Where Commonsense is Bliss
Page 36
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UNDER the title "Commonsense in Road Transport," a paper was read on the third day of the conference by Mr. E. L. Taylor, A.C.A., M.Inst.T., secretary of Barton Transport, Ltd.
Stating that he himself was dismayed at the boldness of the title, he said that commonsense was not only extremely rare but one man's commonsense was another man's nonsense.
All history was the tale of how some kind of tolerable balance was achieved between progress and inertia. Against progress was set the almost equivalent force of inertia, the resistance to change. In the delicate adjustment of the balance between the two great forces there was to be found from time to time a trace of this indefinable quality called commonsense. Not very much, perhaps—just a grain or two, but sufficient to keep the scales level.
Mr. Taylor suggested a few instances in the industry where, in his opinion, the application of commonsense, or a little more of it, might be beneficial.
Pooling Knowledge
After discoursing on the subject of secrecy or reticence in financial matters, he asked whether it would not be commonsense for all the industry's knowledge, financial and statistical, to be pooled for the common good. It would be a big job, but, properly organized, the Public Transport Association could do it.
To collect and to summarize the information would involve efficient clerical work, and interpretation of the result, with a projection of future trends, would be a rather fascinating task for a small expert committee.
In the United States, he said, the American Transit Association published every year a "Transit Fact Book," described as an annual summary of basic data and trends in the U.S. transport industry. It summarized the operations of 1,253 transit companies and anyone devoting an hour of study to it would gain an accurate picture of the industry.
Incidentally, it was interesting to find, from the 1946 edition, that the traffic experience of the past seven years had been similar to our own. A publication of this kind was a bulwark against woolly thinking.
Fare Structure Illogical
Mr. Taylor doubted whether any expert would disagree with his contention that the fare structure of the industry was about as far from any commonsense basis as anything could be. The many thousands of buses which had to be kept to deal with peakhour traffic represented an enormous cost to the industry as a whole, and that problem might always be with us in some form; it did not, however, seem commonsense to aggravate it by the offer of concessional fares. The system was indefensible economically.
It was a powerful deterrent to the provision of the most economical and efficient services. This would be better achieved by charging all passengers the same amount, giving concessions, if required, for traffic at off-peak periods. Most of the money came from the same pockets, in any case. The worker was undercharged and his family overcharged.
With regard to vehicles, Mr. Taylor said that before the war, buses were run too long. Now the industry was trying to operate efficiently with a high proportion of vehicles which, but for the war, would have been scrapped long ago, and wondering how long this dismal state must continue. New vehicles of a kind were trickling through, but they showed little advance in design from the best of 1939.
In America every bus was made and put together as a unit. The engine was under the floor near the back axle. The entrance door was at the front and there was an exit at the rear. Both doors were remote-controlled by the driver. Air conditioning was standard. All buses were 8 ft. wide and the typical town bus was 31 ft. long and the interurban coach 35 ft. long.
The Peculiar British
The Americans, he said, were slightly amused that anyone should think that, with modem braking, a vehicle should be considered more dangerous on account, of its size or weight.
Mr. Taylor said that one point upon which a little more commonsense might be brought to bear was the protected area system, developed out of the 1930 Act, with its 440-yd. insulation distance. Faults of the system were revealed when it went too far, or was too static.
Such a case might occur when a city service protection point had been fixed 440 yds. beyond its terminus at the city boundary, along a route served by a company for longer distance traffic, and where population had extended. The sensible way to meet the need would be by an extension of the city's service terminus. The protection point could be moved nearer the city to compensate the company service.