• Bridlington Turns on "East Yorkshire ": Inefficiency Alleged
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INEFFICIENCY in the Bridlington 1 area was Alleged against East Yorkshire Motor Services, Ltd., Hull, at the continued hearing by the Yorkshire Traffic Commissioners, at Bridlington on Tuesday, of the company's application to increase contract ticket prices and certain other fares,
• Mr. F. A. Stockdale, for East Yorkshire, said that receipts from stagecarriage. excursion and tour and contract services' in , September were £4,275 greater than expected.
If the Commissioners thought any adjustment should he made, the only place to prune was on contract tickets. A 5 per cent reduction in the proposed, increase would amount to £4,000.
Council representatives pointed out that the company. had beett dogmatic about their Sentemberievenue at the last hearing and had been proved wrong. The Indian .summer was the real reason for the increase and, conversely, toss of revenue during the summer was caused by the bad weather, Such decreases were only temporary.
Mr. A. Moorhouse, representing 250 Bridlington bus users, said that losses in Bridlington were caused by bad management and inefficiency. Since East Yorkshire obtained a monopoly in the area in the early part of the year by buying the Williamson bus company, services had been seriously curtailed. • Williamson carried 1,975,000, passengers last year on the seven-minute service. Now there was one bus every 40 minutes. The main traffic artery in Bridlington, Quay Road, with a surrounding population of 10,000 people, had been so badly neglected . this summer that the decrease in passengers' was not surprising. • Mr. H. D. Hocking, deputy town clerk of Bridlington, associated himself with Mr. Moorhouse's remarks and submitted that if there was no monopitly East Yorkshire would not try to do away with travel concessions. If the application was refused in its entirety, the company's revenue would be not £23,500, as suggested in evidence, but over £40;000.
'Mr. J. Savidge, of Hedon, submitted that East Yorkshire's shareholders had never forgone dividends. A sum of £642,500 had been distributed free of tax between 1946 and 1955, The Licensing Authority " missed the boat " between 1947 and 1952 when allowing the company to improve their already reasonable financial position.
• On behalf of Withernsea Council, it was submitted that contract tickets from Hull to Withernsea, which cost £1 8s. before 1951, were now to cost £2 19s., a rise of 110 per cent., compared with the company's increase in costs of only 40 per cent.
Mr. F. A. Stockdale, winding up for East Yorkshire, said that the various reorganizations of the Bridlington services were not closely connected with the fares application. The rearranged services were the result of three conferences with Bridlington Council and had been approved by the Traffic Commissioner's.
. It had been hoped, as a result of the grant in February, that revenue would be increased by £50,000 in a full year.
Bus companies did not put up their fares for fun, said counsel. Sates resistance would increase, but in the long rim services must be decreased if the company were not kept going at the minimum necessary for their continuance.
Decision was reserved.