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PROBLEMS OF THE HAULIER AND CARRIER

24th July 1928, Page 61
24th July 1928
Page 61
Page 62
Page 61, 24th July 1928 — PROBLEMS OF THE HAULIER AND CARRIER
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Studying Coach Fares as a Means for Checking Own Charges, Using the Cost Tables.

ACASUAL examination of the schedules or fares for motor-coach trips is liable to give rise to misunderstanding. They must be most carefully studied, in the light of all the co-relating factors, before they are criticized or commended.

The accompanying tables embody extracts from the list fares issued by a well-known concern operating, as these tables show, between London and the south and south-west coasts. In the original lists the fares for single and return journeys are given together ; I have separated them and deal with them separately for the sake of convenience. Table I shows single fares and the corresponding returns per passenger mile; Table II deals in the same way with the return fares.

A casual investigation would lead the reader, to the conclusion that there was no uniformity in the fares charged. A further study, made passible by taking the mileage of each scheduled trip into account, and calculating the fare per mile, as is done in column four of each table, would appear to confirm that impression. So far as single fares only are concerned, there is a difference of nearly 40 per cent. between the highest and lowest, namely, Bournemouth, at 1.440. per mile, and Exeter, at 1.00d. per mile.

The discrepancy noticeable in the schedule of return fares is just as evident, although not so great proportionately. If we consider the two tables together, still confining our attention to the fare per passenger mile, the difference is even more marked, as then the highest figure, which is still that of the single fare from London to Bournemouth, is well over sixty per cent. greater than the lowest, namely, 0.88d., which is the fare per passenger mile charged for a return ticket to Bath.

Cheap Return Tickets Customary.

The average man expects that a return ticket should be cheaper, proportionately, than a single. That was a general rule on the railways before the war. To-day it is not so usual so far as ordinary third-class tickets are concerned. There is usually an economy in the return fare so far as first-class tickets are concerned, whilst the basis of excursion tickets necessarily involves a considerable reduction in the price of a return ticket as compared with that of two single tickets. It is probable, however, that very few, even of those who so confidently expect to save by the purchase of a return ticket, really understand why that benefit Is possible. I may be able to enlighten them on that point in the course of this or a succeeding article. Meantime, I must first consider the variations in the passenger-mile basis of single coach fares.

There are two reasons why the experienced coach proprietor modifies charges in this seemingly illogical manner. The first is that he is, in this matter, governed by that all-powerful commercial law of "supply and demand" so aptly epitomised by that Captain of Industry, the late Lord Bearsted, when, speaking of the price of petrol, he said that "The price of a commodity is what it will fetch." The wise motor-coach owner, recognizing the truth of that dictum, trims his sails to suit the wind that blows, as it were, by modifying his fares in such a manner that he gets the higher return on those routes which are most popular. The greater the demand, the higher the fare he can charge—and secure ! That is the first, and principal reason for the discrepancies we have already noticed. Revenue per Coach Mile the Criterion.

The other reason is more practical. If we look into it deeply enough we shall find that it is part and parcel of the first reason, or that it is actually the practical expression of that reason, in one of the many forms which it may take. It is just this: the return which interests the coach owner is not the return per passenger mile, it is the revenue per vehicle mile.

Let me explain. The revenue per passenger per mile in the case of travellers to Plymouth who have taken return tickets is a penny. In the case of thirty-two seater coaches completely filled, that is equivalent to 32d. per vehicle mile-2s. 8d. per mile run. If, however, it is only likely that, throughout a season or a year, as the case may be, the average number of passengers carried will be 20, then the revenue per passenger mile will only be 1..s. 8d.

The coach owner's first question therefore, in fixing his fares, is "How much must my revenue be per vehicle mile in order to make the service profitable?" Ills second is "How many passengers am I likely to carry, on the average, each trip?" There follows a simple division sum, the number of passengers expected into the minimum revenue which is desired, and the necessary revenue per passenger per mile is ascertained.

In the case of the Plymouth run, to which I have already referred. Let me assume, for the sake of argument, that this particular coach owner is so circumstanced that his revenue per coach mile must be two shillings. If that be so, then he has evidently come to the conclusion that he may expect, on the average, 24 passengers on the double journey. He divides the two shillings by 24 and arrives at a penny per passenger-mile as the basis for calculation of his return fare. The mileage is 428, 428d. is 35s. 8d., the actual fare is 35s.

Supply and Demand.

Having fixed the minimum fare for the return journey that for a single ticket is decided arbitrarily as being rather more than half the return fare; as much more than half as is practicable, having in mind any competition which has to be faced, and not overlooking, in this respect, the amount of the ordinary railway fare, although on a fare basis, coach owners do not stand in any awe of the railways, the reverse being the case. They must, however, bear in mind the fact that the railway, for its higher fare, offers a swifter and often a more comfortable journey. At least, it is quicker and, in the minds of many people, safer. The coach proprietor, in fixing his fares, must regulate them rather to increase the• demand, to ensure its keeping ahead of his supply. At leant, that is the ideal condition.

Operating Costs.

There is another aspect of this matter of supply and demand with which I propose to deal in a subsequent article. Meantime, I should like to direct attention to the last column in each of the two tables, that in which appear the operating costs for the vehicles engaged upon this work. I have assumed in the case of those machines which go to Bournemouth, Bath and Westonsuper-Mare, that a double trip is made each day, and in the others, that a coach only travels in one direction each day. I reckon on seven days a week and from that calculate the figure for miles per week which is a necessary basis for, assessment of costs. There is no point in calculating operating costs in connection with the figures in Table 1, giving the fares for single tickets: Obviously, the coaches have to come back and

they will not return empty. S.T.R.

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