MORE COMFORT FOR BUS PASSENGERS.
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A Few Criticisms of Bus Body Design and Constructional Details, together with a Series of Suggestions for the Elimination of the Faults.
TO THOSE who remember the types of buses which were antecedent to those at present plying for hire, the travelling public of to-day must seem to be very well served and to ride almost in the lap of luxury (excluding the crush hours on wet and inclement days, when illness is apt to be courted by anyone with sufficient temerity to ride outside). Within the past two years even more has been done to provide a comfortable vehicle, and it is common knowledge that bus-body designers are ever on the look-out for ideas which shall enable them to carry improvement yet further, therefore it is thought that a few suggestions, put forward by one who is a constant user of London buses,. would not be unwelcome. When public-service vehicles were first provided, the idea held by those responsible for the services was that they would be used only on short journeys by
people who wished to save time on business errands or in going to and from their business. The development of a travel habit was certainly not visualized at first. Later, it became evident that the public were using the buses and trains and cabs on apparently less important errands, merely because of the saving of time and fatigue effected by such use and, later still, as the vehicles were improved, provided greater comfort and became speedier, it was seen that a vast revenue could be earned by catering for those who merely travelled on the vehicles for the pleasure which could be extracted therefrom.
The Attraction of Road Travel.
To-day, therefore, the bus with which alone are we concerned at the moment) is no longer looked upon as a means of travel for business purposes or for convenience only. The highway stands unrivalled for attractiveness. Bordering it on each side are life and interest ; architecture, history, art, commerce and industry all share in providing food for thought at every yard of the journey. Because the railway can never vie with the roadway in these matters, travellers would always prefer to use the bus over a journey of short or moderate length, even when to do so would involve a greater expenditure of time.
The limit to this type of use would be about 12 miles, and it is with the idea that this limit could be extended and the bus be made even more popular for long-distance travel than it is at present that the suggestions herein contained will be put forward, whilst we feel sure that the average bus traveller—the regu
1338 Jar passenger who makes from two to six short journeys per day would appreciate the adoption of some of the suggestions.
Take the question of seats first of all. These seem to be set too high to be comfortable. People of average height, 5 ft. 8 ins. or 5 ft. 9' find that they, cannot touch the ground with their feet if they sit back on the seat, particularly in the case of the seats placed over the wheel arches. It must be borne in mind that women, who form at least one half of the number of passengers. are usually shorter in the leg than men, and they find these high seats to be rather uncomfortable. In some of the newest bodies the seats over the wheel arches have to go unprovided with springs or stuffing (we heard one passenger aver that they were "stuffed with iron ") because of the small amount of clearance. We would like to see a series of experiments conducted in order to reduce the lift of the wheel and to secure room for the employment of stuffing in these seat cushions. Most of the seats on the top deck are far from comfortable, and produce a feeling of weariness when occupied for a long time. We fully recognize that seats on the outside, which are exposed to the weather, cannot be provided with cushions, but the curves of both seat and back might be made to conform more nearly to the anatomy of the average person than they do at present.
Small Details which Irritate.
There are many little irritations caused by want of attention to detail which might easily be avoided. On a few of the top seats, when sitting close to the " decency" or advertising board, one finds a vertical piece of angle iron with its sharp edge so placed that it comes in constant contact with the side of one's knee-joint. On other seats the angle iron just. catches the elbow. Could this not be replaced by a special section of channel steel as shown in one of our illustrations 7 The outer form of the stay would then not irritate the passenger compelled to sit beside it. The wood battens at the back of the advertisement boards also usually have sharp edges.
In some designs of body the walls seem to be unnecessarily thick. With the modern seating, there is none too much room as regards width, so if one maker can turn out a satisfactory body with only thin walls it should be possible for others to do likewise. To make the seat for the person nearest the window more comfortable, would it not be possible to dispense with the bead on the waist rail, shown in another of our illustrations. This bead digs into one's ribs, and makes riding quite unpleasant after a time. We
know of a case where a passenger was seriously injured by this bead when a bus had a slight sideways collision. If such a bead is necessary to hold the panel in place, could it not be made of thin, metal?
Better Ventilation is Desirable.
Although alterations have been made in the method of ventilating buses, we are not sure that such alterations are improvements in every case. The sloping panels or windows situated in the front wall, when open, allow a plentiful supply of air to enter, but it is in the nature of a draught, which, unless the weather is very warm, beeoines unpleasant. In some bodies a lower panel is provided, hinged at the top, so that the drauglit blows directly on the laps of those passengers who are unfortunate enough to occupy the front centre seats. The result of this is that only on really hot days will one find the ventilators open, consequently for the greater part of the year the passengers have to endure a very unhealthy atmosphere. Ventilation should not be in the form of a blast of air introduced at one spot, but should be more in the form of extraction of the foul air at the highest part of the place to be ventilated. If this be carried out, fresh air will enter from a number of small openings, and by this arrangement no direct draught can be felt. We have never found any inconvenience from either stuffiness or draughts, when riding in even the most crowded tramcar, where ventilation is effected by a supply of fresh air and extraction of vitiated air just below the ceiling. Could this plan not be adopted on buses ?
The Need for Cover to the Top Deck.
That the usefulness of the bus for all weathers would be greatly increased by the introduction of covered-in tops, few will deny. Some satisfactory solution of the problem is some day certain to be introduced, and the sooner the better. That coveredin tops are not impossible with tramcars we all know, even tn. the case of the cars with a narrow gauge as used in the north of England. We have ridden in buses with covered-in tops in the exposed districts of the estuary of the Mersey, where gales are strong and frequent. It would be intezestmg to hear what is the real reason why the protection of the outside passengers should be so long delayed. We believe the bus proprietors themselves are fully prepared to experiment with covered-in upper decks if official sanction be given to the innovation.
None of the suggestions put forward in this article is impracticable or likely to add to cost of construction or maintenance (the upper deck cover excepted, naturally), but every one would help in making the buses more popular,