Co-ordination of Municipal and Private Bus Enterprise.
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TN view of the large amount of controversy -I-which is proceeding nowadays throughout the country on the matter of competition between the bus services cateringfor the transport-needs of cities and large towns, it occurs to •us that insufficient attention is given to one of the most important features of • co-ordination in urban passenger carrying. We refer -to the difficulty of . maintaining, without a joining of interests, an efficient transport service over routes which are, at least for a Considerable time, unre,. munerative. Private-bus operators in urban areas often complain against any attempt of the local 'authorities to limit the number or conditions of their operating licences and protest vigorously against any monicipal interference or effort towards co-ordination, contending that the essence of efficiency is competition. This is undoubtedly true so far as it goes, but so many of these private operators fail to look at the position from the point of view of the inhabitants of the town, who are in need • • of means for conveyance to and from their • daily work, . If private enterprise be allowed to proceed unharnessed, competition on the profitable routes will result in poor returns to operators and the less remunerative routes will not be served at all. Only by co-ordination can adequate bus services be maintained on all the necessary routes of an industrial town and it is only by making a really good profit on the routes passing through the most populous areas that a proper Service can be maintained on the unprofitable routes. Some form of co-ordination is, therefore, necessary in the interests of the inhabitants of a city, for it is essential that. the transport service in a large town should be of a comprehensive nature. Without this provision it would not be possible to afford transport facilities for newly developed building estates. This is being partly effected, as was shown by an article in our Special Municipal Number.