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Effects of 1957 Strike Still Felt
Page 88
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THERE was no room for strikes in the I bus industry, Mr. Raymond W. Birch, chairman of the Yorkshire Woollen District Transport Co., Ltd., said last week at the company's annual meeting. The company were only just beginning to recover from the drop in traffic which followed last year's stoppage:
"It has taken months for numbers of people to realize once again that for many purposes bus travel has advantages not possessed by private transport," he said. "The public are slow 'to forgive, and the loss of their patronage may well inflict permanent damage upon our business, involve further reductions in services, and cause redundancy amongst our staff."
Every effort had to be made to establish passengers' confidence. In this direction, the company had pressed forward with improvements to their fleet. Last year, 10 70-seat double-deckers, built to the maximum length of 30 ft., were put into service, and their electrically controlled front-entrance doors proved popular.
Twelve new 41-seat coaches were also acquired, bringing the total cost of fleet improvements to £100,000. The figure would be £115,000 for 1958, as 15 more double-deckers and some high-capacity single-deckers were to be delivered.
During the current year, the '£22,000 bus station at Cleckheaton would be completed, and work would probably start on another one at Batley. HoweVer, bus companies had no bottomless purse from which to pay for 'erecting and operating stations. If any town felt itself so hampered by traffic congestion that it , wanted to move buses ' into a central station, it had to admit that such a station had an amenity value to the community. This was a value for which bus undertakings should not be expected to . pay.
In any case, if any class of vehicle had to be prevented from stopping on a public street, it should be the car rather than the bus.
Mr. Birch added that, because there had been no relief in the Budget, ways of raising further revenue by increasing fares and reducing services would have to be considered.