Biggest Company Application to Date : Ribble Needs £374,000
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OPERATING 1,250 vehicles in the North-Western, Northern and Yorkshire Traffic Areas, Ribble Motor Services, Ltd., has now prepared proposals to increase fares on stage-carriage services. Over 210m. passengers are carried annually by Ribble, the vehicles covering 46m. miles a year. This is the first general application made in the 32 years' history of the company.
Application for the new fares has been placed before the North-Western
Licensing Authority Applications to the other Authorities are due to follow this week. The proposed variations do not fall upon existing single fares, which will remain largely unchanged. Ordinary returns up to 5d. will go up by Id., if the application succeeds. Returns between 6d. and 10d. will go up by 2d. and the 11d, ticket will be increased by Id.
Some Returns Out
In some cases, new return rates will equal double the single rate, so that certain return tickets will be abolished. Workpeoples fares are to be increased by 25 per cent., plus any fraction of 3d. Contract rates are to be increased by the same amount and other concession fares are to be modified' accordingly. In the North.-Western Area, over 270 services are affected, including those operated jointly with 15 other concerns. Announcing the proposed revisions, Mr. H. Bottomley, general manager, points out that fuel and road taxes now cost £500,000 a year, representing more than id. per passenger carried. In addition, revenue has declined in the past year by about 3 per cent. The new rates are estimated to produce approximately £300,000 additional revenue, equal to 8i per cent. of the concern's revenue as .a whole. Before the Budget, stage-carriage serviceswere estimated to be losing £299,000 a year, which has increased to £374,000 as a result of higher taxes on fuel.
Further Increases
" The imposition of the higher foe tax in the recent Budget," states the general manager, "has upset calculations and the estimated additional revenue . . . will be insufficient to enable me to avoid continuing to incur losses on stage-carriage services. I may be compelled, albeit reluctantly, to ask for further increases in our general fares structure."
A representative of the British Electric Traction Co., Ltd., of which Ribble is an associate, stated that some 60 per cent. of the stage services operated by the Ribble concern were run at a loss.
Another B.E.T. company which has applied for increased fares in the past week is Maidstone and District Motor Services, Ltd., and its subsidiaries, Hastings Tramways Co. and Chatham Traction Co. . Proposals suggest a26 increases of id. on single fares up to 34d., Id. up to 11d., 2d. from Is. to Is. 5d. and so on, so that tickets between 6s. and 6s. 3d. will bear an additional 8d. Return fares may carry a supplement ranging from 3d. to lid.
Announcing the proposals, Mr. P. Graefe, general manager, stated that the new fuel taxes would cost the company £50,000 a year and pointed out that since late 1949, fuel costs had increased by £189,000 a year. Increased wages to platform staff were now adding £81,000 to the annual expenditure.
Other applications and decisions are as follows:
Messrs. Alien's Motor Service, operating in Loughborough, to raise charges following decision of East Midlands Licensing Authority, granting company Id. additions on town-service rates.
West Yorkshire Road Car Co., Ltd., and York Corporation granted higher rates for York routes. Single fares up by Id., unlimited contract tickets abolished and extra fare stages introduced to reduce incidence of variations granted.
Yorkshire Traction Co., Ltd., granted new schedules with effect from May 12. Higher fuel costs will add £24,000 a year to operating expenses. Stated at hearing that workmen's services had been run at a loss for 10 years.
Newcastleon Tyne expects loss of £126,000 this and next Year. At hearing of cornoration's annlication before Northern Licensing Authority, last week, increases of Id. on odd 4d, fares between 24d. and 6td. were nroposed. Staff had been cut from 2.982 to 2,668 to meet increasing costs, which had gone up by £123.000 in oast year.
Latest estimates of the annual increases in costs caused by the new fuel prices are as follows:-Manchester Corporation, £90.000; North Western Road Car Co., Ltd., £43.000; East Kent Road Car Co., Ltd., £35.000; Hants and Dorset Motor Services, Lid.. £30 (14)0: Trent Motor Traction Co.. Lid.. £25,000; Leeds, £25000; Barton Transport Ltd., £20.000; Salford, 120.090; Yorkshire Woollen District Transport Co., Ltd., £20.000: Bolton, £20.000; Nottingham. £21,000, Leicester, £18.000; East Yorkshire Motor Services, Ltd„ moon: Walsall, £14000; Southamnton, £13.000; Wigan. £10,500; Hull, £10.000; Stockton, £7.000; Bournemouth, £5,500; and West Hartlepool, £3,700,