RUNNING BUSES AND COACHES IN THE MIDLANDS.
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The 1923 Programme of the Company Who Run the "Midland Red" Motorbuses and Motor Coaches.
0 NE of the familiar objects of the highways of the Midlands nowadays ie the Midland "Red" bus, and from the following description of the present and proposed activities of the Birmingham and Midland Motor Omni
bus Co., Ltd., there is every likelihood of our seeing even more " Reds " on the roads this summer.
From Whitsuntide until the end of September practically a daily service will be run to both Llandudno and Weston-super-Mare, and, including the district traversed by these routes, 22 counties in all are covered by the various services. Recent developments an
the Leicester area, have resulted in several new bus routes being opened up In addition to the existing routes from Burton and Coalville, -Nuneaton, and Coventry to Leicester, a through service between Leicester and Loughborough is now run in conjunction, with the Trent Motor Traction Co. Mr, 0. C. Power, the traffic manager of the Birmingham and Midland Motor Omnibus Co., Ltd.,
having recently joined the board of the Trent Co., this through service is renderedfeasible, and henceforward passengers -will be able to travel between the tire places named without any delays or need for changing.
• --Other new bus routes radiating from Leicester lead to. Melton Mowbray and Oakham, 'Uppingham, and Market Harborough, whilst various local services to Wigsten, Oadby, etc., have been added, The area covered by the Midland buses extends' from Leicester as far south as _Buckingham and Bicester, across to Tewkesbury and Hereford, and north as 'far as Oswestry and Whitchurch, practically the whole of the intervening country being intersected by the various routes. Thus, it will he seen that almost the -entire North, East, South, and West Midlands are embraced in the activities of this go-ahead concern.
During last year the route mileage— that is, the total length of all the roads over which the bus services ran—was 2,120 miles. This does not include any overlapping, and no portion of road is counted more than once.; a. good idea of the extent of the many services is thus given, and further evidence is afforded by the fact that, to put it in round figures, about 7,000,000 miles were covered by the buses and 25,000,000 passengers were earr'ed.
Of the 250 buses in operation to-day the majority are . of Tilliug-Stevens make. Thirty of these are doubledeckers of recent design, and the remainder are of the single-dez.k type. le addition to the Tilling-Stevena, 12 small pneumatic-tyred Garfords, seating 20 and 24 passengers, are in operation for country services, the idea being that. their short wheelbase and general handiness make them more SUStable for the narrow country lanes. So far as motor coaches are concerned, they have at present 30 TillingStevens with seating capacities ranging from 21 to 32, and 12 18-seater Garferds equipped with pneumatics, together with two or three other small coaches with lesser seating capacity. In addition to these motor coaches and buses at present in service, 20 new buses and 12 new coaches are on order, for delivery between Easter and Whitsuntide.
An extensive programme has been arranged for tours and motor coach trips for 1923. At each garage or. substation (of which there are 15, located at various towns and centres on the routes covered by the bases), and at the main Birmingham depot at Bearwoodi will be kept up-to-date motor coaches available for touring parties and for pleasure trips generally, whilst an. extra number will be suppled to the garages at Leamington, Droitwich, Worcester, and Leicester, where the summer traffic is always heavy.
Actually, this scheme is augmented and extended by the system of appointing agents in numerous centres. During the last 12 months several hundred such agents, who in many instances are small garage proprietors, owning perhaps two or three coaches, have been appointed. These men, rather than take any risks by accepting orders for parties beyond their capacity, or hiring additional vehicles to help them out on a busy day, prefer to,pass on their inquiries or orders to the large owner on an agency basis. So many have been-let down in the past, through being unable to hire extra vehicles to cope with an unusually heavy demand, that this method of giving the 'order to a large concern is both advantageous to the small owner and to the paasenger by ensuring accommodation.
-During the winter all The motor coaches have been repainted and renovated, whilst the chassis have been thoroughly overhauled. It is an . undoubted fact that -greater pleasure,: is. always derived from FL tour when one has the knowledge that the vehicle in which one is riding is smart and fresh, 'hence anew coat of paint makes all the world of difference.