31d. Subsidy for Rural Buses?
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Investigation of Country Services Reveals General Losses : Government Subsidy and Removal of Fuel Tax Recommended
CONCLUSIONS drawn from a survey of road passenger transport problems in Northumberland by the Northumberland Rural Community" Council, although applying to only a part of the country where unremunerative bus services are operated, may be applied more generally, as the area concerned could be regarded as a microcosm. The report on the survey has been submitted to the Minister of Transport for immediate action.
Its most important recommendation is that a subsidy of 3--id. a mile might be paid to rural operators of non-paying services. There should, however, be a distinction between such operators and bigger organizations whose unremunerative routes could be balanced with profitable town services, the report says. To qualify for the subsidy, an operator should show average costs per mile lower than those of big operators, " In this way, artificially inflated overhead costs and an excessive subsidy can be avoided," it is stated, but it is admitted that the subsidy would not be easy to administer.
A rural operator achieved low costs per mile as his overheads were smaller than those of a large concern. His present difficulties arose not so much out of unremunerative stage-carriage journeys as the loss of contract work to companies who operated solely in; this field.
School Contracts Lost
Many small bus owners felt bitterly about school contracts which were lost by a matter of shillings a week and would have been of great value to them. Education authorities were bound to accept the lowest tenders received, and operators who organized their businesses solely to provide contract services were under no pressure to make a little more money outof them to offset stage-carriage losses,.
The area surveyed covered 330 sq. Miles and the population was 16,000. Some 30-40 per cent. of the families had cars and the practice of giving lifts was widespread.
About 32 per cent. of bus passengers used public services infrequently, at other times riding in cars, whilst the remainder were wholly dependent upon the buses. Of these people, at least 30 per cent, used the buses regularly and were the hardest hit by the withdrawals of services that operators could no longer afford to run.
Most bus passengers were infrequent or even casual users of public transport The number ofweekly return journeys Made by regular travellers was between one and three. Country people liked to be able to rely upon some form of regular public transport, eventhough they seldom used it.
Survey analysts checked the figures of II small operators and found that they
were nearly all losing 10.-6d. a. mile. Most had suffered a severe decline in traffic during the past five years and it seemed inevitable that there would be further deterioration.
There was a general belief that dutyfree fuel should be available to operators, as it was to farmers and the railways, but the analysts found that the relief that this would bring would not be sufficient to offset losses. Tax relief would, nevertheless, be strongly welcomed.
A pressing problem lay in how to provide for vehicle replacements. Old vehicles had to be purchased and these cost large sums to maintain. The report tells of bus owners who drive and maintain their own vehicles, working up to 14 hours a day, taking no rest at the weekend and living on meagre earnings.
Bad Roads Raise Costs
One operator complained about the road surfaces in the area, and claimed that they were responsible for his heavy repair bills. Another said that he would; prefer a reduction in taxation to a subsidy, because of the paper-work a subsidy would entail.
A 70-year-old operator, whose main business was as a builder, kept his unremunerative bus service going because he would hate someone else to take it over. "This service will certainly disappear with his death or retirement," says the report.
Another operator had a prosperous garage and hardware business which sub sidized his buses. 1-le felt that to end the bus services would not help to maintain the goodwill of his other interests.
The report deals at length with the human and social effects of poor bus services. Twelve out of 14 farmers blamed the paucity of public -transport facilities for their inability to attract labour.
An official of the National Farmers' Union, however, said that there was really no labour shortage, because mechanization had reduced the demand for labour. He knew of no Worker who had Left or refused a job because of poor bus services. On the other hand, the report contains the view that mechanization has been stimulated by labour shortage.
Lack of adequate transport meant that many country people had no real choice of occupation. The Ministry of Labour were particularly concerned about young folk who might wish to work in places distant from their homes, "Undoubtedly some potentially good technicians and tradesmen are being lost in this way. Teenage girls find it difficult to get any sort of job and therefore tend to stay at home. The middle-aged or disabled man or woman finds suitable employment difficult," states the report.
The Medical Officer of Health for West Northumberland thought that inadequate public transport made the cost of the health service much higher than it might otherwise be, as taxis or other special means for transport had to be provided for hospital out-patients, Awkward timings of bus departures caused people to stay at home whereas they might make journeys to the towns. Timings did not tally, for example, with church services or doctors' consultation hours,
Fare Increases Not the Answer
Higher fares would not solve operators' difficulties. The number of passengers was declining as more private cars came on the roads. it was unlikely that universal car ownership, even if it could be achieved within a reasonable time, would help, as husbands used the cars to go to work, leaving their wives largely dependent goon the buses.
Old people might not be capable of driving, even if they could afford a car. 'The motor scooter Was not attractive for journeys over Northumberland roads in winter.
Present transport difficulties would not have developed in-such an acute form if British Railways had operated their branch lines with more drive and initiative There was no possibility of co-ordinating public transport with the operations of the General Post Office, so that mail vehicles could carry passengers on their rounds, as the patterns of traffic were dissimilar. Neither would the coordination of the activities of small operators be likely to provide more economic working.
A welcome indication was the willingness of the Traffic Commissioners to allow rural operators to pick up passengers in thickly populated areas where parts of their routes coincided with those of other, and probably larger. concerns.