PASSENGER TRAVEL NEWS.
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The Latest Doings and Developments in the Bus and Coach World.
MUNICIPAL BUSES AT BLACKPOOL.
Some Details of the Passenger Transport Activities of the Corporation in a Popular Seaside Resort.
IN the sphere of motorbus operation the town of Blackpool presents some pecculiar problems. The area of the town covers a strip of coast six miles in length and about one mile in depth, and the tramway track runs from end to end, with certain subsidiary sections. In consequence the motorbus services operated by the corporation serve cornparatively short routes. The normal population of the town is about 100,000, but, in the height of the summer season, visitors, on a conservative estimate, easily account for an additional 150,000.
Does this expansion in the population bear any relation to the increase in seasonal motorbus traffic?" queried a representative of The Commercial Motor in a re-cent interview with Mr. Lancaster, the traffic superintendent.
Only very slightly," he replied. "The only relation that is established is between the number of the visiting population and the promenade tramway service, which has frequently been called upon to transport passengers from the South Shore end of the servire at the rate of 9,000 per hour. Otherwise the increased motorbus traffic in the summer time bears only a comparison with the normal increase on the town tramway services, as distinct from those which use the promenades."
At the time ot our interview the motorbus resource F of the corporation had not been brought up to full strength, the delivery of several machines being awaited. But within a few weeks from now the corporation will have on the road a fleet of 88 machines. The corporation's first venture into the sphere of motorbus operation was in 1921-22, when it purchased two Tilling-Stevens 20-seater saloons to work on the Cleveley-Thornton route. Since that time developments have been on a regulaand decidedly progressive scale.
The following is an analysis of the corporation bus fleet at full strength :— Twenty Tilling-Stevens (19 being singledecker saloons seating 20 and 28 passengers respectivelT, and the other a 50seater double-decker) ; six Leylands of the Lioness type ; four 24-seater S.D. Freighter runabouts; a 14-seater Vulcan and seven other Leyla.nds," the lastnamed having been acquired by the corporation from Messrs. William Smith, who ran services to Poulton, Great Marton, Canton, etc. comprising about 16 route miles. etc., the boundaries of Blackpool and the one or two outside routes run by the corporation the buses cover about 16 route miles, the services, including, duplicates, totalling eleven in all.
The longest bus journey on any one route is four miles, and the shortest of a length of onemile. At the present time the motorbuses are carrying about 100,000 passengers per week, and according to returns covering the four weeks ended Job 15th passengers car ried totalled 378,483 and fares received £1,846. From April is: to the middle of July the number of passengers carried on the buses was 1,074,587, the receipts being £4,844, mileage covered 125,857 and ths receipts per bus-mile 9id.
The busiest periods of the day for the buses are in the early morning, during the afternoons and after the theatres, late at night. The minimum bus fare
is ld. and the maximum 4d., fares, generally, being calculated on the basis of 1d. per mils.
. That there Le a useful and distinct sphere of employment for both the tramcar and the motorbus is the idea which commands sympathy in the Blackpool tramways department, and our attention was especially directed to the promenade traffic in the summer.
What other form of transport could clear 9,000 passengers in an hour from one spot, other than the tram?" asked Mr. Lancaster, challengingly. "Could motorbuses do it, even supposing the congestion of the promenade was not a consideration, which it is, and a very serious one, in these days of growing traffic?" It is in the summer time that the corporation vehicles have to obtain the revenue to cover the year's charges. The expression of a simple fact will probably help to place the position in a true perspective. In the winter, the minimum service on the promenade would be four trams, whilst in the summer the service would be maintained by 45 trams, three every
two minutes.
Blackpool. is one of those holiday resorts where the message to visitors is summed up in the phrase : •" The more
the merrier." The more holidaymakers and visitors there are the better is the patronage, not only of the corporation buses, but also of the coaches belonging to local owners. New services are under consideration of the tramways department, and will probably be in full swing before the height of the season is reached during the course of the present month.
The four S.D. Freighters have been specially acquired for the inauguration of a new passenger service on the outskirts of the new park, which has only recently been opened to the public. At the time of our visit to Blackpool only two of the Leyland Lioness buses were in service, and four others were expected in the immediate future.
The corporation has just inaugurated a system of numbering the bus routes. The route-number boxes will be erected on the top and in front of the vehicles to denote their destination. A standard type of box, which is interchangeable, will be employed. A new garage capable of holding 120 buses is now in the final stages of completion. It is constructed of steel with a zinc roof, and has a length of 250 ft. and a width of 150 ft. without a central pillar. It is built in four bays.