PASSENGER TRAVEL NEWS.
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The Latest Doings and Developments in the Bus and Coach World.
MUNICIPAL BUS SERVICES IN BOLTON.
The Local Authorities Seeking Powers to Run Buses Outside the Borough and Thus Augment Existing Services.
IN the present session of Parliament 'Bolton Corporation is seeking powers, Inter alio., to run Motor omnibuses outside the borough, And at a recent ratepayers' meeting objection was taken to clause 15 of the proposed Bill, which relates to the provision and running of motor omnibuses.
The gist of the opposition to this clause was based on the tramways cora .
mittee proposing to spend, in all, some.
£87,000 on the institution of transport arrangements for people outside the borough, and on the fact that no specific routes had been stated. The chairman of.the tramways committee, in replying, explained that the authorities were asking the inhabitants of the town to remove from the congested areas, and he thought it was.the duty of the council to provide such transport services as . were necessary, and it proposed to link. up with neighbouring areas so that the transport of the people would be in the bands of Jhelocal authorities. • Vventtially the" motor omnibus clause was • agreed to by 121 votes to 56, and, therefore, will go forward in the Bill.
Bolton has a population of approximately 180,000, and the corporation already possesses bus-operating powers for routes within the borough. These were obtained, firstly, under an Act of 1897, -which empowered the council to work vehicles propelled by "electrical or other mechanical power" this was revived in 1908, while further powers in respect of motorbuses were obtained in 1914 and 1922. It is nearly 18 years since the first corporation bus services were run in Bolton, these being to Darcy Lever and Brownlow Fold. These services were maintained until 1910 and 1911 respectively, and were then withdrawn, as the tramways to the points mentioned had been completed.
Following upon housing developments and the need for transport in districts not served by the trams the tramways committee again instituted bus services, and the present fleet con,,sists of 45 h.p. Leyland, five being 30-seaters and four 38-seaters, the latter being of the driverbeside-engine type. All the buses are fitted with cushion tyres, and up to the present time pneumatic-tyre equipment has not been used. All the vehicles have both front and rear entrances, and it is the practice at the town stage on one route to load by the rear door, passengers leaving the car at the front end, thus considerably facilitating loading and unloading during busS, periods.
Two routes are at present worked. The first starts from the town hall and runs to Lowther Street, Great Lever, a distance of about 1.25 miks. A tenminute service is worked by three buses after 12 noon, two buses only being employed earlier in the day. The other service is from Tudor Avenue to Thicketford Road, passing through the centre of the town, and three 38-seaters run at intervals of 17 minutes on this route, the length of which is approximately 2.5 miles. The fares are cheap, being 1d. "all the way" on the Great Lever service, id. stages of about 31 miles being in operation on the other route. An unusual arrangement, however, is that adult fares are increased id. after 1.30 p.m. on Saturdays and on Sundays, Christmas Day and Good Friday.
The average receipts per bus-mile for the year ended March 31st, 1925, were 14.493d., and the total receipts from passenger fares amounted to £7,062 14s.-4d. After meeting all operating costs (except administration, presumably charged to the tramways account), repayments of loans and interest thereon, a surplus of £296 1s. 7d. was carried to the appropriation acsount. At the present time additional garage accommodation is being made to allow for .housing extra buses which will be required for extensions which the Bolton Corporation proposes to carry out.