'Government ignored us' MPTA president
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• "If one accepts that the conception of the new Authorities EPTAsl is to be one of public service run by publicly elected authorities, no organization other than ours is qualified to embrace them within its membership".
This forthright claim was made on Tuesday by Alderman Norman Harris, chairman of Southend-on-Sea transport committee, when he gave his presidential address at the Municipal Passenger Transport Association's annual conference at Brighton.
One of the first things that the MPTA council should do, said Aid. Harris, was to consider altering the framework of its constitution, and if necessary to amend it, so that the authorities within the new evolving pattern might become vital and integral parts of the Association.
Pleading for voluntary co-ordination, he went on: "whilst many of you represent undertakings which work in isolation from other transport operators, there may be many who have a considerable amount of inter-running with other municipal or private company undertakings, or both.
"It is logical strongly to recommend you to investigate as a matter of some urgency the possibility of joint co-ordination agreements between you. These agreements, if followed through with skill and application, can lead to considerable benefits to your own undertakings and to the public service you provide. Widespread adoption of this type of agreement would, in my opinion, be the most likely means of preventing the extension of Passenger Transport Authorities".
Earlier in his address Aid. Harris had castigated the Transport Bill and upbraided
the Government for its lack of heed to the Association's representations. The delegates did not need reminding, he said, of the many and far-reaching changes which were impending in the industry. Some of these would vitally affect the basic structure of municipal bus operation and it was still impossible to foresee the complete repercussions of present-day Ministerial thinking.
"With a note of regret", he went on, "I feel bound to say that the events of the last year suggest that the views of the whole of our industry, which are based on long years of experience, have been largely ignored by the powers that be and our representations have met with little success in making any substantial alterations to the Transport Bill. The intentions of the Government have hardly been modified so far as our views are concerned. Despite all our efforts, the efforts of kindred associations and individual local authorities, all of whom have shown their disapproval in the strongest possible terms of the Government's proposals, we are still left with the threat of the Transport Bill hanging over us."
Observing that municipal operators should never lose sight of the fact that they had but one primary duty—to provide the travelling public with the most efficient and economic transport service, Ald. Harris said: "This is our sole role and to carry it out we are duty bound to oppose by every legitimate means measures which our experience tells us are to the detriment of this objective."
Papers presented at the MPTA Conference are summarized on pages 53 and 54, and a report of the discussions will appear in CM next week.