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Bus Carrying Capacities Too Rigid

14th May 1954, Page 58
14th May 1954
Page 58
Page 61
Page 58, 14th May 1954 — Bus Carrying Capacities Too Rigid
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Keywords : Bus, G, Transport

A LTHOUGH the peak-load problem ri was ever more pronounced, bus operators still used vehicles offering little elasticity in carrying capacity, said Mr. R. H. Addlesee, M.Inst.T., M.Inst.T.A., general manager, Wolverhampton Transport Department. Britain was the only country in which doubledeck city vehicles were predominant.

On the Continent and in America, single-deckers with high standing capacity were preferred, but he wondered whether narrow town streets in Britain could accommodate such designs. Was it really necessary to have one type for all phases of traffic or would it be better to have singledeck luxury coaches to encourage casual and off-peak traffic, supplemented by large-capacity austerity double-deckers at peak periods?

Average travelling time for the provincial town passenger was 10-15 minutes. Did such a passenger need almost long-distance coach comfort or could he be expected to stand? Some people maintained that 90 per cent. of municipal traffic arose from people's laziness and that most of them could well walk if they felt so inclined. A new design of vehicle, coupled with a new approach to the fares structure, could bring about fresh methods of fare collection, making one-man operation

more practicable, which in itself would reduce costs.

A large proportion of municipal mileage was being run through the increasingly congested town centres. Low average speeds there caused relatively high operating costs, as compared with inter-town services, and the " locking-up" of many vehicles in the central areas. If local services were excluded from town centres there would be ' some saving in vehicles and labour, but the function of a transport system was to convey people to the points they desired to reach. If passengers were deposited some distance away from these places local transport would cease to be a service and become merely a minor convenience_ Termination of city services in bus stations had been suggested. Apart from the problem of finding a site with suitable access roads, it was often almost impossible to locate a bus station so as to be really convenient for the majority of passengers. A series of small bus stations on the fringe of a central zone would increase the cost of supervision and might compel passengers to walk across town and possibly queue again for a second vehicle, Had every little housing estate the right to individual transport facilities? asked Mr. Addlesee. Estates of any size developed into self-contained communities with their own shopping centres, churches and cinemas. When this happened, off-peak traffic diminished, accentuating peak-load problems and further increasing operational costs. In the discussion, Mr. C. J. Parker suggested that, although fresh legislation might be needed, the use of passenger carrying trailers at peak periods should he investigated. Lord Merrivale thought that more lower-saloon space in double-deckers might be devoted to standing accommodation, with the upper saloon purely for seating. Mr. L C. Harrison referred to suggestions that transport should be provided from the rates and commented that some towns had recently, in effect, paid a transport rate and had not likedit. In his reply, Mr. Addlesee said that manufacturers and operators had evolved a vehicle of utility, but he wondered whether it might be better to adopt such a policy as " horses for courses."


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