FORTY-ONE TOWNS ADOPT THE SIDECAR TAXI.
Page 9
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
The Rapid Development of an Important Movement Towards Cheap Urban Passenger Transport.,
WHEN WE surveyed the position occupied by the . sidecar taxi in March last we were able to show that, in a little over two years (for it was in December, 1920, that the first motorcycle taxi was licensed and commenced to ply for hire on the streets of Birmingham), the authorities of 32 towns had expressed their willingness to license such vehicles as hackney carriages if approached with that end in view. At the present day that number has been increased to 41, including Batley, Bedford, Bexhill-onSea, Bingley, Birkenhead, Birmingham, Bournemouth' Bradford, Brighton, Bristol, Cambridge, Cardiff, Chatham, Cheltenham, Coventry, Derby' Eastbourne, Exeter, Guildford, Irarrogate, Hastings, Kidderminster, Leamington, Leeds, Luton, Middlesbro', Newcastleon-Tyne, Northampton, Nuneaton, Oxford, Portsmouth, Painsgate, Reading, Rednall, Salford. Southampton, Southport, Swansea, Taunton, gorquay and yarmouth. This list of towns which, in many cases in the face of considerable opposition from local interests, have accepted the sidecar taxi as a useful contribution towards the solution of the problem of rapid and convenient passenger transport is most encouraging.
In London. the police authorities hold that the sidecar taxi is not suitable for the traffic, one objection probably being the absence of the ability to reverse. In Birmingham, a set of special regulations has been prepared, and these have formed the model for the regulations of a large number of the towns already named.
The average mileage of a sidecar taxi is, we find, about 10,000 to 11,000 per annum, or 200 miles per week. A weekly distance of 250 miles would he
considered rather high. The running costs for petrol, oil and tyres work out at lAd. per mile, whilst maintenance and repairs will average id. per mile. Licences, insurance,, interest, rent and rates are small in their effect, as the
licence costs £4 per annum, the driver's licence 5s., rent, with washing, 5s. per week, and -insurance £15 per annum for a comprehensive policy covering claims by passengers. As to wages, the sidecar taxi ,is invariably run by the owner, who, as he develops his business, will then buy a, second or even is third machine, and employ extra drivers. Occasionally two men will run a machine in shifts but there is less of that done now than, at the start of the movement. The busy hours are in. the morning and evening, so that the afternoon rests help the ewner-driver very considerably.
The average takings are from £9 to £11 per week, the fare generally approved being either Is. for the first mile, and ,_2d. per subsequent quarter mile, although the new Birmingham scale of 10d. per mile Nd. per quarter mile after the first. mile) is gaining approval. Much of the traffic is for distances of less than a mile, and the all-round payment of is. is easily and readily paid. In Birmingham the four-wheel taxi fares are 59 per
cent, higher than those charged for the sidecar taxis.
Much of the work of development of this type of vehicle has been done by the County Cycle and. Motor Co., Ltd., of 300 and 301, Broad Street, Birmingham. The motorcycles are made to their
requirements by the B.S.A. Co., and considerable reductions in weight have been effected. Certain fittings, such as the carrier and stand, the pannier bags, etc., have been regarded as superfluous, and the body is now made of metal panels. Grease-gun.. lubrication is general -throughout the vehicle, and much has been done to make the machine weatherproof. The effect of these alterations, which were included in the new models shown at Olympia a month ago, has been materially to.reduce first costs. It has been demonstrated to us that the sidecar taxi, with full load, can easily be steered without hands, the weight, being well over the back axle and the balance all round being so good. The full load includes a hundredweight of luggage in addition to two passengers.