Municipal Managers' Area Scheme
Page 28
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REFERRING to the provisions of 1%. the Transport Act dealing with area schemes for road passenger transport. Mr. Raymond W. Birch, M.I.Mech.E., chairman of the South Wales Transport-Co., Ltd., said in his annual speech to the shareholders:
"I have heard that certain gentlemen who are concerned in the management of some of the municipal undertakings in other parts of South Wales have set themselves up as a committee in order to produce a scheme of their own. Although their scheme, curiously enough, includes in its purview the undertakings of this company and, indeed, of all company and independent operators in South Wales. wai were noi approached by the authors to ascertain our views.
Their scheme may be regarded somewhat as the 'tail wagging the dog,' seeing that the total number of public service vehicles run by the undertakings managed by the gentlemen in question is about 300 out of a total of well over 2,000 in the South Wales area."
Mr. Birch referred to the aggravation of the peak-hour problem by the shorter working day and increased workmen's traffic. The problem, he said, could be solved only by staggering working hours in business and industry. It was particularly unfortunate that the late-afternoon peak coincided with the homeward journeys of school children.
Last year the South Wales Transport, Co.. Ltd.. paid Swansea Corporation £9,021 under the Act of 1936. To date. an aggregate payment of £96,922 has been made.
Mr. Birch said that all services were now back to at least pre-war strength. and some were well in excess of those run before the war.