Congestion Can Hamper Prosperity
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FOR thc second time in succession, the overriding consideration of the majority of members at last week's congress of the International Union of Public Transport, in Hamburg and Berlin, was the means by which bus passengers, local authorities and motorists could, by suitable propaganda, be educated to the realization that the prosperity and character of a town might be largely dependent on finding a solution of the congestion problem.
Paradoxically, but with a significance that had a great impact on all the delegates, the last three days of the congress were spent in a city that has no congestion probIan. Because of a far-seeing policy to exploit the only advantage of war devastation, the authorities may succeed in circumventing all the problems that confront practically every large undertaking in other parts of Europe.
In Berlin, plans are being made to provide for an easy flow of passenger and goods traffic based on the maximum foreseeable limit of saturation, and the motive force behind these plans is the assumption that an undivided Berlin will again be the capital city of a larger Germany.
Lorries More Important than Buses
QIXTEEN speakers took part in the NJ discussion on the problems of road congestion outlined by Mr. E. Nielsen, of Copenhagen, and with the addition of eight speakers who discussed methods of transport most suitable to the alleviation of congestion, enumer ated by Mr. R. Maestrelli, Milan, the total far exceeded the number taking part in the discussions on other subjects.
For the first time at any
congress the importance of goods traffic in its relation to passenger traffic was emphasized by a speaker. After pointing out that the flow of goods by road was an essential factor in the production economy of the country, Mr. E. R. L. Fitzpayne, Glasgow, said that facilitating lorry traffic should be considered as a more pressing problem than the movement of buses. As fluid a system as possible should be provided.
With regard to the organization of bus fleets, Mr. Fitzpayrie advised managers of undertakings to examine their routes to discover whether they could reduce the number of vehicles travelling through the centre of the town. In Glasgow many services terminated at the boundary of the congested area.
Glasgow police had estimated that a new tunnel under the Clyde would carry 7,500 vehicles in both directions. An experiment in traffic regulation was also being conducted on one of the bridges; in the morning three lanes were used by vehicles entering the city and outgoing traffic was restricted to one lane, whilst in the evening three
lanes were provided for outgoing vehicles. Surveys were being made regarding the establishment of parks at underground railway terminals.
Dealing in more detail with the possible advantages of varying the numbers of traffic lanes directionally according to relative vehicle densities, Mr. L. Bartherotte, of Bordeaux, said that although the number of one-way streets would increase, the traffic they carried was often unbalanced. In the case of roads designed to carry traffic in both directions, the lanes could be changed four times a day to ease the flow of the mass of traffic. Parking on main streets should be prohibited.
When giving traffic-flow rates for Rome, Mr. A. Patrassi, the general manager of the Rome undertaking, said that it was necessary to support the principle of allowing the traffic to develop in freedom according to the natural law of self-regulation.
Following a statement that passengervehicle operators could not hope to influence major street planning because of the high costs involved, Mr. 1. 13. Burnell, London Transport Executive, warned undertakings that the grant of special favours by legislation might later lead to the imposition of restrictive legislation.
On those routes which enabled vehicle movements to be controlled, a
50-per-cent, improvement could be achieved by employing an "overall control" for obtaining details of vehicle positions and gaps in the service at all points, as well as other valuable information. This information could be provided by an electronic device which gave a complete picture of conditions over the entire route.
Included in the contribution of Mr. H. S. C. Von Heland, of Stockholm, was a film showing traffic problems in that city. Mr. Von Heland said that he was an enemy of the car because there was no alternative, but collective transport should be given priority over private transport only if more rapid and comfortable services were provided.
Lack of liaison between transport operators and local authorities was criticized by a number of speakers, notably by Mr. A. Paschetto, of Turin, whose main theme was that smaller changes in the reorganization of traffic should be applied immediately. RevOlutionary changes might have effects that were the reverse of those envisaged. Car drivers must be persuaded to use public vehicles.
Opposing restrictive legislation against motorists, Mr. F. G. Parnell, Automotive Products Co., Ltd.. Leamington Spa, suzgested that if the workers could not use their cars for routine runs it might be necessary to move businesses out of the towns.
When outlining the improvements that could be derived from staggered working hours, Mr. R. Seggel, of Bremen, said that in the northern zone of the city work in most of the factories started at 6 a.m. and 6.30 a.m. (which accounted for 90 per cent. .of the total number of workers) and office hours were staggered to give three starting times between 7 a.m. and 8 a.m. Together with the similar staggering of school and shop hours this had greatly reduced street congestion and had improved the quality of transport.
The distinction of having travelled the greatest distance to the congress was accorded to Mr. D. H. Eakins, of Melbourne, Australia. He stated that the average speed of vehicles travelling into the city from a distance of eight miles was 12 m.p.h. and that in the coastal area the average was 6 m.p.h. Two years ago, Mr. Eakins told members, buses on one of the main slO lines in the Melbourne district had been replaced by trams, which were popular with the passengers (because reading a newspaper was easier) and were operated at a lower cost because of the higher passenger density.
Arranging the separation of private and public transport by means of " surface underground sections" was mentioned by Mr. P. Reynaert, of Brussels, as the principle that would be employed for traffic control during Brussels' World Exhibition in 1958. Tunnels were being constructed at different levels and would be used in conjunction with tramways on separate tracks. What was being done in Brussels could be done elsewhere.
Other speakers included Dr. F. Lehner, of Hanover, who said that the decentralization of business centres and so on in Europe would be strongly opposed, and Dr. P. H. Kremer, also of Hanover, who appealed for greater interest in transport problems on the part of town councillors and others.
After reviewing some of the speakers' comments, Mr. Nielsen announced the publication by the International Union of Public Transport of a fully illustrated and comprehensive •booklet, " It's High Tine to put an End to Traffic Congestion," of which he is the author. " I expect everyone," said Mr. Nielsen, "to do his duty and spread the information this book contains all over Europe."
In the discussion on Mr. Maestrelli's paper, Mr. M. Gayrard, of Lyons, claimed that the use of large-capacity vehicles, the optimum distance between stopping places and (when trolleybuses
were employed) the availability of a second overhead line for overtaking, were the three most important factors in alleviating congestion.
When outlining the operational advantages of the Gyrobus and of the propane-propelled bus, Mr. N. H. A. Charlier, of Brussels, said that in Ghent the Gyrobus, running on. a route of about five miles, averaged over 13 m.p.h. and enabled a large number of passengers to be carried at peak periods. In Bruges. claimed Mr. Charlier, 20 buseS running on propane gas had operated far more economically than the oilengined vehicles that had formerly been employed, and maintenance costs had been reduced.
The limit of 2,000 passengers an hour for one route was challenged by Mr. Von Heland, who pointed out that the passenger-density reported by various undertakings was as much as 9.000 an hour and that the practical Limit might in many cases, be far in excess of this figure.
Mr. Maestrelli replied that the advantage claimed for the Gyrobus and for vehicles operating on propane gas could contribute to the elimination of private cars from town centres.
Contradictions on One-man Working
DiSCUSSION on the late Mr. B. B. C. Felix's paper dealing with fares problems, with particular reference to the use of one-man buses, was summarized by Mr. A. C. Pijl, also of The Hague transport undertaking, and the debate was opened by Mr. L. C. Hawkins, of the London Transport Executive.
Mr. Hawkins pointed out that the latest types of Routemaster largecapacity double-deckers, operated by two men, were loaded in half the time required by one-man single-deckers and that there were no stens between the platform and the ground.
It would be impossible in London, said Mr. Hawkins, to introduce a flat fare, because approximately a third of the passengers travelled not more than a mile. A one-fare system would substantially reduce the number of passengers, and the charge for long distances would be uneconomic. •
Questioning Mr. Felix's cost analysis, Mr. Seggel pointed out that the driverconductor must be paid a bonus and that he had to be given more time to prepare for a journey and to complete his work afterwards. Supporting the advantages of the articulated bus, Mr. Segget said that this type could be operated more easily and safely than the long single-decker and that, in his opinion, it was the vehicle of the future.
A much lower estimate of the saving provided by one-man operation was given by Mr. F. Dupaigne, of Lille, who said that it would normally be about 8 ner cent. If the system were applied it was essential to ease the work of the driver by employing buses with power steering and a fully automatic gearbox.
Another opponent of the flat fare, Mr. E. Brockhoff, of Duisburg, said that the system was not acceptable to the public and mentioned that the trend in America was to introduce graded fares.
' Mr. R. De Clercq suggested that a magnetic type ticket machine could be developed to record detailed information which would lower the cost of statistical analysis. An improved machine of the magnetic type was also advocated by Mr. A. Bockemal, Stuttgart.
Replying to Mr. Hawkins, Mr. PijI emphasized that women carrying bulky shopping bags faced practical difficulties when mounting the stairs of doubledeck buses and suggested that one-man operation might be as beneficial in London, as it had been in The Hague, where the system was employed in all vehicles on routes through the city centre.
Multiple Needs Confuse Design Trends
CURTHER emphasis on the relation' ship between road congestion and vehicle design was given by Mr. A. A. M. Durrant, London Transport Executive, when he opened the discussion on the construction trends outlined in the paper by Mr. L. Lagarrigue, Paris. The Routemaster 70-seat double-decker, said Mr. Durrant. could be evacuated in less than lf Min., and in London it had been found that 70 represented the optimum number of seats; the lower running speeds when a larger capacity was provided could increase the number of vehicles required.
With regard to construction details, Mr. Durrant invited Mr. Lagarrigue's comment on his view, based on experience, that the larger cross-section of aluminium pillars for a given weight provided a stiffer structure than could be obtained by employing comparable steel pillars and that, if the metal were correctly treated initially, the risk of failure by corrosion was reduced.
The operational advantages of the new Wilson fully automatic gearbox (which will be fitted to the latest Routemaster model) were enumerated by Mr. Durrant, with mention of the unit's overlapping-torque characteristic and the overriding manual control. A policy of standardization had given immense advantages. he said, particularly with regard to its favourable effect on vehicle availability, which was now -95 per cent. in relation to peak-hour demands.
Experiments were being made with air-suspension units fitted to the Routemaster and a means for adjusting the spring rate was of greater importance when the vehicle weight was reduced because of the resultant increase in the load factor.
The advantages of weight reduction, Mr. Durrant claimed, were cumblative with regard to all design and operational factors. In the case of tyres, for a given set of conditions, power absorption increased with size and this affected fuel consumption adversely. It had been proved that the specific value of weight reduction was of the order of 8 per cent, increase or decrease in m.p.g. per ton of vehicle weight.
In criticism of the double-decker, Mr. Fitzpayne said that the type was structurally complex and difficult to service. Moreover, the stairway was a handicap to old people and was a constant source of accidental injury to passengers. It could be assumed that the use of single-deckers would eventually ,predominate because of its multiple advantages, which included greater passenger comfort, improved controllability and stability, quicker loading and the faster schedules that could be arranged on account of the higher power-to-weight ratios.
Automatic Gearbox Unjustified Following a reference to experiments in Glasgow with sin automatic gearbox, he stated that the semi-automatic epicycIic box incorporating a selflocking fluid coupling had been so successful that he doubted whether the extra cost of automatic transmission was justified. The commercial application of the disc brake would offer many advantages, in particular the easy replacement of friction elements. After confirming the importance of weight ieduction, he said that the target of 2 cwt. of dead load per passenger was possible but seldom achieved. The news that 400 fully automatic gearboxes of the torque-converter type were being employed in the Stockholm area was given by Mr. G. O. Kekonius, chief engineer of the Stockholm undertaking, who claimed that the outstanding operational advantages of the unit were combined with a fuel consumption which compared favourably with that associated with the use of preseleetive epicyclic gearboxes.
The need to protect the driver from the effects of internal glare, the advantages in weight distribution and other matters of locating the engine at the rear, and the need for a manual overriding control were mentioned by Mr. Charlier. Driver operation of the gearbox was, he said, essential when the roads were slippery.
A suspension system combining leaf springs and rubber elements, was, he considered, the most suitable type for buses. Tubeless is res would he
welcomed because they enabkd preSsure losses to .be reduced to a minimum and because cooler running gave .a longer mileage life.
Independent-front-wheel suspension was mentioned by Mr. Parnell as a promising development and he pointed out that the front brakes of such a system would of necessity be controlled hydraulically because of weight considerations, Hydraulic operation was also essential for disc brakes.
Mr. Lagarrigue replied that the aim ofParis designers was a reduction in floor height to about 23.j in., which would enable elderly people to board the bui in a shorter time. Wilson gearboxes made inParis were being equipped with automatic control, and experiments were being made with air suspension.
Berlin Plans for the Future
AT the opening of the Berlin section of the congress, Dr. Amrehn, acting mayor and governor of the city (the death of Dr. Suhr, the late mayor, was announced at the opening of the congress in Hamburg), said that building plans, of which the new building exhibition was a beginning, were based on the use of the latest types of road and underground rail transport.
In a detailed review of transport developments in Berlin since the end of the last century, Dr. Schneider, of Berlin Public Transport (B.V.G.), said that the population of West Berlin, in common with that of the Eastern Zone, had been reduced by 25 per cent. since 1945 and was now only 2.2m. Interzone difficulties had precluded the use of surface vehicles from West to East Berlin and had increased operating costs.
In 1938 the trams, the underground railways and the buses carried 58.8 per cent., 24.3 per cent. and 16.9 per cent., respectively, of the traffic in West Berlin. Tram traffic had been reduced by 1956 to 44 per cent., the proportion carried by the underground was 21 per cent. and the bus traffic had risen to 35 per cent. Major extensions were being made to the underground and in time trams would be abandoned. All plans were based on the assumption that the two sections of Berlin would eventually be reunited.
Although the proportion of private cars on the roads was substantially below that in the majority of cities, full allowance had been made for an increase of up to one car for every five people. A new speedway, or ring road. which would be used by all types of traffic, had been started. This was symptomatic of Berlin's policy of "preventing rather than curing."
The standard double-decker of the undertaking, which carried 90 passengers and had seating accommodation for 20 passengers, averaged about 12; m.p.h.; when the new ring road had been completed the average would be 19 m.p.h.