Um, Tons Down : Revenue Drops
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A LTHOUGH the. traffic of British IA Road Services has increased 'slightly, the tonnage carried in the 36 weeks ended September 7 was still about lm. lower than in the comparable period of last year. Vehicle-mileage was reduced by 29.15m. Tonnage .dropped from 31.88m. to 30.12m. and mileage from 519.66m. to 490.51m.
Revenue is now lower than a year ago. In the four weeks to October 5 last it amounted to 16.1m., compared with £6.5m. a year ago. In the first 40 weeks of this year, receipts totalled £58.3m., against 158.6m. in the first 40 weeks of 1951.
The provincial and Scottish road passenger transport interests of the British Transport Commission and London Transport, however, show an improved position. The 13.T.C. bus companies earned £4m. in the four weeks to October 5, compared with £3.6m. a year ago, and £37..5m. in the first 40 weeks of the year against £34.1m. a year ago. In the four-week period, London Transport's revenue rose from £4.7m. to 15.2m. and in the 40-week period from £45.7m. to £51.2m.
LIGHT WORK FOR OLDER EMPLOYEES
A SUB-COMMITTEE is to be set up 1-1 by Hull Transport Committee to examine the possibilities of providing light work for long-service employees whose retirement before the normal age is occasioned by ill health. The general manager of the transport department reported that 44 per cent, of the 90 members of the transport staff who had retired during the past three years had done so before normal age as they were medically unfit.
Aid. W. E. Body said that more light work should be made available in the department for long-service employees. At the moment there were only seven such posts out of 1,100.
-EXPORT OPPORTUNITIES TWENTY. fire-fighting tenders, with equipment and accessories, are required for service on aerodromes in the Belgian Congo. Vehicles specified by the Service des Approvisionnements du Ministere des Colonies, 14, Rue des Petits Cannes, Brussels, are petrolengined four-wheel-drive machines with a maximum weight of approximately 24 tons.
A copy of the specification, in French, is held by the Board of Trade, Horseguards Avenue, London, S.W.1, and tenders should be submitted by November 27.
Eighteen oil engined twin axled double-decker chassis, suitable for allmetal 58-seat bodywork, are required for service in Johannesburg. The engines should he between 43.5-53.75 h.p. (R.A.C. rating) and should be tuned for maximum power, because of the high altitude of the city. Tenders should reach the Town Clerk, Municipal Offices, Johannesburg, by December 8.
The Board of Trade has also announced that four complete singledeck buses designed to be readily convertible from one-man to two-man operation are also required in Johannesburg, and tenders should be sent to the same address.
Authority Had No Regard to Cost ?
AN allegation that the Eastern Licensing Authority had completely disregarded the question of cost was made by Mr. C. R. Kane, representing Red Car Service, Norwich, before Mr. W. Tudor Davies, Ministry of Transport inspector, when the firm appealed against the Authority's refusal to renew a licence to carry airmen from Swanton Morley R.A.F. station to London at week-ends: The Railway Executive and the Eastern Counties Omnibus Co.., Ltd., represented by Mr. M. Holmes, appeared as respondents.
Mr. ICaile said that the appellant had held a licence for the service since 1947, but when it came up for renewal the Authority withheld a decision to enable the respondents to put forward alternative proposals. This was done last May and Red Car's licence was taken away.
He said that the coach fare was LI, whereas the charge by feeder bus and rail was £1 3s. 10d. for a short weekend leave and £1 7s. 8d. for a long week-end. He submitted that even if the differentiation in charges was the only ground for appeal, the appeal should be allowed.
Mr. Holmes referred to a recent appeal decision by the Minister in which he had reversed a grant to a coach.operator in favour of a road-rail service which was dearer than that
authorized. The inspector's findings were to be reported to the Minister.
STRICTER NO-WAITING ORDERS?
TN certain potentially dangerous traffic 1 areas, the exemptions to no-waiting orders applying to delivery and public service vehicles in the vicinity of zebra crossings should be removed, says a memorandum on road safety sent to the Minister of Transport by the Association of British Chambers of Commerce.
It is suggested that this recommendation could be enforced by the wider use of guard rails in the vicinity of zebra crossings. Another proposal calls for more durable marking of zebra crossings and better maintenance by local authorities.
LEVY COST TO "CO-OP" THE levy on road transport would cost the Scottish Co-operative movement 137,300 a year, declared Mr. Robert Taylor, director of the Scottish Co-operative Wholesale Society, speaking at a conference at Arbroath. He deplored the fact that there was no prospect of a representative of the movement sitting on the Disposals Board.
BRISTOL SEEKS CHANGE I T was decided by Bristol City Council last week that Members of Parliament be approached with a view to obtaining amendments to the Transport Bill so that the corporation could sell its interests in the city services of the Bristol Tramways and Carriage Co., Ltd., or buy the whole or a portion of that part of the undertaking which it does not own at present.