MOTOR BUS REGULATIONS.

Otago Witness, Issue 3765, 11 May 1926, Page 54

MOTOR BUS REGULATIONS.

TRAMWAY SYSTEMS SAFEGUARDED. WELLINGTON, May 7. The motor omnibus regulations which come into force immediately constitute 13 motor omnibus districts, comprising areas iu which there are municipully and pub-licly-owned tramways or buses, as well s private buses which compete with the former. In each omnibus district a licensing authority will be appointed by the Minister. After June 10 no motor omnibus can be operated without a license issued under the motor omnibus regulations. A motor omnibus is defined ns having seating capacity for not fewer than seven passengers, not including the driver, and carrying passengers for hire at separate fares of not more than 7; for each passenger for a single There is provision for the application for and th*» granting of temporary licenses until appeals have lieen decided. Before the licensing authority issues a license it must consider the provision already existing for the transport of passengers to places on or over a proposed route and satisfy himself that the condition of the roads is such as to be capable of carrying motor omnibus traffic without unreasonable damage to ti» • roads, and that there are not sufficient other facilities for the conveyance of passengers to or from the district proposed to be served. It shall determine in respect of each application whether or not n license shall be issued; the places to or between which the motor omnibuses, if licensed, shall run; the route or routes to be followed; the fares to be charged; the stopping places to be observed ; the time-tables to be kept; and the maximum number of passengers to be carried. If a motor omnibus pro prietor is refused a license, provision has • been made for just compensation. Not only is it necessary for motor omnibuses to be licensed under the regulations on the above date, but the drivers of motor omnibuses must also obtain a license under the regulations before June 10. Persons, who at the date of coming into force ol the regulations, hold a driver’s license which has been issued pursuant to the Motor Vehicles Act, authorising the bearer to drive •» motor omnibus plying for hire, are not required to obtain a driver’s lioen-e until after the expiration of three years from the date on which the regulations come into force. The owner of a licensed motor omnibus must keep the vehicle in safe and suitable condition for the carriage of passengers -atisfactory to the inspecting engineer. With regard to insurance, tne liability n{ the insurer in respect of death or injury to a single person may be limited tp £2OOO, and the total liability of the insurer under any policy may be limited in respect of claims arising out of the same accident in the case of a motor omnibus licensed to carry seven passengers to a sum of £3500 In the case of a motor omnibus carrying more than seven passengers the sum of £3509 must be increased by a sum of £SOO for every passenger over seven.-included in the maximum numhot.

With regard to fares, the motor omnibus fare in respect of passengers carried between any places served bv a tramway must be 2d more than the cor respond’ng tramway fare. Where the motor omnibus carries passengers to or from a place not served by a tramway the omnibus fare shall not be less than the tramway fare for the portion of the journey on which passengers might have been carried by the tramway.

Motor omnibus accidents must be re ported within 48 hours to the Minister Bus licenses may be cancelled if the owner has been guilty of conduct disen titling the owner to hold a license. There is a right of appeal to an Appeal Board from any decision of the licensing authority. The Transport Appeal Board for each district consists of five-members —one member appointed by the GovernorGeneral as chairman; one member appointed by the Governor-General representing the Government* one member re presenting and appointed by the locaauthority in the district which has established the motor omnibus service, or the promoters of the tramway in the district (if more than one body is entitled to appoint a member under this provision the Minister shall decide which local authority or promoter shall appoint the member); one member representing the local authorities within the district not otherwise represented; and one member representing the owners of motor omni buses within the district, exclusive of public owners. The whole of the regulations are made expressly applicable to motor omnibuses the property of a borough or city council, except the provision with regard to insurance. The promoters of a tramway, not being a local authority operating motor omnibuses, must comply with the whole of the provisions of the regulations.

DUNEDIN OWNERS’ OPINIONS. INTERESTS oFpUBLIC SAFEGUARDED. General satisfaction with the main features of the motor omnibus regulations has been expressed by many Dunedin bus owners and drivers. “Of course, the matter must be considered from two angles,” said one ownerdriver who was interviewed on Saturday. “There are, at any rate in Dunedin, two classes of motor bus—those which run regular services and those which ply for hire here, there, and everywhere, as often as. not competing against the regular services organised by the City Corporation. “So far as the first class is concerned, I am sure they will be in complete agreement with the Government method of dealing with the situation after June Irt, The regulations are to their advantage, for the licensing authority will not only have as its duty the protection ol tramway systems and other corporation institutions, but will have to protect all services now in operation. The clause relating to insurance has come as a surprise, and is the chief hurdle, but all transport people in a large way should not have any difficulty providing the premium is fixed on a satisfactory basis, and thy rate is not too high.

“In the case of the owners of single buses who hove no fixed service to maintain and are in only a small way. the po* tion is somewhat different To begin with there is the matter of the minimum

faie over tram routes. 'lhe addition of the extra 2d is certainly an effective safeguard fur the tranmay system, but so far as Dunedin is concerned, it will have the effect of reducing the efficiency of the service offered to the public, especially at abnormal times. Uu»es will havo to give place to trains whenever trams ere available, with the result that they will go elsewhere and the existing services of tne corporation will receive no assistance at rush times. “It is the insurance, however, that will lie the great difficulty to be surmounted by the private bus owners. At the present time the average insurance, in my opinion, is about £IOOO lor each bus, irrespective of size The average capacity of each bus in Dunedin may be set down at 16 passengers, and each owner’s insurance will therefore he £BOOO for passenger liability alone—a heavy load for a man with small capital to bear. 1 quite realise that the public must be safeguarded, but we are of the opinion that this rate is much too high. 1 think that the other clauses will lie a help to all motor omnibus owners. A great deal will depend on the licensing authority for it will obviouslyhave wide discretionary powers, and the method of administration will be the salient feature of the whole situation after June 10.” One of the executive officers in a large city omnibus company, when asked for his cpinion on the new regulations, observed that the time had not really arrived ro review the situation, for the reason that the full and detailed regulations were not yet available. “There « are several important points that are not yet clear,” he said. “Nothing has yet been settled as . to the insurance rates —a very important point when it is considered that such large sums are involved If satisfactory rates cannot be arranged, it is possible that the private bus owners and companies will co-operate and carry their own insurance The speaker also stressed, at the out-et, the point that the regulations were simply an experiment, and would be altered or withdrawn if they proved unsatisfactory. In the first place, it was the object of t»e conference in Wellington, where the matters were discussed and the proposals and counter-proposals considered, to safegi aid existing tramway and corporation service* in every possible way. He was in complete agreement with every detail of the way in which this had been carried out. “Take the question of fares,” he said. “All over the world it is recognised that the transport of the people *-> a municipal job. Before the additional 2d was fixed, careful inquiries were made, and it was found that in Australia, where such regulations have been in force for some time, and in America and in England, the increased fare for buses on tramway routes is never less than 2d. In every part of the world corporation? have reduced their fares to a minimum, and give a complete service over good paying routes, as well as poorer routes. The payable routes have to balance the others, and it is only fair that the trams running on these routes should not have to compete agaiast cut-throat competition. The corporation maintain the roads, and no pirate bus should have the benefit of the maintenance and vet be able to rob the trams of their pas-engers. “So far a> the insurance is concerned. 1 feel that the public must be safeguarded and that the rate is not- too high. The railways have the Government behind them, the corporation tramway services have the municipality behind them, and it is ab-o luteiy necessary that buses should have sufficient insurance to offer the publicreasonable recompense in case of accident. Arrangements will be made so that the rates will be within reason, and if, after that, any owner cannot pay, he has no right to be on the road. “The most vital thing about the regulation? i? that the licensing authority must be out to protect the tramway systems, and, where there are no tramway systems, the -ervices already in operation. We take the regulations to mean that no existing services will be interfered with, but they will be protected against pirates. In Australia, where similar regulation* have been in force for some time it is the custom to leave unmolested all existing services. We take it that the same rule will be observed here, and that no further licenses will be granted for any route or service. If added facilities become necessary, then the existing services should have the option of putting on extra buses.” COMMENT IN AUCKLAND. AUCKLAND, May 9. In expressing his views regarding the new regulations affecting motor buses Mr A. E. Ford, manager of the Auckland ti amways, said that the regulations impressed him as following on lines of those that had been enacted in the United States and Great Britain. Describing the position in the United States. Mr Ford said that where most of the services were owned and had been developed under private ownership an appeal had been made to various author* ties to obtain adequate and reasonable regulations under which they could operate in the interests of the community “It was found that open competition which seemed to offer immediate benefits to the community proved to be at the expense of very serious future losases,” Mr Ford said “ This was recognised by various authorities, and to-day no fewer than 39 out of the 48 States have enacted regulations which protect the community interests and give operating companies a reasonable opportunity of maintaining good and reliable services and developing on sound financial lines, provided they give community services that are adequate for its needs. “If you give an efficient service you have a right to be protected,” continued Mr Ford. “ and that is the rule which has- been successfully followed in America during the last eight or 10 years in the interests of public safety, economy of street space, and the avoidance of the wasteful usage of the road.' It is not the practice in the United States to permit competition on one route when once the fares and time-tabic* hav« been approved. The United States lays great emphasis on the fact that no seconn public utility shall lx* allowed unless there iR a strong demand for it in the interests of public convenience and necessity.”