A Model Bus Service.
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Why Eastbourne has no need for Tramways.
The ubiquitious trolley tramway system has spread its tentacles to every corner of the kingdom and those in search of health, and a relief front business worries by a visit to some oi our southern seaside resorts, find the noise of the streets as great as that in tneir own cities, Many oi our municipalities and town councils who cater largely tor holiday makers tail to grasp the fact that the public who have money to spend are not anxious for turmoil, and in permitting the streets to he practically monopolised for passenger carrying by tramways are doing their best to keep away a large section ot visitors. We are glad to congratulate the Eastbourne Corporation on being sufficiently progressive to supply their townspeople and visitors with up-tos oatc methods of locomotion, which serve the needs of the population without spoiling the appearance of a beautiful town. Those of our reauers who have not visited Eastbourne may be astonished to learn that there is not a single shop abutting upon the sea front, and, so jealous are the ratepayers' representatives of the appearance of every one of their streets that hideous poster hoardings are not allowed to disfigure the thoroughfares. Some three years ago the Corporation considered the question of tramways, but met with such great opposition from the principal residents that the scheme was killed almost upon its inception A few horsed buses, privately owned, wandered at rare intervals to different points, so after many committee meetings the experiment of running buses by the town itself was decided. Right from the commencement the establishment of motor buses met with appreciation from the residents. The main difficulty in the early stages of the undertaking was to find a suitable man for the management and efficient drivers to run the vehicles purchased. Since Mr. Turner Smith took over the management some nine months ago, the whole service has been put on a very satesfactory business footing and each detail, from office accounts to the yard washing, has had serious attention devoted to it. Thu result is a model service which can well serve as a pattern for other town councils who desire to follow in the footsteps of the municipality that may well be considered as the pioneers of publicly owned motor bus services. A member of our staff paid a special visit to Eastbourne on Friday last and gleaned many interesting particulars as to methods of working which local conditions compel. Ten vehicles are at present employed, but as soon as suitable buses can be purchased this number will be largely increased. The fleet comprises four MilnesDaimler single deck, four Milnes-Daimler double deck, and two Clarkson single deck, the latter being propelled by steam. The steam vehicles have not come up to the expectations of the Corporation and they are disappointed with the results obtained in their particular service. With the petrol buses the working has been so satisfactory as to induce the Corporation to purchase a sufficient number to place everybody in the town within quick reach of every point. Six routes are covered as follows :—Pier to Hampden Park, every forty minutes, Wednesday and Saturdays only ; Carew Road to Bandstand, every thirty minutes; foot of Beachy Head to Redoubt, every twenty minutes; railway
station to Archery, every twelve minutes; Ocklynge to station, every twenty-tour minutes; Old Town to station, every twenty-four minutes. The Hampden Park route is a new residential district just at the limit of the town boundary, and is put on more to serve the convenience of the residents than as a profit earner. This is one of the difficulties with which the Corporation has been faced right from the commencement of their enterprise. Having spent the public funds, every part ol the town naturally wants to participate in the facilities offered, and this is just the very point where a flexible service, which is not tied down to a hxed route by a costly rail installation, can meet the needs of different neighbourhoods. As originally schemed., certain of the routes were found capable of improvement; the terminal stations have remained almost as they were started, but sonic of the intervening thoroughfares have been struck out and others substituted, with greater satisfaction to the passengers and better earning powers far the buses. The residents in some of the roads, whilst appreciating the advantages of the vehicles, have objected to any kind of public service along their own particular thoroughfare, looking upon the place in which they happen to live as a kind of private preserve. This feeling of exclusiveness will perhaps disappear in time; meanwhile, to satisty the susceptibilities of these touchy inhabitants, it has been found possible to reach the desired terminus by dodging up or down a contiguous road. If a particular road needs repairing, as was noticed at the time of our visit, the whole traffic can be diverted, and the steam roller proceed with the desired work in a quarter of the time were traffic running on a portion of the surface; There are many features in the actual working which tire novel and are aimed at providing the passengers with the fullest possible knowledge of times, routes, etc. Fixed stations are arranged at frequent intervals for picking up and setting down and the drivers are forbidden to stop elsewhere These stations are usually at particular tamp posts, such lamp posts being painted a dark red colour for those places which are regular stopping places; where the buses only stop " when requested " a thick white ring is painted round the centre of the post as an indication. At each regular stopping place a glazed time-table of the whole of the routes is affixed and above the time-table is arranged an enamelled iron clock dial with movable hands. This dial is a very clever idea and SAWS a long wait on the part of any passenger who is unaware of the time of arrival of the next bus. Just prior to each bus leaving the regular stopping places the conductor alights and moves the hands so as to indicate the time when the next bus will arrive. For instance, a passenger goes to the station at foot of Beachy Head at 4.5 and, consulting the dial, perceives that the next bus to leave for The Redoubt is timed to leave at 4.20; he can therefore wait for the fifteen minutes to elapse or walk on until the bus catches him up. These dials are a very great convenience, and the only trouble experienced with them has been from meddlesome children wrenching off the brass hands. Malleable iron hands are about to be fitted instead of brass, and will be so affixed as to prevent them being damaged. Another aid has been re
cently introduced by Mr. Turner Smith in the way of a pocket time-table, which is freely distributed throughout the town and from metal receptacles inside the vehicles. These tables are interleaved with advertisements, and, in addition to the times, give the fares from and CO every stat:on and a small map of the town with the routes plainly indicated. The fares work out at one penny per mile, whilst books of twenty-six penny tickets can be obtained for 2s. and twentysix 2d. tickets for 4s. The whole of the repairs are carried through in the dep8t in a well-equipped repair shop, the large lathe being run by an electric motor taking current from the Corporation mains. The repairs to the petrol buses have been of a small character, comprising only such things as rebushing of bearings and minor adjustments which the staff are well able to put right. The magneto ignition has given no trouble, nor has that bogey of the tram enthusiast, the change speed gears. Some of the routes, such as to Beachy Head, are very hilly, one of the portions of this comprising a gradient of one in eight and necessitating numberless changes in the course of the twenty-eight double journeys the buses undertake each day. In a recent issue we gave a couple of illustrations of the gear wheels of an Eastbourne bus which had covered over 18,000 miles, and the condition of the teeth spoke volumes for the quality of the workmanship and the careful -way in which the changes were made. Rubber tyres were at first a costly item, but the manufacture of these has so improved as to be now reckoned upon a stable basis. A proper store-room is provided at the depot, in which a stock of spare parts is kept in such a way as to enable the required portion to be instantly accessible. The stores of oil, grease, petrol, etc., are so well checked in and out that at the last audit the petrol account balanced to within five gallons ! A careful record is kept of every trip of each vehicle, together with the exact account of each replacement or repair, cost of material and time occupied, and the journeys lost. It is thus possible to trace the history of each bus from the day it commenced running to the present time; we were granted the privilege of inspecting this log, and very instructive reading it proved. A separate log book is also kept for every wheel in the service, and this enables a very careful check to be retained upon each and every one of the tyres purchased. It is indeed a model service.