Big Crush-loaders and 95-seat Double-deckers to Cut Costs
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IMAGINATIVE ideas to promote efficiency in passenger transport were put forward in two papers presented this week to the annual conference of the Public Transport Association at Folkestone. Mr. A. I. White, general manager of Maidstone and District Motor Services, Ltd., dealing with "Some contemporary problems in bus operation," proposed a multi-purpose crush-loader with 38 seats and space for 23 standing passengers. It would be sufficiently comfortable for use as a coach at weekends, in addition to its main function of moving the maximum number of passengers on weekday services.
He urged the need for the introduction of electronic computing to provide management with up-to-date traffic
data. He pressed also for the simplification of chassis and body maintenance.
Maintenance was an urgent problem also for Mr. F. H. Clayton, deputy general manager of Liverpool Passenger Transport Department, who dealt with "The double-deck bus, its operation and future." Like Mr. White, he visualized the double-decker as fundamentally a singledecker, with the upper saloon as an overflow compartment. He outlined a fascinating design for a 35-ft. 95• seater, the use of which in Liverpool would, he said, save at least £524,000 a year and cut costs by 10 per cent.
The discussion an these papers will be reported next week.