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_By The Hawk
On the Drink
THE Ministry of Transport's team of experts now in Sweden,
accompanied by a police officer, are not there (as has been reported) for the chief purpose of studying Swedish street parking and new road construction, which, in any • case, have little relevance to British conditions. Sir James Dunnett, Permanent Secretary of theMinistry of Transport, told me that their specific brief is to investigate the strict liquor laws as
they affect road users in Sweden. • I have been making inquiries in western and southern Sweden on the same question. If the Government act on the report likely to be made by the civil servants and police officer, British drinking drivers are in for some nasty shocks.
No Never-never AAR. RONALD COX, general manager of Rochdale TransIV' port Department, is a happy man. His undertaking last year made a net surplus of £20,727, of which gismo has been allocated to the purchase of new buses, and the balance is to be used to increase the liquid assets. The reserve fund for new buses now exceeds £30,000. General managers who are still having to replace their vehicles on loans will envy him.
Cost-conscious
AIR travellers from London arriving at New York's Idlewild Airport Often remark on the great comfort of the coaches (locally known as limousines) which carry them to the West Side Terminal. Harold Champion, when interviewing Sir Henry •Spurner, asked him why air suspension—the major secret of the Idlewild limousines' comfort---was not more widely used in Britain. Sir Henry replied that there was still a limit to what we in the U.K. could afford, In the U.S.A., operators could spend a great deal more than British public transport enterprises on innovations.
" Anyway," he commented, "keep your eyes open on your next overseas journey. The supremely comfortable vehicle you happen to be riding in may come from Leyland."
That may well be, as more than 70 per cent. of Leyland's production is exported.
Two in Harmony
it/TORE than 25 years ago Mr. J. S. Wills, then general IV1 manager of East Yorkshire Motor Services, Ltd., made a bid to take over the running of Hull Corporation's transport. The offer was not accepted, hut a co-ordination committee was formed by the two undertakings and harmony between them has prevailed ever since.
Mr. Wills is now chairman of the company and of the co-ordination committee, and last week he presented to Ald. W. E. Body, Lord Mayor of Hull, a beautiful silver model of a single-deck bus to commemorate more than a quarter of a century of friendly relationships. One side of the model reproduces an E.Y.M.S. vehicle and the other a Hull Corporation bus.
Easy Money
nRIVERS who carry cameras have a chance of making an
easy £250. That is the first prize in a competition for the best picture taken through the windscreen of a vehicle, which is being held this summer by Trico-Folberth, Ltd., Great West Road, Brentford, Middx. A second prize of £100 and a third prize of £50 are offered. Entries must be submitted by September 30.
See-saw
ACCORDING to the Ministry of Labour, the number of workers in the motor industry last year rose from 311,900 to 351,200, but the labour force was reduced in all sections of the transport industry. It looks as though Peter is being robbed to pay Paul.