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Page 83
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Ted Deakin
• When I asked a Yorkshireman in Bradford the way to the City Transport offices, he not only insisted on taking me to the entrance but also added, noting my Lancastrian accent: "They run the best bloody bus service in England." An hour or so later after talking to the man responsible for this flattering comment I was convinced that my chance acquaintance had hit the nail squarely on the head.
Edward Deakin, general manager of Bradford City Transport, belies his 63 years to an astonishing degree and his modern outlook on integrated passenger transport systems is based on a 'lifetime of knowledge in serving people's travel needs. His career embraces the era of the tram, its successor, the trolleybus, and the modern bus, but he would not be in the least surprised to see in his lifetime a new reign come about — that of the all-electric bus.
Ted Deakin has served on the executive committee of the Association of Public Passenger Transport Operators for many years and was vice-president; he has recently been elected APPTO president. He began his career with Haigh's Motor Services of the West Riding and was the company's secretary by the time he was 21. It was with Haigh's that he learned the business of passenger transport. Later he joined Huddersfield Corporation Transport and was in charge of its tramway system and its experimental six trolleybus fleet. He left Huddersfield to become an assistant superintendent of Ipswich Transport during World War II. The town operated trolleybuses only and Ted Deakin became traffic manager of the joint Electric and Trolleybus Company.
Bradford's services not only serve the city's huge population of 300,000; the corporation also operates joint services with Leeds, Huddersfield and Halifax among other Yorkshire towns. It is also a partner in the White Rose Express bus services which comprises a consortium with Leeds and Sheffield.
Ted Deakin is looking forward to the completion of a multi-million pound plan to integrate the city's transport system. He _feels that the new Metropolitan Council of West Yorkshire, when it comes into being next year, will provide the opportunity to co-ordinate and streamline services and help free town centres in the area of car congestion.
He emphasizes that his job is to do all he can to attract passengers to the bus and having done this keep them there by using every method possible for their comfort and convenience. He told me: "We are trying to give the bus its rightful place in society and offer services which will tempt people to use public transport. The way to do this is to provide frequent services and not too expensive ones". G.C.