A GREAT LANCASH US UNDERTAKING.
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TIRESTON, the motorbus capital of Lancashire, is also the headquarters of Ribble Motor Services, -Ltd., an organization which has, during the past few years, undergone widespread developments. From Preston services radiate north, south, east and west, and of the 400 odd vehicles that make Preston their headquarters 90 per cent, of them are owned by the Ribble Co. They link up Keswick in the north with Liverpool to the south, a distance of 104 miles, and Blackpool in the west with Skipton to the east, about 60 miles. Within this area Ribble Motor Services, Ltd., has 109 services covering 842 bus miles. 'During the past three years pafticularly rapid progress has been made, following a series of absorptions into the system of the company, which have involved 14 motorbus undertakings. These comprise Cborley Auto, Ltd.; the bus department of Messrs. Kenyon, Colman and Robinson, Blackburn ; Messrs. John Bull Motors, Preston ; Messrs. The Bretherton Services, Ormskirk ; Messrs. Lancashire Industrial Motors, Blackburn ; Messrs. Hodgson and Barnes, Preston; "Pilot Motors, Ltd., Preston ; Collingvvood Motors (Liverpool), Ltd.; Messrs. T. E. Smith, Elswick ; The Skipton Motor Co., Ltd.; Messrs. William Webster, Wigan ; Loynds and Co., Darwen ; Lancashire and Westmorland Motor Services, Ltd., Lancaster, and Messrs. The Eccleston Motor Services, Eccleston. As each business has been brought into the Ribble organization, its staff has, so far as possible, also been taken over. Ribble Motor Ser%ices, Ltd., has recently acquired contrel of Waterloo and Crosby Motor Services, Ltd., which operates 12 singledeck and double-deck motorbuses, and these will continue to work under • the name of the-existing company. At the time of an earlier visit of a representative o f this journal to the Preston headquarters of Ribble Motor Services, Ltd., the strength of the fleet was represented by 354 single-deck buses, nearly all of these being Leylands, with a large proportion of the Lion type. By midsummer of this year there were over 400 vehicles owned by this company on the road and the new units comprised a number of new Leyland Tiger buses. The company has standardized on Leyland single-deck buses seating from 32 to 38 passengers, the largest vehicles being long Lions.
An Ever-growing Organization.
The organization is in a state of continuous growth and it seems safe to surmise that even the fleet of 445 vehicles which was in use towards the end of September will not represent the final fleet strength, judging from the records of developments in the past seven years. Perhaps we cannot do better than to express the working results in a table shown later. Ribble Motor Services, Ltd., employs about 1,500 persons, and the amount paid in wages per week is approximately 14,500 during the winter months and about 20 per cent, more in the summer season, when, of course, a larger staff has to be employed to cope with the increased seasonal traffic. Licences cost the company nearly 00,000 per annum and local rates about £3,000 per annum. c32 These are comparatively big figures, hut are no more imposing than those which relate to the coacern's traffic. The number of bus miles run in the month of January was nearly 1,800,000 and the total for the ten months ended on January 28th last was 9,296,019.2. It will be observed that the total for the first month of this year is higher than the average for the preceding periods, and this is explained by services on new routes, taken over within the past twelve months. The number of passengers carried works out at about 2,500,000 per month.
Over Two Million Passengers per Month.
There is not a big margin of fluctuation between
summer and winter trafficand in our interview we were informed that the difference both in the number of passengers carried and in mileage was up to 25 per cent., according to the route. The nuMber of passengers carried during the ten months ended,witti January last was 22,250,000. In the summer Months the mileage per bus per month is, for obvious reasons, increased. Motorbuses on the winter services travel about 700 miles per week each. The average figure in this connection for the month of July of last year was 768.
The area in which there is the greatest density of traffic is that which is embraced by Preston, Leyland, Chorley, Bolton, Bury, Rochdale, Rawtenstall, Burnley, Colne, Whalley and Clitheroe.
The natural centre of this district is Blackburn and from here there areano fewer than 30 ''Services, of which four are to Preston.
From Bolton there are 13 services; from Burnley, ten ; from Chorley, ten; from Clayton le Moors, six ; from Clitheroe, eleven; from Darwen, ten; from Edenfield, seven; from Garstang, seven ; from Kendal, seven; rom Lancaster, fifteen; frem Ormskirk, seven ; from Preston, 28; from Whalley, six, and from Wigan, five.
These details of services give a very good idea of the coMprehensiveness of the communications to neighbouring destinations. The frequency of the journeys is carefully adjusted to public requirements and, owing to the existence of choices of route, in many instances there is a bus every few minutes for intermediate stages between terminals. Incidentally, during rush periods additional vehicles are sometimes put into commission to deal with traffic awaiting clearance. The inauguration of long-distance coach and bus services has stimulated a certain amount of curiosity as to the intention of the leading motorbus undertakings, and although it is early togive any indication of the full plans of Ribble Motor Services, Ltd., in this direction, it can be stated that we are likely to witness new phases of its enterprise. Already there are limited-stop journeys from Liverpool to Blackpool, starting off at 9.40 a.m., 10 a.m., 11 a.m., and thereafter every two hours until 7 p.m.; and to Ambleside at 8 a.m., 10 a.m., 12 noon, 2 DAIL and 6 p.m. The company is not interested in motor-coach traffic; its exclusive concern is in vehicles running to time-table.
Fares are based on a charge of id. to lid. per passenger per mile throughout the system, but 50 per cent. c33
of the tickets issued are for various fares, from 1d. to 6d. As tickets are issued up to 7s. 6d., it will be realized bow great a percentage of the traffic is carried for short journeys.
During the holiday months of the year cheap tickets are issued from the Lancashire towns to Morecambe and Blackpool and the company has been endeavouring to encourage this traffic during the winter months.-of the year by granting the facility of cheap day-return tickets. The following are typical of the fares :--From Blackburn, 72 miles, day return 4s. Gd., long-date return 5s. 6d.; from Liverpool, 114 miles, 6S. 3d., long-date return 7s.• 6d. These tickets are obtainable on the buses on any day of the week.
PasSengers travel by the ordinary service buses and are, therefore, allowed considerable freedom of cholee in the matter of travelling times. Special through return tickets are also issued for journeys to the Lake District. Other classes of ticket issued by the company are ordinary single tickets; ordinary return tickets, at ope-and-a-half times the single fare for the return jourdty ; workmen's daily return tickets at the normal single fare for the return run ; and workmen's weekly tickets. To meet the demands of various classes of traffic, the company issues no fewer than 70 different kinds of ticket. • Now a word or two concerning the establishments of Ribble Motor Services, Ltd. The company has 17 inquiry offices, one of these being located at each of the following towns :—Preston, Blackburn, Burnley, Wigan, Chorley, Clitheroe, Bolton, Lancaster, Liverpool, Morecambe, Carnforth, Kendal, Windermere, Ambleside, c34
Keswick, Grasmere and Garstang. There are 17 running depots and each of these has an allocation of vehicles. At the time of our interview their disposition was accordingto the accompanying table ;—Selbourne Street (Preston), 35; Park Road (Preston), 33 Burnley, 40; Foundry Hill (Blackburn), 27; Dock Street (Blackburn), 35; Wigan, 21; Chorley, 14; Bolton, 20; Clitheroe, 12; Garstang, 10; Elswick, 4; :LiverPool;
12; Skipton, 4;. Morecambe, 15; Lancaster, 11; Kendal, 13; Ambleside, 6; making a total in service of 312 vehicles.
• The Ribble Bus Station in Preston.
Following the recent controversy over bus stands in Preston, Ribble Motor Services, Ltd., has had the premises in Tithebarn Street, formerly occupied by Pilot Motors, Ltd., converted into a motorbus station. Buses, in regular order, draw into a great concrete space, which has arrival and departure platforms; where the vehicles have definite positions clearly indicated and where each has its queue of passengers for their respective destinations. There are railed-in spaces where the buses take their stand to pick up the waiting passengers for Lytham, St. Annes, Blackpool, Southport, Leyland, Chorley, Bolton, Garstang, Whalley, Clitheroe, Blackburn, Chipping, Calder Vale, etc. There are waiting-rooms, cloakrooms, left-luggage offices and all the facilities of a railway station. About 300 vehicles per day are cleared from this station, whilst on Easter Monday the number was 900.
Stations are provided by the company only in places where there is a concentration of services and where the public authorities are not wining to provide suitable public stands. The Ribble Co. holds the view that passengers brought into shopping areas benefit the tradesmen of the area concerned and, therefore, the local council should provide reasonable facilities for the loading and unloading of passengers, especially at the busy junctions or terminals.
To ensure mobility in the operation of its vehicles, Ribble Motor Services, Ltd., endeavours to have its entire fleet licensed by the various licensing authorities in the area of which its vehicles ply, so as to permit, when occasion demands, the transference of vehicles to other areas than those in which they usually operate.
Some councils prefer to issue only a limited number of licences, and if one of the vehicles be taken off the road they permit the operation of a spare unit, but in the meantime the company has to give the particulars of the spare vehicle and make special application, all of which wastes valuable time.
There was a short time ago a long discussion by the Morecambe Council concerning the application of the company for licences for its whole fleet, and this gave rise-to apprehension lest Ribble vehicles should swamp the town. In our interview with the company it was made quite plain that the freedom to interchange vehicles from one route to another, according to the exigencies of traffic and other circumstances, was an important factor in promoting efficient and economic operation.
Licences Held fr.:_rn. 70.Authorities.
Licences are held from no fewer than 70 authorities. In several parts of Lancashire joint committees for the licensing of motorbuses have recently sprung up, with the object of recommending to constituent local councils the advisability or otherwise of granting running facilities to the various owners. Whilst such coordinated endeavour is regarded by operators as a move in the right direction, it is felt that many local authorities, even when functioning through a joint licensing committee, do not appreciate the point of view Of the operating company, in its desire to organize trunk services to benefit large scattered districts.
The joint committees are usually mainly concerned' with purely local traffic questions, whereas the bus companies have to take a broader view and to study the requirements of the population in wide areas. The co-ordination of motorbus transport Is certainly desirable, and if the joint committees could function to expedite travel from one district to another, they would perform a useful work. Prejudice against non-locally owned services is still manifest in a few areas.
For the checking of the conductor's waybills and for the general supervision of vehicles, a large staff of Inspectors is employed by Ribble Motor Services, Ltd., in 'addition to a "flying squad," which travels from district to district to keep a close watch on the general running of vehicles. This squad is pot allocated to any definite area.
The company divides its operating system Into five sections, determined on a geographical basis and on the traffic potentialities of the particular area. Each of these five sections is under the surveillance of a superintendent, who is responsible to headquarters for all general operations in his particular section.
Running repairs are executed at the various depots of the company, but all overhauls are undertaken in the splendidly equipped garage and workshops at Frenchwood Avenue, Preston. Here there is a works council, on which representatives of the management of' the various departments of the works and of each large depot meet in conference to discuss matters of mutual concern and to consider suggestions likely to enhance the efficiency of the company's operations. Meetings of the works council, are held at regular and frequent intervals and are intended to be a "clearing house," as it were, for suggestions and ideas.
There is one other aspect of the enterprise of Ribble Motor Services, Ltd., and that is the arrangements which the concern makes for express parcel delivery. Parcels are accepted at owner's risk only and may not be received by a conductor at' any point less than 200 yards distant from an office of the company or of one of its 150 agents. Parcels weighing 7 lb. and 'under are conveyed up to five miles for 3d, and over five miles for 5d.; 7 lb. to 28 lb., under five miles for 5d. and over five miles for 7d.; over 28 lb. and up to 56 lb., under five miles for 7d. and over five miles for 10d. These charges only cover the carriage of parcels met on the road by a consignee or left with an .agent to be called for, and do not cover delivery to the consignee's premises. Some of the company's agents undertake delivery within a radius of half a mile from their offices and in such cases delivery charges are 3d. for each parcel weighing up to 28 lb. and 6d. for each parcel weighing over 28 lb.
Ribble Motor Services, Ltd., issues a monthly timetable, which is quite a bulky publication of over 300 pages, and in it details of all the company's services, fares, etc., are given.