THE NEW TAXI HANSOM.
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The Motorcycle Sidecar Opens Up New Possibilities for the Public and for the Owner-driver with Small Capital.
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THE HANSOM cab, .which disa,ppeared with the coming of the motor vehicle, comes to light again, niotor-driven, in the form of the sidecar taxi and thereseems to -be every reason why it shouldlead_ to a substantial branch of the hackneyvehicle business, for a not inconsiderable portion of the Cab traffic is for one or two passengers without
luggage. . . .. . . .
. Up to the present almost all hire work has been carried out by landaulet cars of. some power and weight, the initial and running costs of which have increased out of all proportion to the hire charges that it is possible to obtain,. The low costs of. the sidecartaxicab, however, .should make it possible for this type Of vehicle to be run at‘a considerable profit, and it is intended in this article to indicate, so far as posSible, its value as a commercial proposition. It is interesting, in the first place, to glance at the v.arious tyres of this -vehicle at present on the market. At the Motor Cycle Show at Olympia a month, ago to sidecars designed for the work were exhibited— the Caneelet and the Watsonian—whilst Bat, Exaeelsior, Rex, B.S.A., Martiusy-de, and Campion motorcycles were shown fitted either with sidecars of their own make or with the two types nientioned above.
All these sidecaf a had seating capacity for two passengers, aide by side, With the exception. of the hex,
, the body of which had staggered seats. On all there. was ample room for two. full-grownmen to sit in comfort, but we should imagine that staggered seating woidd have a certairaadvantage in that the wide chassis of the side-by-side types would be unnecessary, there being thus Tess strain upon the steering. With correct alignment of the sidecar,however, this would be an almost negligible advantage, and, as all the.sidecars seemed equally comfOrtable, there should be little to choose between the various types.
Theprices -of these machines at Olympia—and, of course, there are-many others made Which -were riot exhibited—varied between g210 and £280, the engines ranging from the6 'h.p. (080 c.c.) of the Martinsyde to the 8 h.p. 1,000 c.o, engines of such machines as the Rex, Calapiori, and Excelsidr. For a figure in the neighbourhood of. R250, it should therefore be possible to obtain a brand new outfit hilly equipped with elearic lighting, aid ready for the road.
At the beginning of the movement, however, comes it. rebuff which can only be considered as serious. This lies in the fact that the authorities of Scotland Yard have refused to sanction the use of sidecar taxicabs in the Metropolitan area-. Fortunately, in other oities.1—notab1y Birmingham and Nottingham—theyhave been approved under Certain -conditions, and.are
already in successful use. In view of this fact, it seems strange that the authorities in subh a, city as Manchester should consider that they are "unsuitable." whilst those in Bristol are not even willing to consider applications. Many other town S are "considering" the matter, and as several are finding them in every way satisfactory, it seems quite probable that, in a short time, the majority of -towns and cities in the provinces will give sanction to applications received..
The charges for hire at present in force`are Is. for the first mile and Sd. for each subsequent mile. It has been stated that this-rate could be reduced considerably; but with wages, petrol, replacements, etc., at their present price, it would seem that this is a fair charge. In a city the average journeys would not often exceed two miles and the return journey in most eases would be ma, de empty. Thus, four miles would be covered for is. 8d., working out at 5d. per mile. Occasionally, however, a fare would he picked up, -and, especially at week-ends, circular runs would be obtained, during. which the full 8d, per mile would, of course, be charged. It is therefore reasonable to conclude that, on the average, the returns
would amount to 6d. per mile. •
Sidecar taxicabs will., in all probability, be run by 4•-vo classes of owners—the garage or hire business and the "owner-driver." The following figures are those which should meet the case of the owner-driver, who would, of course, have no wages to play, or, rather, would bracket his wages and profit together. The figures are based on the assumption nf an average daily mileage of 40 miles, including " empty" running:— The last three items are, of course, pure estimates, but, if the machine were to do the full mileage of 14,600, it is probable, especially during the winter, that on most nights it would be required to take people home from dances and other social functions.
Waiting at 4s. an hour soon mounts up to a large figure, and, of course, double fares would be charged.
Again,-it is probable that on most short journeys a fourpenny or sixpenny tip would hie given to the driver, and with correspondinglylarger tips for longer journeys. The estimate of id. per mile of running is therefore somewhat conservative. The excess of receipts over expenditure as shown by these figures is 2322, which is undoubtedly a fair reward for the low outlay. The work, also, at 40 miles per day cannot be considered arduous, and should be particularly suitable for those who require the open-air life.
Should a driver be employed (and, we can visualize the successful owner-driver adding a second and a third vehicle to his fleet), his wages at 23 per week (ii156) must be added to the overhead charges, whilst he would take the tips which we have estimated under the heading of " Receipts " at 260 16s. 8c1. per annum. The total costs would thus be 2359 16s. and the receipts 2465, leaving an estimated profit of 2105 4s. per annum.
From the point of view of the garage proprietor also, these figures require revision, and the results could be looked upon as a. direct return on money invested, aa,in the case just outlined. The overhead charges could be reduced by, say, 210 on the annual garage, and 220 interest on capital. All the running costs, on aceount of trade terms and facilities, would be less, as would the depreciation, on account of the 'amount below list price at which the trader buys. The expenditure could therefore be reduced by a figure in the neighbourhood of 2100, whilst it must be increased by the wages of the driver at, say, £3 a week and tips. This would add 256 to the expenditure and reduce the receipts by 260, leaving a profit of 2322, less £116, i.e., 2206. This amount would show, roughly, a return of nearly 100 per cent. on the money invested.
The Watch Committees and the like of different towns consider that various constructional details are necessary for their areas, and as yet, therefore, there is no fixed or generally acceptable specification. The differences, however, are so small that almost any taxi sidecar can be made to comply with the conditions without much alteration. Birmingham is early to the front in having printed rules and regulations with regard to the licensing of these vehicles. for use in that city,' the motorcycle must have a countershaft gearbox, be geared not higher than 5 to 1, and all chains, and sprockets insist be suitably covered. A spare interchangeable wheel must be parried, and the tyre dimensions .,must not be less than 700 mm. by 80 mm. The driver must be able to see over the top of the sidecar body, which must be of the landaulet or coupe type, with a hood that can be lowered. The following body dimensions must be observed:—Width of seat, 32 ins. ; top of cushion to floor, 9 ins.; top of cushion, to roof, 36 ins. ; cushion from back to front, not less than 18 ins. ; door width, 18 ins. With these particulars in view, it should be an easy matter for manufacturers to construct a .machine suitable for most towns.
It would be idle to state that a sidecar taxi can be a means of enormous profit to its owner, especially ui view of the fact that the Chief Constable of Cardiff affirms that, in that city, they have been found to be financially unsuccessful. Nevertheless, they should show considerably more profit than ordinary hire cars, provided that a high mileage can be obtained. It is obvious at once that they cannot pay unless used extensively, owing to the wages of a driver (whether owner or employed) and the overhead costs. This matter of popularizing them amongst the taxi-using public lies with the owners themselves, and, considering the comparatively low price of the charges, should not be too difficult. Once this popularity is obtained, a very fair living is possible for any man with a small amount of capital to invest.