THE PROS AND CONS OF THE TROLLEY-BUS.
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Some Interesting Details Concerning this Latest Form of Passenger-carrying Equipment.
THE PROBLEM of meeting the need for public passenger services Is one which is at the present time engaging the attention of some of the most able authorities in the country. That the tramcar is lacking in certain qualities (such as mobility, etc.) possessed by other types of vehicle is well known, but can the alternatives offered compete with, the old system on either an economic running basis or a first-cost charge for the instalment of the new plant? At the outset it must be remembered that a great deal of money has been expended upon making tram tracks in and around most of the large cities, and the replacement or disbandonment of such costly arrangements calls for consideration to be given to a wide range of optional methods, all of which have their own particular advantages.
Supposing the tramway systems were to be entirely disbanded in favour of motorbuses, it is unreasonable to suppose that municipal power stations would continue to run merely to produce the small amount of power required in the daytime, and the supply of lighting current at night-time required by the average town or city, thus wasting the economic load capacity which is normally imposed on a power station by an electric tramway system. At the same time, of course, it must be understood that the bus is quite capable of doing the work of a tram, except that the peakhour passenger-carrying ability of the tram is considerably higher than that possessed by the bus, despite the fact that in some cases the bus is capable of higher speeds.
Quite apart from the replacement of existing stock, the new housing develop
molts, where garden-city type of dwellings have been erected some few miles from the centre of large cities, have called for au opening , up of new services which, if trams are to be relied upon, would require a large additional outlay of money to be expended upon the , laying of tracks and the provision of overhead cable, etc. In this case it appears that buses would be far more economical in first cost, but there are many items which enter into the question and tend to alter the position as it appears on the surface.
To meet conditions such as these the trolley-bus is undoubtedly of great value, as the cost of laying additional tracks from the end of the tram terminus is entirely dispensed with, ahd the additional overhead gear necessary does not incur an excessively heavy expenditure. Many features enter into the argument, not the lem, from the cost of running point of view, being the fact that by the statute of local authorities the trolley-bus is liable to 'rates in exactly the sathe way as the tram, whilst the organizing body must also provide facilities for workmen's fares, etc.
The greatest drawback of the trolleybus, compared with the petrol bus, is undoubtedly its immobility, as, naturally, it cannot depart from its accepted route. This is particularly noticeable in the case where a section of the route is undergoing road repairs. In ordinary bus services a detour can usually be arranged entirely to cut out the portion of road being repaired, but the expenditure of erecting overhead gear round this detour puts such scheme entirely out of court for trolley-buses. On the other hand, the running costs of the trolley vehicle are, as a rule, definitely less than those of either the tram or petrol bus. Take,
for instance, the Wolverhampton services. One of their trolley-buses, compared with an ordinary petrol bus of equal seating capacity, is-rather more than half a ton lighter in weight, which eventually, of course, proves to be of great advantage in improving the life of the road surfaces over which it travels.
A rather interesting comparison on this matter has been carried out by Mr. Owen Silvers, general manager and engineer of the municipal tramways department, where the tyre life of six or eight buses of each type was taken In the aggregate, and in every instance all increase in favour of the trolley-bus of 5 per cent. to 6 per cent, was recorded, the mileage being about 43,000 and 40,000 respectively for the two types. ,
• In narrow roads where it would ordinarily be only possible to run a single tram track the trolley-bus shows to advantage against the tram, as it is able to steer in and out of traffic and to pass other trolley-buses coming in the opposite direction at any point throughout the route, thus loop-line
waiting, as in the case of tramcars, is entirely avoided. In many instances where a train route of, say, four or five miles' total length requires repair or relaying of perhaps one or two miles of the track, such repairs are found by the municipal authorities to be worth while carrying out, as it enables the full life of the other portion of the track to be obtained, which, if all immediate conversion to either buses or trolley-buses were made, would be a dead loss.
When taking into account costs, it is necessary to bear in mind the type of
work for which the vehicles will be used. For instance, as has already been pointed out, it would be futile to run a bus service over one of the most congested parts of a large city where the annual receipts per route-mite with.
say, trams. might be as high as 150,000, whereas the more usual revenue for trolley-bus services is £5,000 to S10,000 per route-mile, thus the trams, with their greater seating rapacity, are able more easily to cope with excessively dense passenger work. So far as cost per mile-min is concerned, there is a slight advantage in the trolley vehicle against the motor omnibus, but tram services are usually anything from 20 per cent. to 25 per cent, higher in cost than the petrol bug. In each of the two counts of maintenance and repair to the general equipment of the vehicles, the trolley-bus shows a favourable balance against both the bus and the tram, the cost of the trolley-bus complete per mile being less than the actual cost of keeping the tram permanent way in proper repair, whilst the general cleaning and oiling of both the tramcars and the trolley-buses are nearly 20 per cent, less than the equivalent charges for omnibuses.
In general, it may be summed up that for dense passenger carrying in thickly populated areas the double-track tram system may still held its own for some time, but for long distances where outlying villages are connected with the centre of the city the petrol bns would appear to score heavily, as the expenditure incurred in commencing a service Is merely the first cost _of the vehicle. Where an existing tram system is in operation, with all overhead gear erected, it is a fairly easy proposition to run an additional overhead wire to provide, the earth, and by demolishing the rails and re-making the roads (which would probably be necessary in any case) institute a trolley-bus service which, as has before been stated, is an economical undertaking, providing traffic on the route justifies a full service.