London and Its Passenger Problem.
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N THIS ISSUE we deal with, &scribe, and illustrate London's new omnibus—the largest type of bus in the world. Of course, there is far more in it than the matter of mere size or of large seating capacity brought within a compact vehicle that is not out of place amid the busiest traffic. It may not be going too far to say that, unless London's omnibuses can carry amuch bigger body of passengers than the 34 which can be accommodated in the old B type bus,' the service would not be sufficiently profitable for its maintenance. to be warranted.
There are two ways of meeting the increased running costs and standing charges, the advanced wages . and enhanced cost-of fuel, maintenance, administration, and so forth. The first would be a substantial • increase in the fares. But the directors of the London 'General Omnibus Co. feel that fares are' at as high a level as they should be, and. yet they leave, so far as the B type bus is concerned, a sufficient gap between expenses and receipts to mean a loss on work ing. The second method is the one upon which the company is now placing its faith—the distribution of the total running cost per bus over a larger num ber of passengers. It was a big jump from 34 seats on a B type bus to 46 seats on the K type ; the advance to 57 seats on the S type is a real leap!
• It is doubtful whether the development can be taken much further, because other problems are likely to intrude. The increase of size increases the tendency to skidding when the passengers on a lightly loaded bus keep to the rear seats ; each increase of size • means added top-dock weight, and the' larger the quantity of passengers the greater is the chance of fares being missed in the collection. The .present number of seats, 57, is a happy mean : on the tramcars, with their 46 outside passengers, an inside passenger is not infrequently unable to pay his fare, when he is only traIelling a short stage.
The attitude of Scotland Yard in relation to the suitability of vehicles for London's traffic has, in recent months, undergone a vast and welcome change, and the Ministry of Transport is prepared to encourage schemes which will give London the better (or, let us say, the fuller) travelling facilities it requires.
All this is to the good. The L.G.O.C., .however, can add its quota. We express the hope that the • cperating staff will make it their first business, now that the larger buses are helping to meet the labour diffioilty, to improve the' service after theatre hours and at the other peak hours of the day. If it does • not pay to run a full service all the evening, after the homeward rush has taken place, some vehicles could be parked in the West End (so saving running expense), to be turned on to deal with the volume of traffic between 10.45 and midnight, when the theatres are emptying.
Import Duties or Home Industry ?
THE PAROCHIAL view again! Asked by Sir William Joynson-Hicks in Parliament last week why. British manufacturers of heavy vehicles should not have the protection of the 33i per cent_ duty which is given to makers of private cars, and if he were aware that 4,593 commercial vehicles and 17,528 passenger cars were imported from the United States alone in the year ending June 30th, and whether he would take steps to mitigate such importation, the Chancellor of the Exchequer said that, whilst he had no power to prohibit or restrict importation, it might be some satisfaction to Sir William to know that the importation, whilst adverse to the exchange, had been most favourable to the revenue.
The larger view that, when the motor manufacturing trade would be very glad to receive orders to avoid some of the concerns having temporarily to close down, it would be fir more profitable for money to be circulated by the encouragement of home production, even at the loss of a certain amount of revenue from import duties, does not seem to have dawned upon the Chancellor of the Exchequer. Or he might say that, working in a watertight compartment, it is not his business to encourage home industries ; it is his job to encourage revenue from imports I .
Correctly Placing the Blame for an Accident.
RECENT fatal accident in one of the southern suburbs of London calls attention once again to the inherent lack of reliability in the official records upon which the public bases its opinion as to the relative dangers of various classes of road vehicles. We are told annually, when the returns are published, that the motor omnibus is, unquestionably, far more dangerous than the tramcar. In the case of the accident to which reference has been made, a cyclist fell in the roadway and was run over by It motor omnibus.
This will, of course, be recorded as a fatal accident for which the omnibus is supposed to be responsible. In point of fact, the evidence at the inquest showed that the accident was originally due to the bad condition of the tram-rails, alongside of which slots had formed in the roadway. The wheel of the cycle caught in one of these slots, andothe rider was consequently thrown immediately in front of the omnibus, the driverof which was exonerated from all blame by the coroner.
A tragic accident of this kind is, in itself, sufficient answer to those who maintain that figures cannot lie, and consequently that the figures prove conclusively that the motor omnibus is dangerous. Probably, in nine accidents out of ten, it is impossible to put one's finger upon any sole cause. A number of occurrences happen in rapid sequence and the net result is an accident in which some particular vehicle or vehicles may participate. As often as not, some-other vehicle which apparently has nothing to do with the affair should, in fact, be heldprimarily responsible for it.
Service. Should it be Defined?
ERHAPS no term receives so many definitions as " service ." ; possibly this is because manu facturers and agents themselves interpret the word in a, remarkable number of different ways. To some, it represents a small but continuous Source of worry, whilst others treat it, as it should be treated, as a special and important branch of their business. To many users of motor vehicles, the term implies free attention and repair to their purchases for an unlimited period of time, and unless they get this attention they are liable to think the manufacturer or agent, or perhaps both, lacking in interest once the goods have been sold. If possible, it would be better for those concerned to lay down a distinct definition of what service should entail, and the buyer should be informed of this before he purchases a machine.
The profits made by the agent are not so great as to permit him to give service gratis for a considerable period. Certainly, he should make any small and minor adjustments which may be necessary when the machine is first sold, but, after that, work done by him should be paid for according to his usual tariff.
Service, in any case, after the first few adjustments, should consist of the holding of an adequate stock of spare parts, and the maintenance of a staff proficient to give sound advice and, if the number of vehicles sold warrants this, to deal, at a reasonable _price, with any further adjustments or repairs that may be required for the particular vehicles for which he is agent.
In some cases, manufacturers keep a. staff of travelling inspectors, who advise the customers as to the condition of their machines and as to what repairs should be carried out. This certainly seems a very good interpretation of the word and, quite apart from the benefit to the users, much benefit is -derived by the manufacturers through thus following up their manufactures, whereby large or small defects in the design or materials used can be traced out immediately and rectified before a large number of users become dissatisfied and, consequently, give particular makes of machines bad reputations which might comparatively easily be avoided.
Cases have occurred where certain parts' in -particular makes of commercial vehicles, have failed in so many instances that these parts have been withdrawn and replaced by others of better design or material : such replacements are very expensive if the number of vehicles affected is high, and only efficient inspection may bring the weakness to light before many users have become concerned.
04 Avoidable Wear and Tear. ._i THERE IS little doubt that, all over the country, a tremendous amount of wear and tear is taking place in the mechanism of heavy vehicles of all descriptions, which might very easily be prevented. Particularly is this the case in regard to motor coach chasiis, which, during the season now coming to a close, have been worked at such high pressure that it is safe to say that only in isolated. cases has the question of rapid depreciation been given serious thought. ' , Chiefly, it is a matter of lubrication. Without any lubrication, or with an insufficiency of lubricant on parts liable -to wear, even the best of chassis will depreciate rapidly, Systematic -and efficient lubrication of all wearing parts is the best possible insurance against frequent and heavy repair bills. Fortunately, the modern chassis is so designed that the drudgery of routine lubrication has been largely reduced. The main units of the chassis, engine, gearbox, and back axle require attention at but infrequent intervals, whilst the number of points to which lubrication has to be given in other parts of the chassis has been reduced considerably, Nevertheless, although the ;labour involved haa been reduced to a minimum, and -the time, which should be devoted dailyto the task, has been very greatly lessened, there is still an abominable amount of neglect in keeping chassis properly greased and. oiled. In most cases, we think, the -owners are generally to blame. Many of them either fail to appreciate how vital a matter labricatien isaand what an intimate connection it has with their balance-Sheets, or else they do not so organize theia business and their drivers' work as to ensure that it can properly and regularly be carried out.
When, for instance, a motor coach driver has to start out at, it may be, six or seven in the morning, and does not get back from his day's run until quite late at night, it is asking too much of human nature to expect him then to start and thoroughly to go over his machine and get it ready for the next day's run. If, in those circumstances, a vehicle gets any lubrication at all, the job is generally done in a perfunctory manner, unless the driver is a very exceptional being.. In consequence, every moving part of the ehassiS which does not happen to be lubricated automatically wears out far more rapidly than it should do.
. In the cireumstances just outlined the owner obviously is at fault. His business should be so organized as to ensure that the driver-is relieved from the onus of lubrication, and that someone else, who understands the particular chassis equally well, is there to do the' job. It is really an open question whether in certain kinds of trangport work oiling and greasing is properly the driver's job. Admittedly, it is more satisfactory if one man can be held entirely responsible for a vehicle, but, under certain condition% it simply cannot be done. Locomotive engineers realized this fact many years ago, and, in conses quence, the " greaser" is an established institution on the railway. '
A similar kind of organization to that which takes care of the mechanical efficiency of the locomotive will undoubtedly, in due course, be essential in many road transport undertakings, particularly those which deal with passenger and long-distance traffic. It cannot be too strongly urged that lubrication and longevity are synonymous terms, so far as-road transport vehiclesare concerned, and the careful owner, who wishes to keep the 'depreciation factor of his fleet as low as possible, should give the matter the most .. careful and continuous attention: