NOTTINGHAM'S NEW MOTORBUSES.
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After a period of irritating delay, due to an inability to complete work for which contracts had long -been made, the first of the new petrol motorbuses for use within the Nottingham municipal area were brought into operation at the beginning of last week. The service was commenced upon a diagonal route, taking in an important section of the western districts of the city, extending from Bagthorpe to 13entinck Road, and connecting up at important points with the existing tramway system. In light of the new development-it is interesting as an illustration ef the turn of events in tecent year to.recali the fact that Nottingham was one among the. chief municipal centres originally to undertake a service of motorbuses. The buses were afterwards completely discarded in favour of tramways, but the return ii now made, after a long interval, to the partial reintroduction of a plan which, under vastly improved meehanical arrangements, has been designed to afford accommodation to a considerable section of the inhabitants at present unprovided for by means of public vehicular communication. Having regard to the nature of the districts Which are 'ee30
being dealt with. in the first section a the scheme, there appears to be no reason to doubt the success of the venture financially-, although it is being already complained locally that the fares err upon the side of being too high, in view of the length of certain of the sections, and the total mileage involved in the complete route.
-Wit that which the Nettinghain public ia satisfied about is that a start has at length been made with the Pew system of traction, which for a great portion of the districts involved is regarded as affording means immeasurably superior to those of a rigid tramway system confined to already congested areas. Three buses have been obtained for the purpose of the first section of the new service and they each represent the latest developments in regard to efficiency of construction. The vehicles are single-deckers, with Dennis chassis and Dodson bodies, a feature being the clerestory arrangements of the roofs, affording perfect ventilation. Each provides accommodation for 26 passengers inside and three in front.
Coincidently with the long delayed reintroduction of motorbuses into the city,
a very serious discussion has arisen in Nottingham as to the utility of any further extension of the existing tramway system. Many representative men taking part in local administrative affairs have not hesitated to express their predilection in favour of the newer and more flexible means of transport. Alderman J. E. Pendleton, the exMayer, whilst not going to the extent suggested by certain extremists that existing tramway services should be scrapped, has, in a recent interview, declared unmistakably in favour of a wider consideration of bus traction when dealing with Nottingham's future transport needs.
It is as a supplementary agency to the tramway system, feeding it with traffics at _various important connecting points, that the value of the new buses is regarded as likely to be most effectively demonstrated. Whether in themselves, at the present cost Of running, they can be made to represent a paying proposition is exceedingly doubtful in the light of current experience in the Metropolis and ebiewhere, but as an adjunct to existing arrangements they are calculated to prove of public convenience.