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Always jam tornorrow
Page 53
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The effects of the 1968 Transport Act upon public transport are.being sharply felt in both rural and urban areas at about the same time. Local authorities and local communities are being faced squarely with the fact that if they wish to call the transport tune they must pay the piper.
The National Bus Company's announcement that in order to meet its statutory obligations it would have to instruct its operating companies to withdraw unprofitable services, unless local authorities paid for their upkeep, has come as no surprise. And the companies themselves have been quick to announce the need for extensive service cuts unless grants are forthcoming. The extraordinary aspect of this affair is that, two years after the passing of the Act, the Ministry of Transport has still not issued the promised advisory memorandum to local authorities to guide them in making rural bus grants. Without this, a few councils have gone ahead but the general effect has been to hold the whole scheme of rural support in abeyance.
Such delay has only worsened the situation, and while the NBC may regret the need to make cuts in services, these will not necessarily damage the companies severely. The people to suffer most are the small independent operators. We believe the Ministry has failed to grasp the sense of obligation to local communities which has kept so many of the' small firms in business in defiance of commercial judgment. In its excellent policy statement issued this week the PVOA also expresses a fear that if the grant claims procedure is too involved, many smaller operators will withdraw for that reason alone. This must not be allowed to happen.
The announcement by the Minister of yet another series of rural pilot studies is no answer: the reports on rural bus studies since the War would paper the walls of St Christopher House. The need now is for action—swift, simple grants and the appointment of county transport co-ordinating officers, as has been done in Devon.