Utility Motors in France.
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Parisian Motorbuses.
Writing under date Saturday, the 20th April, our Paris correspondent says : Next week—on Monday, in all probability—a commission appointed from the Conseil Municipal to go thor
oughly into the question of Paris tramways and motorbus services in all its aspects will arrive in London. The visit will probably last a little more than a week, during which time the commission will make a study of the Lon
don motorbuses. An official at the Hotel de Ville informed me that it is hoped to glean a lot of Useful points from the vehicles running in London, notably in the matter of bodywork, whilst in the mechanical parts he thought the balance of efficiency lay with the London types. The members of the commission are :—MM. Felix Roussel (President), Chassaigne Goyon and Evain (ViceTresidents), Andre. Lefevre (Secretary), F. Alpy, Caron, Dausset, Dherbecourt, Desplas, DuvalArn ou Id, Francois Frame n t-Meu rice , V. Gelez, and Marchand—all of whom are well versed in the question which they have in hand. M. Duval-Arnould, as the " rapporteur de la question," will, at the close of the visit, draw up a report for the commission's approval.
Three years hence, the monopoly enjoyed by the Cornpagnie Generale des Omnibus will expire, and the commission is now actively engaged in considering new schemes from other quarters. M. de Selves (Prefet of the Department of the Seine) has submitted a memorandum, in which the following facts are brought out. Under the new concession, which will extend over 35 years, all existing horse-drawn buses will be replaced by motorbuses. By a modification of the scale of fares, the price for inside passengers will be reduced from 3oc. to 20C., the three-sous fare for outside passengers remaining the same. If the length of a route be more than seven kilometres, the contracting company will have the right to charge an extra five centimes for a distance longer than five kilometres. On the other hand, on lines less than three kilometres long, the tariff will be reduced by five centimes inside and outside. Workmen's cars, to be run before 6.30 in the morning in the winter, and 6 in the summer, are provided for, the fare being five centimes for any seat one way, or to centimes return. The memorandum of the Prefet states that the administration proposes to suppress the following services when the new concession comes into force :—Montrouge-Patsy, Villette-Bercy, Vaugirard-Bourse, Porte d'ivry-Bastille, Ecole Militaire-Gare St. Lazare. M. Darracq has made a proposal to the commission to take over all the existing omnibus services, and supplant the horse buses by autobuses where necessary. He would require two years to construct the Soo motorbuses required, and three years to build garages and repairing shops, but it is probable that there will be competition in the matter between various groups of financiers. Road Damage.
Charges upon motorbuses here appear to interest many politicians in Lon
don who are supposed to know. With a view to obtaining the facts, the Paris correspondent of " THE: COMMERCIAL MOTOR " made enquiries at the Hotel de Ville and was informed that for each motorbus circulating in Paris, the Cornpagnie Generale des Omnibus pay to the municipality JJ8o a year. This sum is exacted for the " droit de stationne
ment," or right to ply for hire, and is not nominally to cover the cost of street repairs which may be necessitated
through damage done by the vehicles. In addition to this, the company contributes an " impot " to the State of
from £30 to ,42.40 per year per motor bus, according to the seating accommodation of the car. In the case of the tramways, the payment for each car for the right to circulate is made, whilst, beyond that, the various companies are called upon under enactment to main tain that part of the roadway over which their lines run, plus 2 feet 4 inches on either side of the extreme rails. For this purpose, they pay over to the municipality 2f. 35c. per year for every lineal metre of single traction way and the authorities execute the repairs. This figure of 2f. 35c. was fixed in the days of the horse trams (of which there are still several services in Paris), and it was hinted by the Chief of the Public Ways Department at the Hotel de Ville that it would sooner or later be amended, and that the companies running heavier steam and electric cars would
be called upon to pay more per metre than heretofore. -Reverting to the con
tributions for the motorbus, although no amount is nominally demanded for damage to streets, the municipality does receive compensation under this head,
since, of the ,.3o to "40 paid to the State, a certain portion is allocated to
the Highways and Bridges Committee of the centre from which the contribution accrues. Incidentally, it may be mentioned that running over certain Paris streets, and particularly those paved with cobble stones, does not make for the longevity of the bus, nor are its tires long able to withstand the strain which they undergo. Burrowing for the Metropolitan has certainly not improved the streets of the French capital. On the question of the cost of maintenance of Paris motorbuses, The Chief
of the Exploitation .Department of the
Compagnie G6nerale des Omnibus expressed to our representative his inability to give any figures, even approximate. In the course of a long chat, in which he evinced much interest in the me chanical traffic of London, he men tioned that the Prefecture was continuously occupied in making tests of various types of motorbuses, and devices for reducing noise, vibration, and emission of fumes, and for remedying other drawbacks to this much-maligned ve hicle. An allusion to the fact that motorbus fares in London were so per cent, lower than in Paris brought forth the explanation that the Paris tariff could not reasonably be lowered. The distance covered (pretty considerable, indeed) and the privilege accorded to the interior passengers, who pay 3oc., of taking any one connection at junctions en route, for the same fare, to say nothing of the burden of contributions to the municipality and the State, were submitted in justification.
Postal Motors.
The French Post Office has a very big scheme in hand in the forthcoming reorganisation of its collection and delivery service. For some time, small, smooth-running, electric vans have been used by this department, and have been worked with satisfaction. Under the new project, it is not, proposed to dispense with these, but to replace the existing horse-drawn vehicles by mechanically-propelled vans. Up to the iSth of April this department was open to receive proposals, and on the 13th May next will conduct a series of tests, considering the respective merits and recommendations of each likely scheme, but leaving it to the constructors to decide what motive force—electricity, steam, or petrol—will be most economical and efficient. The autovehicles selected will be brought into requisition from the 1st October, 1908, and the monopoly given to the successful competitor will, it is proposed, exLend over nine years.
The vans will come under three categories, and the specification must meet the following requirements : Type A. 39 vehicles for ordinary service; four others for extraordinary service. These to cover in normal service 1,040,000 kilonfetres yearly, and to have a cubic capacity of two metres and a carrying capacity of 800 kilogrammes.
Type B. to vehicles for ordinary
service; two others for extraordinary service. These to cover 260,000 kilometres yearly, and to have a cubic capacity of three metres and a carrying capacity of 1,200 kilos.
Type C. 24 vehicles for ordinary
service ; four others for extraordinary service. These to cover 600,000 kilometres yearly, and to have a cubic capacity of four and a half metres and a carrying capacity of 1,800 kilos. The drivers will be furnished by the
constructors, but clothed by the authorities. Certain heavy deposits are exacted from competitors as a guarantee of good faith. Payment for the service will be made on the basis of distance covered.
In spite of the rigorous conditions imposed, says M. Pierre SouvesIre, writing in the " Auto," it is beyond doubt that numerous constructors will tender. The concessionnaire will find an invaluable advertisement in his contract. It must not be forgotten that t5e attention of the whole of France will be fixed on this new departure in the postal service, and that numerous big cities in the provinces will, if the experience of Paris is satisfactory, follow in the footsteps of the capital.