H.—4o.

{d) Traffic am> Fixancb Statistics, 1932-33. In accordance with the provisions of section 37 of the Act, operators have been required to submit figures Regarding traffic and finance during the year ended 31st March, 1933, in order thai the full ramifications of the industry might be understood, and also that the effects of the administration of the Act might be closely observed and matters of general policy framed accordingly. The provisions of this section also provide the machinery for checking that the benefits of the transport regulation are passed on to the public in the form of lower fares or better service. There are numbers of operators whose accounts and records are not sufficient to disclose the necessary information relating to the state of their businesses, and in such cases the operators have been requested to comply with the law in this respect in the future. In order to make the figures more informative they have been classified according to (a) fleets comprising vehicles with a seating-capacity of nine passengers or less, (b) fleets comprising vehicles with a seating-capacity of more than nine passengers, and (c) fleets comprising both classes of vehicles, ami also fleets the operators of which run both passenger and goods services. ■ Traffic. During the year ended 31st March, 1933, licensed passenger services carried a total of 16,065,672 passengers, in the course of which a total of 22,756,313 vehicle-miles was recorded. Of the total passengers carried 14,750,000 were carried in vehicles with more than nine seats, while the smaller vehicles with nine seats and under accounted for just under 1,000,000. The bigger vehicles are, of course, engaged on the shorter, more densely trafficked routes, while the smaller vehicles are engaged on the longer routes, the average number of vehicle-miles per vehicle-journey showing approximately seven miles for the former as against thirty-six miles for the latter class. The relationship between the number of empty trips and the vehicle-journeys directs attention to the fact that approximately 1-6 out of every 100 trips for the larger vehicles were run empty, wliile m> leas ihan approximately 9 out of every 100 journeys by the smaller vehicles were recorded as empty. A sertain amount of empty running is unavoidable in even the best-planned time-tables, and the low figures for the bigger vehicles do not call for any comment. The greater frequency of empty trips on the smaller vehicles is no doubt symptomatic of the slump in passenger travel and affords some evidence of the legacy of an over-supply of services passed down from the period of n> competition which existed before the services came under control. It also shows that many ii (-car businesses are maintaining a better service than the volume of passengers warrants, no doubt in the hope of an improvement in due course. Some idea of the average loading is to be gained from the average number of passengers per vehicle-journey, which show an average of 3-6 passengers per vehicle-journey for the smaller vehicles and 10 for.th? larger ones. The figures for the fleets with both classes of vehicles show an average of 5-2 passengers per vehicle-journey. (e) Revenue. The total revemi ■ for the licensed passenger-services during the year ended 31st March, 1933, aiiiountod to £579,310. That derived from the carriage of passengers represented £769,086, or 87 per cent., of this total, the remaining £110,224, or 13 per cent., being derived from the carriage of goods, panels, and mails. The revenue from both passengers and goods represented an average of 9-27 d. per vehicle mile for all vehicles, and an average of 7-01 d. per mile for the vehicles with nine seats or under, and 10-77 d. per vehicle-inile for those with more than nine seats. The detailed figures regarding the revenue are given in Tables Nos. 11 to 18 of the Appendix. (/) Expenditure. The analvses of the financial returns revealed an expenditure of £874,115 during the year, canning-costs accounting for £480,727, or 55 per cent., standing charges for £285,149, or 33 per cent., and overhead charges £108,239, or 12 per cent. The average operating-expenses per vehicle-mile for all vehicles worked out at 9-219 d. per mile, the average for the fleets comprising vehicles .with passenger-seats of nine or under showed 6-896 d. per mile, while the fleets comprising the bigger class of vehicles showed 10-760 d. per mile. (g) Financial Results of Year's Operation. The operations of licensed passenger-services during the year ended 31st March, 1933, resulted in an excess of revenue over expenditure amounting to £5,195. This figure is small, but it is satisfactory to record that a profit of any size at all was indicated for the passenger industry as a whole, for the reason that the demand for a considerable amount of passenger travel is very elastic and suffers a heavy, shrinkage in times of economic depression. A detailed examination of the financial and traffic data submit i ed i>y operators shows conclusively that the Transport Licensing Act has reoriented the financial position in the motor-passenger industry, and that the control and elimination of the fierce and endless competition which existed prior to its coming into operation has stabilized the finances of many concerns that were heading for bankruptcy. The statement of assets and liabilities shown in Table No. 9 in the Appendix reveals the financial position of the industry at 31st March, 1933. The total assets amounted to £1,354,155, of which vehicles, stocks, and plant and machinery represented £655,341, land and buildings £262,538, and other assets, excluding cash and debtors, £233,932. It is, of course, true that in times of uncertain values such as the pTesent these figures must be interpreted with reservations, but the existence of an amount of Llo!),o7f>, representing the aggregate cash in hand and at the bank, gives a somewhat healthy appearance to the liquid position. A classification of liabilities shows a total of £863,654 for capital, an aggregate of £438,461 for other liabilities, including an amount of £53,197 owing in respect of vehicles and borrowed money from various sources, and £52,040, which represented reserves.

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