ROAD TRANSPORT ALL OUT!
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Industry Saves Country From Paralysis : Restrictions Lifted : No . Requisitions Yet
INTENSIVE use of road transport capacity has cushioned the initial A Severity of the railway strike, although the inadequacy of the highway
system has been sharply emphasized. Coach operators were the first to shbulder the burden thrown on the road transport industry in dealing with the return of stranded holidaymakers.
When the strike was three days old, the Government took exceptional measures. Permission to relax restrictions on road transport had been given by the Minister of Transport under emergency regulations shortly before The Commercial Motor went to press.
The principal rules to be made by the Ministry will enable passengers to be carried in vehicles that are not, at pre-sent, licensed as public service vehicles, and goods to be carried in vehicles not licensed for the purpose.
In the operation of the emergency powers, wide discretion is to be left to the Licensing Authorities. More passengers will be allowed to be carried on buses than at present.
The new powers are not, for the time being, to be used either to requisition vehicles or to employ Servicemen on any other duty than manning the 250 Army lorries lent to the Post Office.
The provisions of the emergency regulations permit the Minister to authorize goods vehicles to be used without A. B, or C licences, or outside the terms of any existing licence.
The Minister is allowed to authorize the use of vehicles to carry passengers without a public service vehicle licence or without a road service licence, and to authorize unlicensed persons to serve as drivers or conductors of road passenger vehicles and to waive the maximum number of passengers to be carried.
Big Vehicles Allowed
Vehicles outside the Construction and Use Regulations may now be allowed on the highway, and the Minister is permitted to authorize the use of vehicles that have no Excise licence, and to waive some of the formalities connected with, but not the necessity of, third-party insurance.
The British Transport Commission and the London Transport Executive could be relieved by the Minister of their statutory obligations to carry passengers and goods.
The Minister decided on Wednesday that there would not be any immediate general relaxation of the licensing systems for goods and passenger road vehicles, but he authorized the Licensing Authorities to relax requirements where necessary.
In addition, the Metropolitan Licensing Authority was allowed to enable operators other than the London Transport Executive to provide stage and express carriage services in the London Special Area, without the consent of the Executive.
Under the regulations, the Minister of Fuel and Power is permitted to A32 control the distribution of petrol and oil fuel. There is, at present, no shortage of fuel, according to one of Britain's chief petroleum distributors, but the increased demands of road transport may compel the Minister to take advantage of the new powers.
Local education authorities are to be encouraged by the Minister of Education to stagger school hours in order to ease pressure on public transport.
On Monday, Scotland Yard announced that 16 special parking zones on the fringe of Central London had been created to deal with the greatly increased traffic.
During the emergency, Scotland.Yard stated, reasonable facilities would be given by the police for loading and unloading goods in Central London. "No uiaiting" and unilateral parking regulations would continue in force, but it might be necessary to 'relax them
to some extent. .
The regulations are effective for one month, but they cannot remain valid for so long unless they are -renewed by Parliament seven days after being laid. When Parliament meets next Tuesday the regulations will be laid before it. The new Parliament is to be opened on June 9—instead of June 14, as originally arranged—when the regulations will be discussed.
Last week Mr. David Mee, traffic adviser to the British Transport Commission, gave details of the system of priorities laid down, by the Minister of Transport. Suburban traffic, he said, would have priority over long-distance traffic throughout the country. He gave as the order of priorities: mails and postal stores, essential foodstuffs, fuel supplies, by-products of gas and electricity stations, chlorine for water undertakings, hospital supplies and newspapers.