CONTROL RAIL SERVICES,
Page 58
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
• Says Scottish Omnibuses Manager
CONTROL of rail facilities to prevent wasteful and uneconomic competition with existing satisfactory road services was urged last •week , by Mr. R. MacKenzie, general manager of the State-owned Scottish Omnibuses, Ltd. He was addressing the annual conference of the Scottish Road Passenger Transport Association at Turnberry.
Rail competition was, he said, a formidable challenge, not only in the longdistance field, but increasingly on medium and short-distance routes. The railways should dominate in long-distance operation between main centres where traffic was heavy, but journeys of intermediate length were the special province of the bus.
Tod Much Transport
The railways' determination to build up their passenger traffic might result in an excess of transport unrelated to existing or potential demands. In some cases, that position might already have been reached, with adverse effects on both road and rail. These • increased rail facilities were unlikely to produce any new traffic, but could scarcely fail to take passengers from road operators and to increase the large number of unprofitable bus services.
Bus operators were faced with competition from rail fares lower than those of experienced road operators and what the Traffic Commissioners would regard as a reasonable minimum. Whereas multiplejourney bus tickets were limited to amaximum number of trips related to the price, the railway weekly ticket, costing the same amount as the bus ticket, permitted unlimited travel. Additional rail journeys were being allowed without any extra charge. Here was a source of extra revenue that the railways should seek to obtain.
Excess Must be Paid For
"it must not be forgotten," said Mr. MacKenzie, "that an over-supply of transport, just like an over-supply of any other service, must in the long run be paid for either by The user or the taxpayer, or both—for the laws of economics are relentless."
Traffic was being abstracted from regular services also by works buses run by employers to carry employees free of charge. A public service vehicle was liable to an Excise duty of about £100 a year, whereas a similar bus used, by an employer to carry workers free was taxed at only 12 10s. a year, and required no certificate of fitness. Parliament had never intended that by the subterfuge of paying for travel in labour rather than in cash, the regulations governing public service vehicles should be set aside.
"In the interests of road safety and of logic, quite apart from the effect of this type of operation on the economics of organized public transport systems, this unsatisfactory state of affairs should be rectified," Mr. MacKenzie added.
B24 Dealing with other difficulties facing the bus operator, he said that the day must come when the most regular and economical user of road space—the bus— must be given priority over the casual user and parker.
"Just as the bus passenger is charged and pays for the full cost of bus operations, including garages and, in some cases, bus stations, so also must the motorist be required to pay the full cost of his operations," he commented.
He challenged the belief that the growth of private transport had benefited bus operators by reducing the peaktraffic problem. Quite apart from the effect of congestion on services, he said, the passenger lost at peak times was lost also at off-peaks, including week-ends.
On the question of television, Mr. MacKenzie remarked that it seemed unlikely that youth would be content to remain indoors to the extent that was at present the fashion.
Road Transport Not Lagging
He replied to critics who had said that road transport. was lagging behind the manufacturing 'industries in applying work study to obtain better performance. Under less impressive titles, work study had been employed in the industry since its inception. The development of intelligent and up-to-date methods of doing work in the workshop, on the road and in the office had been continuous.
Work measurement was the basis on which drivers' and conductors' duties had been drawn up ever since public road services were started. A predetermined volume of work was performed in return for an agreed basic wage.
In maintenance, too, schemes involving not only work measurement, but incentive bonuses, had been introduced. Admittedly, incentive bonuses had not been generally applied to cleaning or running repairs, although recently there had been developments among these lines, particularly in the municipal field.
Many operators feared' that bonuses would be. used to inflate the pay packet without an appropriate increase in output. Different standard times for the same operation might be adopted by different operators. Bonus and total earnings would thus vary for precisely the same effort and output. Dissatisfaction was bound to result among employees in adjoining undertakings, with the inevitable levelling-up of the bonus scheme to the one most favourable to the employee.
Before a bonus could be earned, employees should give a reasonable output in return for the basic wage. Operators must ensure that the higher pay earned through bonuses did not prejudice the position of other workers, such as drivers and conductors, to whom they could not readily be applied.
A high rate of wastage among platform staff not only inflated training costs, but gave a lower standard of service. • "Despite the action of the trade unions in securing the virtual elimination of the service qualification between starting and maximum rates," he said, "a sound case can be made for their re-introduction and extension. It would be in the interests of our. industry, and of the unions, too."
Among recommended ways of attracting traffic was the heating of buses, but orthodox arrangements remained unsatisfactory. Within limits, improvements had been made in three directions.
. The first was to fit fresh-air ducts to the heater units, thereby reducing the tendency for the elements to become clogged. The second was to fit highertemperature thermostats to divert a greater proportion of the heat to the saloons. The third was to transfer heater piping to the inside of the lower saloon to increase the radiating surface and make distribution more uniform.
Fan Control
The difficulty caused by the engine fan's dissipation of heat that should be transmitted to the saloons might be overcome by driving the fan from a batteryenergized magnetic coupling controlled by a thermostat, so that it came.into operation only when the water temperature exceeded a predetermined maximum.
An alternative system was totally to enclose the radiator in its existing position and to supply it with atmospheric air through a duct controlled almost entirely by a thermostatically operated shutter, with or without the engine fan. The heated air was distributed throughout the length of the saloon through. slots in ducts on each side.
By manual or thermostatic control, any part of the heated air could be discharged to atmosphere under the vehicle through a valve. An experimental system on these lines had given encouraging results. It was cheap and could be applied to existing vehicles.
Eleven Replies to Challenge
These 11 ways of meeting the challenge to public road passenger transport were suggested by Mr. MacKenzie:— (1) Run to _time.
(2) Employ "efficient, tidy and benevolent" crews.
(3) Provide clean, attractive, efficient, modern vehicles, satisfactorily heated and well driven.
(4) Maintain strict discipline.
(5) Strive for the utmost economy, especially in scheduling duties.
(6) Speed-up journeys and link services.
(7) Modernize publicity schemes.
(8) Make inquiry offices attractive and staff them with salesmen. • (9) Encourage contractors to quote firm prices for forward delivery without a " rise-or-fall " clause.
(10) Preserve maximum basic frequencies, but minimize peak duplication by using large-capacity vehicles.
(11) Convince the public that the bps is the most convenient and economical form of travel.