BRADFORD'S TRIPLE SYSTEM OF TRANSPORT.
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The Result of the Past Year's Working of the Municipal Trolley-buses, Motorbuses and Tramcars.
ONE of the oldest trolley-bus systems in this country is that maintained by Bradford Corporation, which actually opened its first railless section so long ago as June, 1911. At the end of March last nine trolley-bus routes were being worked, their total mileage being approximately 26, two tramway routes having during the previous 12 months been converted to trolley-bus operation..
The trolley-bus fleet of Bradford Corporatiou is a big one, and at the time that our analysis of municipal bus services was published in April last it comprised the fallowing machines :--440 English Electrics, 8 G'arretts, 7 A.E.C.s and 6 built in the shops of the tramways deparbnent. Some of the vehicles are double-saloon six-wheelers. During the year ended March last 23 new English Electric trolley-buses were ordered.
According to the report of the general manager (Mr. It. H. Wilkinson, Minst.T.) of the corporation's passenger-transport undertaking, which has
just been issued for the year ended March 31st last, the trolley-buses were operated at a gross profit of £4,382, income having amounted to £61,312 (£54,299 in the previous year) and expenditure to £56,931 (£51,551 a year earlier). The net revenue account shows that interest, sinking fund and other charges amounting to 111,680 had to be met.
So far as the motorbus system is concerned, revenue totalled £165,994 and expenditure amounted to £148,580, the gross surplus thus being £17,414. In this case interest and sinking fund charges aggregated £31,356. If the gross profit on the tramways be added to the surplus amounts on the trolleybus and motorbus systems, the total gross surplus amounts to £107,772. But a sum of £137,735 is charged against interest, sinking fund, income tax, rent of leased lines, etc. The items charged to the appropriation account amount to £59,861, which includes £10,000 absorbed for the relief of the city rate. After deducting the profit (£404) made on the working -of the parcels department, the balance of £59,457 has been met out of the res,erve or renewals account.
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At the end of the year under review the corporation was operating 90 petrol buses, consisting of 59 Leylands, 17 A.E.C.s and 14 Bristols, most of them being single-saloon vehicles. They are operating on 17 distinct routes with an aggregate mileage which amounted to over 55. The number of miles covered by the vehicles comprising each section of the passenger-transport system and the total passengers carried were as follow : Miles. Passenger, Trolley-buses ... 1,174,387 9,323,222
Motorbuses — 20,289,359
Tramcars ... 7,112,736 88,414,713
The average mileage covered per vehicle per day was 134 for trolleybuses and 117 for tramcars, no figure for motorbuses being available. The average speed for the different types of vehicle was 10.41 m.p.h. for motorbuseS, 9.85 m.p.h.' for trolley-buses, and 8.03 m.p.h. for tramcars.