AMBER LIGHT
By DAVID STEELE
SOMETHING exciting has been happening in Newcastle-on-Tyne and has largely escaped the notice of the national Press. The "little man" has served notice on the Government that his acquies- cence in a programme of unlimited nationalisation is not to be taken for granted. The bus passenger is not at all sure that he wants to travel in a State-owned bus ; the Councillor sees no reason why his trams or trolley buses should be taken away from him ; the driver and conductor have a feeling that it may be better to work for a company or a municipality than for " the Government."
For the benefit of what I fear is a large number of readers, I must explain that while the railways have been nationalised, and also road haulage in the broad sense, road passenger services outside the London area have not, though the British Transport Commission has acquired control, by voluntary arrangement, of an important group. It is significant that the Transport Act sets out a special procedure for nationalising these services. The framers of that Act evidently recognised the need to proceed warily. The man in the street did not feel closely concerned when the Bank of England was taken over, or Cable and Wireless. He knew that on the railways competition had virtually been eliminated and Government control become the practice. Buses, trams and trolley-buses are quite another matter. Their fares axe low, their services frequent, competition is keen, and where they are municipally-owned they are a source of pride and not infrequently a source of benefit to the ratepayer. Moreover, when it is a question of increasing or reducing prices or services, the public is effectively protected by the Licensing Authorities.
The Act requires the British Transport Commission to divide
the country up into areas, a matter on which it has to consult all the local authorities concerned. Then a draft " scheme" has to be prepared in every area where one is thought necessary, and again all the authorities and interests have to be consulted and other inter- ested parties as well. When a draft Order is made, it has to be published. If objections are made by an affected party, a public local enquiry must be held. Finally, if the Minister decides to make an Order, it has to be laid before Parliament. These safeguards clearly indicate the considerable uneasiness felt about the wisdom of absorbing these road passenger services into a State monopoly. Certainly it must be difficult to prove to the satisfaction of an impartial observer that the services would become, as the Act pre- scribes, more adequate, suitable and efficient. There is already a high degree of co-ordination both between companies and between buses and railways ; nor is there any reason to think that more vehicles or spare parts or labour would be forthcoming owing to a change of ownership. As for fares, both the Parliamentary Secre- tary to the Ministry of Transport and the chairman of the Transport Commission have indicated the likelihood that bus fares would be increased and rail fares lowered if the whole of transport passed into the hands of the State. What else, indeed, could be looked for ? The Government wants to induce the public to make more use of trains. How is it to be done except by some adjustment of bus fares ? And we have the practical example of London, where, in the absence of competition, the bus and tram fares, levelled up to the rail fares, are higher than anywhere else in the country.
Last month the British Transport Commission started operations in the North-East counties. With the acquisition of the Tilling group of companies they were already in control of one of the most extensive services in the area. Most of the local authorities were Socialist-controlled and might be presumed ready to acquiesce in any scheme propounded under Government auspices. Accord- ingly a meeting was convened by the Road Transport Executive in Newcastle for an informal discussion of the boundaries for the area, the first area to be designated under the Act. Four county councils and nine borough councils were represented. But the meeting did not go according to plan. It proved, indeed, something of a busman's holiday. When the chairman began by. inviting the representative of one of the counties to give his views on the boundaries to be assigned in his part of the area, he was immediately challenged as to the need for any alteration in the existing system of road transport, which worked very well. To the obvious surprise of the members of the Road Transport Executive the sense of the meeting appeared to be one of unanimous opposition to any area scheme. Whatever their political faith, the local authorities' delegates were not prepared to take it for granted that their buses and tram? must pass to the nation. They wanted to know why. They saw no reason why road fares should be raised against the passenger in the interest of British Railways. And they were by no means reassured when the chairman sought to dismiss the suggestion as " a rumour " and denied that it was " at present " the Executive's policy to raise fares. Higher authorities than himself had made it only too clear that road fares and rail fares were to be " co- ordinated."
So the Transport Commission has encountered a rebuff at its first test of local opinion. This is a healthy sign and an encouraging one. Here is a field where the "little man " has a direct, immediate interest and can make himself heard. Already in the Newcastle area there has come into being an Omnibus Passengers' Protection Association, pledged to oppose any scheme which sacrifices the interests of the community either to a political dogma or a desire for mere administrative tidiness. Similar bodies, it may be hoped, will spring up in other areas. The Transport Act gives the man in the bus an opportunity to make his opinion carry weight whilst the nationalisation schemes are under discussion. If they go through, he will have nothing but some kind of an ornamental Consumers' Council to watch his interests. His experience with such councils, whether concerned with coal or food or fuel, scarcely encourages him to expect much help from such a quarter. Now he has a chance to slow the progress of the State juggernaut, and he has made a beginning by switching on the amber light.
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