The Unqualified Success of the Covered-top-deck - Bus.
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-FOLLOWING upon a letter to The Times from _11 Professor Mottram, a correspondence has ensued in that journal upon the question of the covered-top-deck bus in London, the text of which has been a plea for the retention of the open topdeck bus for a portion of each service. The letters which have • followed Professor Mottram's appeal have all emanated from the type of bus passenger who regards the bus chiefly as a source of pleasgre and, unfortunately for the discussion, the other side has been inarticulate.
There are two types of bus passenger—the one which uses the bus for travelling to and from business and in connection with its affairs and travels every day in the week, and the other which uses the bus on trips mainly for pleasure, travels at no regular time and never sets Out if the weather be unpropitious. The former is the mainstay of the service, but the latter provides the extra revenue which goes to build up the dividends. Hence each is equally important, for without the revenue from the pleasure-seeking passenger, fares in general would have to he increased. It will be obvious that the passenger who goes for a ride in fine weather will prefer to sit out in the fresh air and to have an unobstructed view of the buildings, the patzks, the shops and the people. The lady who, in her letter to The Times, said that her friends often made up parties on fine summer evenings and after dinner took the buS and rode to Reigate or Hendon and back, will, of course, like the open-top bus. The flappe.rs who so largely use the bus at peak hours and other times will equally like the open upper-deck bus because if the weather be bad they will go inside and leave the inclement conditions outside to the men. The latter, who have to travel backwards and forwards every day in all weathers, find themselves in evil straits in these days of the woman worker unless the upper deck of the bus be covered, and we are glad that this winter will find such a large proportion of London's buses with both decks protected from the elements, lighted and provided with upholstered seats, that the sight of 20 or 30 men standing rip on the upper deck of an open bus, with the rain beating pitilessly upon them, will be extremely rare. Those are the people that must be considered, not the girls who always travel under cover, or the pleasure-seekers who only ride when the sun. is shining or the air is balmy. The covered-top bus c18 has come to stay because it provides for the greatest good of the greatest number and not for the predilections of the few, and we are prepared to prophesy that within a very short period of time practically all the buses on London's busiest routes will be six-wheelers each carrying about 68 passengers seated under cover. •