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by George Wilmot Senior Lecturer in Transport Studies, University of London.
5 into 1 does go at Ealing
TO HAVE no fewer than five organizations co-operating in one course is an ususual event. Ealing Technical College has realized that it is not easy these days to mount longer road transport management courses without a number of partners co-operating. The College's School of Management is putting on a day-release road transport management course over a full year, meeting on Thursdays beginning in late September.
The Road Transport Industry Training Board has given the course its keen support and, indeed, the work has been based on the recommendations of the Central Training Council Sub-Committee on Training for Transport Management. Both the Road Haulage Association and the Freight Transport Association have been playing an active role in constructing a syllabus to meet the particular needs of the public haulier and the own-account operator. Finally, the fifth partner, London University, has agreed that the part of the course in transport economics can be so woven into the fabric of the scheme to enable those attending to sit the examination for the first part of the University's part-time Certificate in Transport Studies.
Basically, the course is in three sections with the first term being concerned with the principles of general management which will include some accountancy, human relations, and general legal considerations. In the second term a grip is gained on transport management problems with special emphasis given to marketing and consumer relationships. Attention is focused in the third term on road freight transport topics, their location and operation while the whole range of management services is reviewed.
Specific case studies, covering vital areas of road transport management, are studied in depth during three residential weekend courses in the year.
It is only in a residential course that all the facets of a case study can be covered adequately. Visits have not been forgotten and in each term a full day is given over to see appropriate examples of road transport operation on the spot.
Four years ago, these five bodies had only the haziest impression about the ideas and future plans of each other. It is a remarkable piece of co-ordination, since all five have different basic aims but have managed to sink their differences so that wider advantages can accrue. For example,, the best use is made of scarce teaching resources and a good deal of unnecessary overlapping has been avoided.
The North-Eastern area is always enterprising in arranging high-level seminar courses on the bus industry. Teesside Polytechnic (Middlesbrough) is carrying on the tradition with a two-day seminar on July 12 and 13 entitled "Public transport operation and bus priorities". In order to add bite to the course, the Polytechnic is collaborating with the Teesside Department of Engineering in making a detailed study of the Stockton and Thornaby Traffic Management Scheme. An inspection of the scheme will reveal an ambitious number of contra-flow bus lanes.
On the first day, Mr J. M. Blows, head of the DoE's Traffic Advisory Unit will review the whole field of traffic management and bus priorities, and Mr D. G. Rawlinson, general manager of United Automobile Services Ltd, will put the public transport operator's point of view. On the second day after an assessment of the Traffic Management Scheme, Dr Quarmby, of London Transport, will assess the tangible benefits of bus-priority measures.
This looks a most useful course for planners to gain a better and clearer idea of the problems with which the public operator is hedged around. For the busman, an assessment can be made of a large-scale scheme which gives far-reaching bus priorities.
Dates for your diary
wEDNESDAY July 5 FTA (Chiltern) open members meeting. "Motorway multiple crashes" by Chief Inspector R. Gore. H erts Constabulary. Culpin Room. The Pavillion, Hemel Hempstead, 7 for 7.30 pm.