OPINIONS and QUERIES HAS THE INDUSTRY A COUNTER PLAN?
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DURING the past months I have read. with interest
various articles on nationalization in your valuable journal, To date I have, however, yet to see in print any concrete counter plan to the present Government scheme.
Although the Government's plan is not known, this is no excuse for us not having a plan ready to place before the public, which, in my opinion, is definitely not conversant with the facts.
Further, I am inclined to think that the present Opposition is too busy piping about the Labour Party instead of getting down to the job of informing the public of a plan to counteract nationalization. In, my humble opinion, unless we organize "commercial users" scientifically, we've had it.
W. T. SEARLE, Transport Manager, Surbiton (for C. H. Coates, Ltd.).
WHY NOT PREPAID BUS FARES?
THE problem discussed by H.J.B. in The Commercial Motor" dated September 2, 1945, has, strange to relate, met with little attention in most countries; one exception, however, is Italy In Milan, where I had been living for some time, I found the system described here. under, which might be of general interest It has, however, to be borne in mind that at the time of my stay there, only single-decker buses were in operation.
The underlying principle is, that passengers board the bus through the rear entrance door and alight through the front exit The rear door leads to a platform, from which one enters the main compartment. Just there, the conductor is sitting behind a small counter Every passenger, on his way from the rear entrance to the front exit, has to pass by the conductor. The pay-as-you-enter system applies thus only to those who take their place in the main compartment immediately after having boarded the bus, whilst the others, standing on the platform, will pay their fares as they proceed to the main compartment. This may be the case during the ride, if there be no place available in the maid compartment, or on the way to the front exit, after having spent the whole trip on the platform.
The conductor's seat is raised a little, so that he can overlook the whole bus. The conductor has another important function; the doors are closed when the bus is moving They are opened or closed by the conductor by means of pedals, which operate the airpressure mechanism. The driver cannot drive on, so long as the doors are open With respect to the question of prepaid bus fares, or rather, tickets, I may contribute something from our experience hi Palestine. Here, this problem is of particular importance, for tickets are generally sold by the driver, who, of course, cannot proceed during the collection of the fares. This keeps buses extremely long on stops. Our bus operators maintain the view that our traffic cannot bear the cost of conductors, a question which I am not going to dis,cuss here. At any rate we are greatly interested to reduce to a minimum the work of the driver involved by the sale of tickets. Apart from monthly season tickets, entitling the bearer to a limited or unlimited number of trips per day, the system of multiple-run tickets is generally in use. These tickets, which cover a certain number of trips (from six to 15), are .also being. soldby the • drivers In Haifa, some bus undertakings have realized the advantage of tickets being sold at small box offices established at important line termini. I am advocating the extension of this arrangement to other important stops. but it is not always easy to find adequate accommodation for the seller, who must, of course, be protected. against rain and the Palestinian sun. Drivers are punching all such tickets not sold by them, each punch having a different shape, so that the controller can easily verify whether a ticket has been punched for the particular trip.
Haifa, December, 1945. W. A. FRAENKEL, C.E.
THE RE-INSTITUTION OF TRAFFIC COURTS?
BEING members of the R.H.A. and other associations, I-'we are both mystified and dissatisfied that nothing has been done yet with regard to the re-institution of the Traffic Courts, whereby a bona fide operator had the opportunity of objecting, .if he so desired, to any application for a carrier's licence if he thought, and couldprove that the application and granting of the licencewas of any detriment to his own business.
As most operators will know, previous to the late war there was a schedule issued weekly, entitled "Applications and Decisions " of licences applicable to these courts, and the bona fide operator could have, if he so desired, a copy of this schedule issued to him weekly. He was, therefore, in touch with all applications and decisions that were being made. Since 1939, however. this system has been dropped and, so far as we can • see, there is no definite safeguard for the operator
• already in business. It is very apparent that at this time, more than ever, the schedule is more necessary, in view of the fact that many applications are being made by men who have returned from the Forces, where they have learned to drive motor lorries
These applications are somewhat illegitimate, to the extent that they may apply for a licence (and probably get it) where the granting of such applications is not warranted, in view of the fact that the amount of haulage work available in the district would not stand any further business being set up. Without these courts, and the issue of the schedule of applications and decisions, the established operator has definitely no safeguard
It is within our knowledge that it is more than likely that advantage is being taken of the present position, and that licences will be granted, and no doubt have been, to irresponsible applicants, because 'operators have not had the privilege of knowing, through the schedule, of the application Consequently they have not had the opportunity of objecting, and of possibly proving that the application was surplus to local requirements.
If it be still the opinion of the "powers that be" that the courts are not now necessary, we definitely think that some scheme should be adopted whereby the bona fide operator could be advised of the applications and given an opportunity of objecting to them if necessary.
We should be glad and interested to read the opinion of other operators on this matter.
Derby COUNTRY OPERATOR