§ Mr. Websterasked the Minister of Transport what steps she took to satisfy herself that the powers of traffic commissioners to vary bus fares, bus routes and timings fall short of what is necessary to co-ordinate bus services before bringing forward her White Paper proposals.
§ Mr. SwinglerThese powers of the Traffic Commissioners are not suitable for securing the aims of the policy for public transport, which calls for the wider principles of organisation set out in the White Paper (Cmnd. 3481).
§ Mr. Websterasked the Minister of Transport if she will make a statement on the operation of paragraphs 101 and 102 of the Road Traffic Act, 1930 which empower Traffic Commissioners to confer on a local authority the right to operate its buses beyond its boundaries, and on 252W the administration of these paragraphs by the Traffic Commissioners.
§ Mr. SwinglerThese provisions require a local authority which operates buses to obtain the Traffic Commissioners' consent before it can run them outside its own district. This requirement is additional to, and a duplication of, the requirement for a road service licence from the Traffic Commissioners for the particular service to be operated, and in practice has caused unnecessary administrative delays. The road service licensing procedure in our view provides adequate control. The Transport Bill accordingly provides for the abolition of this consent requirement and of analogous requirements in other legislation.