Operating Aspects of
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PASSENGER TRANSPORT
GLASGOW WILL NOT HAVE TROLLEYBUSES
ON October 5 last, Glasgow Corporation, by 8 votes to 6, decided not to make an experiment with trolley
buses. The matter came before the transport committee in the form of a recommendation from a subcommittee on finance and works, which, by 6 votes to 4, favoured the experiment. References to the proposal were made, on October 6, at a luncheon following the annual inspection of the works of the transport department.
Sir John Stewart, Lord Provost of Glasgow, said he was satisfied that trams were the best form of transport for Glasgow, and Councillor P. J. DoIlan said, that when the present tram, has and underground services were both satisfactory and profitable, it was stupid to experiment with a service which might be unprofitable, He knew the views of members of the corporation; there would be no trolleybuses in Glasgow.
Mr. Herbert Ellison, regional secretary for the N.U.R., said that if trolleybuses were introduced, the transport of the city was taken out of the hands of the corporation and placed in the hands of the Traffic Commissioners.
Councillor William Reid, J.P., convener of the transport committee, said that revenue for the past year was 3,272,957. a record for any British municipal undertaking. Of this sum, 57 per cent, was handed back in wages. Since November, 1937, the wage bill had increased by £117,000.
It was recommended that the sum of £1,000,000 be spent on reconditioning, and the building of new vehicles.
40 DOUBLE-DECKERS FOR BIRKENHEAD.
I N connection with the proposed purchase of 40 double-deck buses, Birkenhead Corporation is seeking sanction to borrow £78,000. For additions to its Laird Street garage it Seeks to borrow 271,000.
DRIVERS' WAGE DISPUTE IN DUNDEE.
ON October 6 last Dundee Corporation rejected an application by the men's union that 28 employees of the transport department be granted an increase in wages. The men affected are those who transferred from conducting to driving at their own request, and whose rates of wages, at the moment, are Is. less than the maximum rate for conductors.
Supporting the increase, Bailie Gillespie stated that the anomaly arose as a result of the decision that conductors would reach their maximum at 21 years of age instead of 23 years.
E44 Treasurer Caldwell, moving that the increase be refused, said that the men voluntarily transferred to the driving for their own advantage, and when they reached the maximum rate of wages for drivers they would have 2s, more than conductors.
By 17 votes to 15 the motion for an increase was defeated.
THE TAXI DRIVER WHO GAVE NO SIGNAL.
APOINT concerning traffic signalling was raised in an action, at Pontefract County Court, last week, when the owner-driver of a taxicab claimed £100 damages, following a collision between his cab and a bus operated by the West Riding Automobile Co., Ltd.
The plaintiff, in evidence, said he did not signal his intention of turning to . the right at a road junction, as the bus was on the minor road and should have given way.
Giving judgment for the defendant company, with costs, Judge Essenhigh said that it was the duty of anyone turning to the right at a junction to indicate his intention, irrespective of major or minor roads. He held that the accident was entirely due to the plaintiff's negligence.
HALIFAX FAITHFUL TO A.E.C.
AA MONG recent orders received by the Associated Equipment Co., Ltd„ is one from Halifax Corporation for 36 Regent double-deekers, to be added to its 100 per cent. A.E.C. fleet. This is the 22nd repeat order the company has received from this municipality, and brings the total number of vehicles ordered during the past nine years to the impressive figure of 199.
BIRMINGHAM INSPECTS ITS TRANSPORT SYSTEM.
I N order to view the recent develop enents in connection with the city's transport undertakings, members of Birmingham Transport Committee, last week, made a six-hour tour of inspection of the city.
The new garage at Yardley Wood, which has taken a year to build and which will be opened in a month's time, was one of the first places to be visited, and the members of the committee were shown the new ticket audit system. For the complete return of the tickets issued, 200 girls are engaged in checking.
Speaking at a luncheon given to the members, Mr. A. C. Baker, general manager, stated that the Yardley Wood garage and Tyburn Road works were two of the finest buildings of their kind in the country. The garage had been built at a total cost of £89,370, of which £13,000 had been used in the steel work alone.
LONDON TRANSPORT'S 966 TROLLEYBUSES
ONE of the most extensive revisions of road-transport services yet undertaken by London Transport will begin on Sunday next, October 16. The districts affected will be Waltham Cross, Tottenham and Edmonton.
A further 77 trolleybuses will be
introduced, which will bring the total in use by the Board to 966, with an increased route mileage of 213. Four tram routes are to be withdrawn and either trolleybuses or motorbuses used. The Board points out that a change from trams to trolleybuses is a much more complex operation than might normally be supposed. The tram services must, in the public interest, be maintained up to the moment of conversion. Then. the dislocation, due to the partial adaptation of depots and the training of drivers, is considerable; for the complete Waltham CrossTottenham-Edmonton scheme no fewer than 270 drivers had to be trained.
ALL-NIGHT BUSES IN EDINBURGH.
A S from October 17, Edinburgh CortAporation is resuming the all-night bus services between the foot of Leith Walk and Morningside Station, and between Salisbury Place and Saughton Park.
SUNDERLAND POSTPONES SERVICE APPLICATION. THERE are hopes of a settlement 1 being reached between Sunderland Corporation and the Northern General Transport Co., Ltd., regarding the application of the former to run a service between Park Lane, Sunderland, and North Hylton. The service has, hitherto, been operated jointly by both undertakings. Sunderland Corporation's application was due to be heard by the Traffic Commissioners, at Sunderland last week, but was postponed.
PROPOSED BUS STATION A "GRAVE MISTAKE."
• IN connection with the proposed establishment of a bus station at Moor Lane, Bolton Corporation has met opposition from Bolton Chamber of Trade.
A deputation consisting of members of the executive council of the Chamber, was heard recently, and it referred to the proposal as a grave mistake. The honorary secretary of the Bolton and District Owner Occupiers' and Ratepayers' Association, forwarded a copy of the resolution, expressing disapproval of the scheme and urged that consideration of the matter be deferred until such times as an opportunity may have been given to the ratepayers to express their opinion.