Utility Motors in France.
Page 13
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"Petits Poids Lourds."
Economy in fuel will play a predomi nating r6le in the small commercial vehicle competition to be held in the neighbourhood of Paris from the 1st to loth October. Further interest is added to the test by reason of the diversity of fuels imposed, the regulations stipulating petrol at 68o degrees for the first day; Lepretre's white spirit for the second and third days ; 50 per cent. carhuretted alcohol for the fourth and fifth days; benzol for the two following days; and leaving the choice of fuel to the competitors for the last day. When first announced, benzol did not figure in the imposed list of fuels, certain constructors having objected that it could not be employed without a change of carburetter. Since then, the organisers appear to have discovered that some of the Paris omnibuses, which formerly used carburetted alcohol, are now using benzol, and, in view of their success, have decided to incorporate this fuel in the competition.
This wide range of fuels is particularly valuable for local conditions, the town duties of Paris making petrol less economical than some of the lesser-used fuels. In spite of the success of the alcohol motors of the General Omnibus Company, none of the cab companies have, solar as I have been able to ascertain, abandoned petrol for alcohol or benzol. In the competition, the fuel will be calculated on a price basis, the T x C formula being in which T is the P x D
duration of the journey in hours, C the fuel consumed in francs, P the useful load carried in kilogrammes, and I) the distance covered• in kilometres.
It has been decided to hold the competition op various circular routes around Paris, the exact itineraries to be announced later. On the est October, the, weighing-in and verification will take place, and on the eight following days the vehicles will have to make daily journeys varying from 6o to too miles at average speeds of from 5 to 18 miles an hour, according. to class. Regularity of running will be enforced by the establishment of numerous controls on each stage, it being impossible to make up on a later stage time lost on
a previous one. Disqualification will follow any failure to make a day's journey on time. At the end of each journey, and after checking into the parking station, one hour will be allowed for cleaning, lubricating, and filling of tanks, the operation to be performed under the supervision of a committee man. All other attentions to the car must be done during the running time, the park only being opened to each driver at his regulation starting time.
In amplification of last week's note, the classes provided for are : three for the passenger-carrying vehicles; and four for the light delivery vans. In the former category are : six-passenger hotel omnibuses ; four-seated taxicabs; and small twO-passenger taxicabs without provision for baggage. The deli very vehicles are divided into ; motorcycles ; closed vans carrying not less than 200 kilos. useful load; vans carrying 201 to boo kilos, load; and heavier vehicles carrying up to 1,200 kilos. In each case, a minimum area is imposed for the interior of the van. For the taxicabs, the dimensions must be those imposed by the city authorities, and the" usual accessories must be carried.
The Taxicab Situation in Paris.
That all is not well, with the companies which have, for the past few years, been operating taxicabs in Paris, would appear from the general tone of an interesting and comprehensive com munication which has recently been made to the Institute of Civil Engineers of France by M. Lucien Perisse. To avoid the possibility of a repetition, on this side of the Channel, of the unsatisfactory state of affairs which exists in the French Metropolis, it will therefore be well for those who are interested in the evolution of taxicab traffic in England—and especially in London —to assimilate some of the data and proposals which arc contained in M. Perisse's report.
A careful estimate was made, on the 3oth April last, of the average number of vehicles of all class:es using the streets of Paris daily. It was computed that, approximately, the total was 98,000, and of .t,is number, 12,000 were estimated us being privatelyowned motorcars, 3,500 were classified as livery or hackney automobiles, whilst 12,000 appear to have been horse-drawn cabs and hired flys ; the balance was made up of private carriages, two and four-wheeled carts and vans, market and carriers' vehicles, and wagons belonging to the municipality of Paris. These figures were compiled by M. Perisse, to emphasise, by their magnitude, the urgent necessity of a modification, by means of the automobile, of the methods of transport in crowded thoroughfares.
" The motoreab has, therefore, become a necessity in Paris, but it exists under very precarious conditions." We are told that, in Paris, owners of taxicabs have not secured the number of passengers that they hoped for ; that their takings have been insufficient; and that the operating companies seem to be overburdened by the cost of upkeep and repairs. Far from ousting its rival— the horse-drawn fictere—the taxicab in Paris seems to be securing a comparatively small proportion of the traffic. Some interesting comparisons are given between the two types of vehicle.
" The increase of motorcabs has not been accompanied by a corresponding decrease in the number of horse-drawn
vehicles. This is, in large measure, due to the higher tariff under which the motor vehicle plies; the middle classes do not, therefore, patronise them to any large extent. . . . As for the rich clientMe, it still shows a preference for the ,carriage which may be hired' ,frOM a livery stable. The result is as fol
lows : for every fourteen fares that are counted daily as being carried by the horse-drawn cab, eight or nine only can be reckoned upon for each motorcab. There is, of course, some compensation in the larger number of miles covered by the automobile."
" It must be remembered, however, that the older style of vehicle costs no
thing—or next to nothing—in' mileage upkeep, whilst the motor vehicle is running up its expenses, at no mean rate, all the time it is on the move."
" In order to popularise the rnotorcab and to assist in its development, it is of primary importance to accustom the public to its use. It is of no less importance to reduce the running ex penses, under the following heads : the cost of upkeep and replacement of the pneumatic tires ; the cost of lubricants and fuel; the daily cost of undertaking large repairs ; the cost of making good the damage due to accidents ; the high depreciation charge which is at present deemed necessary."
The difficulty of fixing an equiiable figure for the depreciation of motorcabs is dwelt upon at some length, and M. Perisse considers that the full purchase price of the chassis should be written off in seven or eight years, and that the bodywork should be similarly provided for in three or four years. With regard to the purchase price of motorcabs, the author is of opinion that this will diminish considerably in the future, in accordance with mechanical improvements in the factories. The price of a chassis is actually, nowadays, from 7 to 8 francs per kilogramme; this is very high when compared with the cost of a locomotive, taking into full account the respective weights of the machines.
" Lastly, both the speed and the weight of the machines muSt be reduced. If a maximum speed limit Of 35 kilometres an hour were allowed in Paris, accidents would be much rarer than they are at present. Some relief in the Matter of weight may be looked for, by the employment of tubular frames and air-cooled motors, and by simpler construction of the coachwork." " A carriage body made in one piece, of aluminium, opens out a new horizon," says M. Perisse. We are inclined to agree with him.
As a final suggestion, the author states the necessity of distinguishing, very clearly, vehicles intended for urban use only from those which may on occasion be used for excursions and
trips into the country. Attention is drawn to the various directions in which mechanical improvements may be expected to develop : electric transmission ; gears which are always in mesh ; and more efficient lubrication. With regard to the nuisance of exhaust smoke, the following quotation from the report displays a quaint humour—
On devrait considerer que la furnee est un residu intermittent, mais, helas I oblig-atoire arm merne titre que celui qui resulte de la circulation hippomobile, et .qui _West .pas ,non plus sans inconvenients."