Phases of Passenger Travel GUILDFORD TACKLES THE BUS-TRAFFIC PROBLEM.
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A Sub-committee, after Examining Arrangements in Windsor and Maidstone, Suggests the Provision of a Station.
A SUB-COMMITTEE of Guildford ti Watch Committee has reported on visits paid to Windsor and Maidstone to inquire into the arrangements made for the accommodation of buses, coaches and motorcars in these towns.
At Windsor an admirably arranged park provided for motorcars by the corporation was inspecte'd. The area is about 5,000 sq. yards and the cost of the construction was £4,911, not including the cost of the land. The buses enter the town from various directions, and stop only for sufficient time to discharge passengers and proceed to a part of the town where the traffic is not congested, and there await their departure times, then returning to the town to pick up passengers at the foot of Windsor Castle. The buses do not wait at the castle or in any busy thoroughfare longer than is necessary to pick up passengers.
At Maidstone the car park (180 ft. by 10(1 ft.) was, in the first place, provided by Maidstone Council, but it is now let on lease to a private firm, who control it on a similar plan to that adopted by the counciL The annual rental is 1200.
Provision for a bus station is made by Maidstone Council. The site already belonged to the council, and it was converted into a bus station (220 ft. by 50 ft.) by the local bus company, waiting places, parcels and ticket offices refreshment room and lavatories being provided by the company. There is only one bus company, the report explains, which is licensed to ply for hire within the Borough of Maidstone, in addition, that, is, to the trolley-buses owned by the corporation. The private buses on the inward journey are permitted to set down passengers at one place only on each route shortly after entering the borough. No other stopping place is permitted, and the vehicles proceed to the bus station to discharge the remainder of their passengers, the buses remaining at the station until the time
• of departure.
The municipal buses operate from one extreme end of the borough to the other and do not stop in any ,of the busy streets longer than is necessary to pick up or drop passengers. A minimum faro of 4d. is charged on the private buses for any journey within the borough. This fare exceeds that charged on the municipal buses.
By-laws regulating buses have been adopted by Maidstone Council. These by-laws provide that the proprietor, driver or conductor of a bus plying for hire shall not cause such bus to loiter in
any street or stop therein longer than is necessary for the picking up and setting down of persons at the time waiting to be taken up or set down ag the case may be, except on one of the stands or stopping points fixed by the by-laws. Further, that a driver of a bus plying for hire' and not being used to carry passengers for hire, shall station such bus on one of the fixed stands; Specified places are prescribed as points at which buses may stop a longer time than is necessary for the picking up and setting down of passengers. The Guildford sub-committee, having considered the matter, suggests that a bus station be provided for the borough at which all the buses coming into the town might arrive and from which they could depart This would partly relieve the traffic in several principal streets. In order to carry out the above suggestion, the sub-committee suggests to the watch committee the desirability of securing the present cattle market in Woodbridge Road for the purpose of a
station. If this plan were approved, the committee ventures to suggest that the station meadows already owned by the corporation might provide a suitable site for the market. The watch committee has decided to confer with the principal bus companies with regard to the proposals.