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Fare's Fair

23rd November 1951
Page 25
Page 25, 23rd November 1951 — Fare's Fair
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

ECENT events outside the control of operators _ precipitated an attack, this week, on " charity " fares in South Wales. Eight corn panies presented applications to the South Wales Licensing Authority for permission to abandon workmen's concession rates and to introduce new charges for weekly and season tickets. In doing so, they threw out a challenge to the miners, who have come to regard themselves as a fifth estate. The action taken by the South Wales operators must soon be adopted all over the country. The time for sentiment is long past. Bus undertakings' budgets must be balanced and the burden must be spread evenly over all passengers. Conditions in South Wales offer special justification for the .widthdrawal of workmen's fares. A great part of the bus traffic there consists of essential journeys, for which, as public-utility undertakings, the companies have to provide. The lowest percentages of unremunerative mileage run by any of the eight companies, as at March 31 last, was 35. At that time, two concerns were running about three-quarters of their services at a loss, and one operated all its mileage in South Wales at below average cost. This is a situation that cannot continue.

Little Pleasure Traffic Like those in many other parts of the country, the towns in South Wales are small and there is relatively little urban pleasure traffic. Losses incurred on workers' early-morning services, which form a large part of the passenger transport facilities, must be made up by workers who travel later, as well as by passengers on inter-urban routes and by holidaymakers on services to the coast during the summer.

The few who are subsidizing the many are not necessarily those with the greatest means. Most of the miners who enjoy concessions probably earn far higher wages than the clerks and shop assistants who travel to business at full fares.

This situation is in direct conflict with the ideals of a Welfare State, in which burdens are supposed to be allocated according to the capacity of individuals to bear them. Indeed, it is the taxation policy of the sponsors of the Welfare State which . months has shattered fares structures throughout the Country.

In addition, wages and prices of supplies have . risen sharply. Wages and salaries of bus staffs are , now 165 per cent. higher than in 1939. The cost of oil fuel, including tax, has advanced by 225 per. cent., that of tyres by 190 per cent., and of insurance by 140 per cent. These greatly inflated costS, have to be met out of revenue, but it is inequitable that the whole burden should fall on those who pay standard fares.

Equal Sacrifice Bus compaines accept the obligation to run a proportion of unremunerative services: that is not the primary point in dispute. They cannot, however, be expected to operate at a loss. If they attempted to do so, all services would soon cease. Theirdemand is that all who use buses should help fo contribute towards the increased revenue which is necessary to keep the companies solvent.

The only just course is td abandon workmen's rates and introduce period concessions—weekly LO-journey or 12-journey tickets, for instancewhich are available to everyone throughout the day. Those who travel regidarly may, as "bulk buyers," reasonably expect some slight discount. That advantage should not be confined to a gartieular class of person. Manual and clerical workers should be treated on the same. footing. Moreover, when fares have. to be raised, the' increase should be spread as equitably as possible over concession as well as standard rates.

Even when fares have been raised to meet all the latest increases in costs, the rate per mile will still be law. In South Wales, fares will be less than 60 per cent. higher than before the war, and there are few commodities and services the prices of which have advanced as little as that. Inhabitants of the mining valleys of South Wales cannot have failed to notice the rise in the price of coal, from which, at the expense' of consumers in general, they have benefited. If miners' travel is to be subsidized, the responsibility lies with the National Coal Board.


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