HOW MUNICIPAL SERVICES ARE FARING.
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Continuing Our Summarized Analysis of the Latest Available Passenger Transport Returns of the Most Prominent Municipal Authorities.
TN this alphabetical arrangement of municipalities operat ing various types of passenger-carrying vehicle, we have already given summarized details of the latest available returns dealing with the services run by the authorities at Aberdare. Aberdeen, Birmingham, Bournemouth, Bradford, Burnley, Burton-on-Trent, Coventry, Eastbourne, Edinburgh, Douglas (Isle of Man), Glasgow, Great Yarmouth, Huddersfield, Hull, Kilmarnock, Keighley, Leeds, Leicester? Lytham St. Annes, Maidstone, Manchester, Middlesbrough, Morecambe, Nelson, Newport, Northampton, Nottingham, Portsmouth and Pre§ton. The opening instalment of this feature was published in our Special Passengervehicle issue dated February 8th.
RAWTENSTALL CORPORATION.
A LTHOUGH'the present bus activities of this Lancashire Iii.authority were started in August, 1924, the corporation's initial 'venture into the sphere of motorbus operation was in 1908. when certain services by such vehicles were run in conjunction with the tramways system. These services weir., however, discontinued in September, 1910. Twelve months ago the Rawtenstall Corporation had 10 buses and 32 tramcars, and, accordingto the borough treasurer's rtport for the year ended March 31st last, the total income from the operation of the former was £20,570 and from thi latter £55,247. The expenses incurred in working the buses were £14,844, and capital charges and taxes absorbed £3,089, so that a'profit of 12,637 was shown, this figure comparing with a surplus of 11,136 a year earlier, when seven buses were in service.
The operation of the tramcars in the same period resulted in a loss of £651, and since £1,500 was made as a grant in aid of the rates, the sum taken from the renewals fund was £2,151. In the previous year the tramcars showed a profit of £2,318, and the loss recorded in the 12 months with which we are dealing was the first deficit since 1921.
In the year to March last the buses ran 278,140 miles and the tramcars 600,745, the number of passengers carried by the former being 1,554,146 and by. the latter 7,004,595. A total of 56,000 gallons of petrol was used on the buses, which showed a m.p.g. return of 4.96. The traffic revenue per vehicle-rnile was 16.22d. on the buses and 21.51d. on the tramcars, and the percentage of working expenses to total revens.l. was 72.16 for biases and 73.38 for trams. The Rawtenstall Corporation had Leyland and Thornycroft buses in use during the year we have reviewed.
READING CORPORATION. READING CORPORATION. THE report of Mr. M. Calder, A.M.I.E.E., A.M.Mech.E., the general manager and engineer of the tramways and motors department of the Reading Corpora tion, for the year ended March 31st last shows that the net profit on the operation of tramcars and buses amounted to £5,9n, as compared with £6.272 a year earlier. This slight • drop (f321) WAS brought about by the fact that the' surplus on the tramways fell by £1,206, although this reduction was almost completely offset by an increased profit of £928 on the buses, minus a reduced surplus of £43 on the parcels-express account.
The actual traffic receipts from the tramcars showed a falling oft in the year, whereas the figure for buses rose from £21,201 in 1925 to 126,460 in 1926. The number of passer-4.12s carried on the tramcars increased by almost 200,000, and' the decrease in revenue was attributed to passengers using prepaid discount tickets for over one million journeys during the year. This resulted in a saving to these regular passengers of one-sixth of the ordinary fare chargeable. fled represented an amount of £1,000, which was almost double the extent of the total decrease in traffic revenue on the trains. The mileage covered by the tramcars in the year was 869,544 and by the buses 389,558; 11,951,844 Passengers made use of the former vehicles arid 2,544,423 passengers the latter.
The revenue from all sources of the tramways and motor department constituted a record and amounted to £104,650, ot which sum traffic receipts from buses and trams accounted for £103,130. The gross profit on the operating account was 120,388.
The total revenue from the buses was £26,756, the receipts per bus-mile being 16.48d., the latter figure representing a decrease of .85d. per mile as compared with the previous year. Throughout the year the average number of passengers carried per bus-mite run was 6.53 and the average fare paid was 2.49d. In connection with the operation of the fleet of kuses 76,140 gallons of petrol were consumed, the m.p.g. return being 5.11. Mention is made in the report of the fact that the tramways committee is providing bus facilities in connection with the development of residential property on the outskirts of the borough.
During the 12 months to March last, 78,243 parcels were dealt with by the transport department of the Reading Corporation. and the fact that this figure was 2,490 in excess of that for the preceding year is sufficient evidence of the usefulr.ess of a service which is considered a distinct asset to the tra nways and motors undertaking.
ST. HELENS CORPORATION.
STATISTICS contained in the accounts of the tramways undertaking of the St. Helens Corporation for the year ended March 31st, 1926, show the: the seven motorbuses then in service ran 131,907 miles in the year and carried 448,658 passengers, whereas the tramcars, of which 43 were owned, r..n 1,017,812 miles and carried 9,975,129 pas.
sengers. The revenue account for the buses showed income at £5,533 and expenditure at £4,303, whilst the tramways revenue account showed income at £83,273 and expenditure at £62,611.
The total balance on the working of the buses and trams, i.e., £21,892, was -transferred to the net revenue account and, after meeting certain charges, was reduced to £17,358, this sum being carried to the appropriation account. The balance standing at the end of March, 1925, increased this sum to £22,520. After deducting £9,366 in respect of repayment of loans anti stock, 11,000 in connection with the purchase of electrical equipment and £1,8.59 for revenue contributions to capital, i.e., a total of £12,225, a surplus of 110,295 was shown.
In the year with which we are dealing, the average revenue per vehicle-mile was 10.064. for buses and 19.464. for tramcars, the average working expenses per vehicle-mile being 7.824d. for buses and 14.7634. for trams. The average number of passengers carried per mile by the buses was 3.40 and by the tramcars 9,80. The miles run by each bus per day worked out at an average of 109.44, the same return for the trams being higher by only .66 of a mile.
Bus services were started regularly in St. Helens in August, 1923, although temporary services were run from September, 1'921, during the time that certain tramway sections were under construction.
SALFORD CORPORATION.
TilE name of the Salford Corporation has been much in evidence of late in connection with the introduction of rigid passenger-carrying six-wheelers into municipal service, and this authority, which is buying a number of Karrier vehicles of this type, was amongst the first to consider the possibilities of such machines. It will be instructive to note the influence which the six-wheeler exerts on the bus activities ot the 'corporation and particularly on working costs in relation to revenue.
At the end of March, 1926, the Salford Corporation possessed 229 tramcars and 19 buses, six of the latter being double-deckers. According to the annual report of Mr. J. S. D. Moffet, A.M.Inst.C.E., M.I.Mech.E., the general manager of the tramways undertaking, the tramcars covered an aggregate mileage of 6,377,694 in the year to the end of the month mentioned, whilst the buses ran 494,361 miles, the number of passengers carried by the trams being 83,881,591 and by the buses 6,007,485.
The revenue account for buses showed a balance on the right side of £4,788, income being recorded at £35,097 and expenditure at 130,309, whilst in the case of tramcars the surplus was £82,484, the total income being £479,970 and expenditure £397,484. The gross profit made in the year by the tramways department was £87,271. In the case of the buses loan charges (£3,009) reduced the profit to £1,779, to which bank interest has to be added, thus bringing up the amount transferred to the depreciation and renewals fund to 11,957. After meeting various charges, the profit and loss aeccunt for the tramways showed a deficiency for the year of £3,714.
The following comprise a selection from the average returns for buses and trams :— Motorbuses. Tramcars.
Traffic revenue per vehicle-mile 17.0381 17.9661 Working expenses per vehicle mile (Including power cost) .-. 14.7141 14.9574.
Miles per day per vehicle ... 97 100 Speed per hour in miles ... 7.10 7.80 Vehicles hours per day ... -13 13.50
Pare -paid per passenger 1.404. 1.374. Number of passengers per
.. ... 12 13 These returns were obtained from an average of 14 buses and 174 tramcars' in use per day. The percentage of working expenses to receipts was 86 for buses and 83 for trams. The average fare charged per mile on the buses was .95d., in the period we have reviewed.