ITH an increase in the number of double-deckers of 440
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and a drop of 86 in the total of single-deckers, Britain's municipal bus fleets now aggregate 17,325 vehicles This is 354 more than a year ago and represents an increase of approximately 2 per cent. The 1949-50 rise was less than 4 per cent. and the 1948-49 increase 8.5 per cent.
It may be inferred that municipalities have completed their immediate post-war expansion and replacement programmes. Some increase in the grand total' is attributable to tram-conversion schemes, but this so far has been largely offset by small decreases in the fleets of many undertakings necessitated by economies.
A trend towards the abandonment of electric traction is apparent from the trolleybus figures. A year ago there were 2,527 such machines; this year's figure is 2,446. Darlington Transport Department is one undertaking replacing trotleybuses by internal-combustion-engined vehicles. A year ago it operated 54 trolleybuscs, whereas it now has 42.
Although the number of Leyland vehicles has dropped from 4,747 to 4,567, this make remains the most popular. Daimler, A.E.C. and Guy vehicles, the totals of which have risen by 340, 118 and 149 respectively, follow in popularity in that order.
In the accompanying analysis, figures in brackets indicate fleet strengths a year ago; the abbreviations "0" and "P" stand for oil and petrol.