AN IMPORTANT INQUIRY AT SOUTH SHIELDS.
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The Hearing of the Appeals of Three Well-known North Country Bus Companies Against the Ruling of South Shields Corporation.
THE desire of South Shields Corporation to impose restrictive regulations in granting renewal licences to owners of private buses which are working in its area, formed the subject of an interesting Ministry of Transport inquiry on July 30th, when appeals, lodged by the three largest motorbus undertakings in the district were heard.
The companies are the Northern General Transport Co., Ltd., the Jarrow and District Traction Co., Ltd., an associate concern which has recently replaced its trams by motorbuses, and the Sunderland District Omnibus Co., Ltd. The appeals have reference' to the action of the corporation in seeking to prohibit private vehicles from picking up passengers and setting them down in the borough, and relate to the problem of minimum fares.
For the first-named concern Mr. F. J. Wrottesley said that his client had an issued capital of £723,000 and a fleet of 600 vehicles. The company employed about 1,600 workpeople and operated extensive services throughout north Durham. This client first secured, in 1920, permission to run buses between South Shields and Sunderland. via Cleadon—where a large housing estate had since been developed. The Northern General Transport Co., Ltd., imposed a fare of 2d., against the corporation's tramway charge of id., over the portion of the route worked by the municipal tramway system. In May, 1926, the corporation sought to reduce from 45 to 15 the number of licences which was iseued to the company. This was frustrated after negotiations, and a month or so later the corporation opened up a bus service to Cleadon.
Later, difficulties in reference to the route were smoothed over by the insti talon of a joint time-table, but, in 1928, despite a complaint that the route was becoming a " race track," the council issued to the Sunderland company a further 20 licences. More corporation buses were also put on the service and the effect was to dislocate the previously worked time-table. When application was made in the ordinary way for the renewal, this year, of the licences, the corporation replied that these would be issued conditional upon the companies agreeing to abide by a -number of clauses which it outlined, one of which was to prevent private !miles from picking passengers up or setting them down inside the borough. Protective fares were also sought, a minimum charge of 3d. being proposed. To this Mr. Wrottesley said that his client had no objection to charging higher fares to protect the tramway system, but it did object to Charging more than the fares which were in force on the corporation buses, which were competing with the municipal trams.
Mr. H. A. Stagg, a director of the "Northern General," said his company did not encourage the practice of picking up or setting down passengers along tram routes, but if passengers wished it the company had to do so.
Decreased tramway revenue in the
past four years was attributed by Mr. J. Austin Baker, general manager of the tramways department of South Shields Corporation; to excessive motorbus competition. The reason for extending the corPoration bus service,to Cleadon was that large numbers of the townspeople were now living there and they required transport facilities to and from their businesses and sources of pleasure. This was a duty of the corporation. A number of summonses again4 the companies in respect to plying for hire without lieences is adjourned, awaiting the announcement of the Ministry's finding.