WMPTE : new "one-Man" services : 74 Birmingham - Dudley & 79 Birmingham - Wolverhampton : 16 January 1972 : leaflet issued by West Midlands Passenger Transport Executive : inner fold
One of the generic style leaflets issued by the WMPTE - West Midlands - for the conversion of bus routes to 'one person operation' and, at the time, a common offering given the PTE like most other UK bus operators at the time, was busy withdrawing crew operated vehicles and services.
That said I suspect this, of two major trunk routes across the Black Country via West Bromwich was a bigger thing. The 74 from Dudley to Birmingham was a long established bus route, even an ex-tram route but the 79 was, I recall, a replacement of some longer established overlapping routes via Wednesbury that had their origins in pre-WMPTE local council undertakings.The changes came into use on 16 January 1972.
The leaflet shows one of WM's 'standard' vehicles based on the Daimler Fleetline that most of the constituent undertakings had started to favour led by the massive Birmingham City Transport fleet. It also shows the Bell Punch 'Autofare' system of fares collection the PTE standardised on.
WMPTE : new "one-Man" services : 74 Birmingham - Dudley & 79 Birmingham - Wolverhampton : 16 January 1972 : leaflet issued by West Midlands Passenger Transport Executive : inner fold
One of the generic style leaflets issued by the WMPTE - West Midlands - for the conversion of bus routes to 'one person operation' and, at the time, a common offering given the PTE like most other UK bus operators at the time, was busy withdrawing crew operated vehicles and services.
That said I suspect this, of two major trunk routes across the Black Country via West Bromwich was a bigger thing. The 74 from Dudley to Birmingham was a long established bus route, even an ex-tram route but the 79 was, I recall, a replacement of some longer established overlapping routes via Wednesbury that had their origins in pre-WMPTE local council undertakings.The changes came into use on 16 January 1972.
The leaflet shows one of WM's 'standard' vehicles based on the Daimler Fleetline that most of the constituent undertakings had started to favour led by the massive Birmingham City Transport fleet. It also shows the Bell Punch 'Autofare' system of fares collection the PTE standardised on.