whether the industry as whole is really served by this somewh slapdash arrangement is, I think, questio able. Perhaps regional training centres heavy goods drivers should be set up as matter of urgency. If so, the experience London Transport would provide a use] framework for goods transport driv training. •