Northern Roadways Case in Commons
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I N the House of Commons, last week, Mr. A. Edward Davies raised some points in connection with the case of Northern Roadways,. Ltd. He asked whether a new operator should be allowed to compete with established companies which had been prevented from extending their services.
. The Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Transport, Mr. Gurney Braithwaite, replied that the unusual aspect of the case was the deferment of, the revocation of the company's licence and the time taken to decide the appeal. The postponement was to minimize inconvenience to the travelling public, but it would have been wrong for the. Minister to have allowed his decision tohave been influenced by the number of advance bookings" that had been made.
A point which had been missed was that the licensing system was intended to secure a balance between different services. The question at issue was not that of protecting State-owned companies, but of regulating passenger transport in accordance with principles developed from the 1930 Act, said Mr. Braithwaite.
UNLIMITED-TRAVEL TICKET PROPOSED
THE introduction of a 55. weekly ticket which would give the holder the right to unlimited travel by bus, tram and underground railway within the city boundary, was one of the suggestions put forward by Mr. William Reid, M.P., at a meeting in Glasgow, last Friday.
Mr. Reid, who is a former convener of the Glasgow Transport Committee, said that there was a 5s. ticket available from housing estates to the centre of the city, but it was restricted to 24 journeys per week. He would like to see a ticket instituted which would allow a person to travel on any vehicle at any time within the' city. boundary. He thought that there should be a 2d. Minimum bus fare and that if a bus went beyond the city boundary, the fare should be the,same as that charged by nationalized transport.
LINCOLN STAFF EFFICIENT
THE administrative section of Lincoln Transport Department is efficiently organized and has the minimum of staff. A resolution expressing satisfaction upon this point was passed by the transport committee after it had considered a report by the general manager, Mr. F. Y. Frazer.
A question on the administrative section of the department was asked at the April meeting of the city council. Mr. Frazer emphasized that good administration was more' important than ever, now that the undertaking was in financial difficulties. Money spent on competent staff of appropriate numbers was more than repaid by the. effects of their work. Lincoln's staff was small compared with those of other undertakings of similar size.