Why Croydon Wants Motorbuses.
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We Suggest a Few Possible Reasons for the Surrey Town's Present Discomfiture.
Last week we published a. short paragraph in which we drew attention to the fact that yet another tramway system belonging to the extensive outlying suburbs of Greater London is, like that of the L.C.C., seriously beginning to feel the effects of the competition of the more modern motorbus.
Pitiful indeed is the despairing appeal to the hitherto disregarded ratepayer, which is being made broadcast. in the district by poster, for the ratepayers to do their little best-to bolster up the system of tramways, with which they, like hundreds of thousands of others elsewhere, were saddled some years ago. The poster in question is reproduced below, as are also photographs of some of the frequent street happenings incidental to the system which it is desired to perpetuate. Croydon is learning its lesson more quickly than many other local authorities which are in even worse state; they are to ask for powers themselves to run motorbuses. The present intention is to operate them to some of the surrounding country resorts which are now being served, as occasion requires, by the L.G.O.C. and to some extent to meet competition which was never anticipated. This, however, is not. the only reason hy Croydon wants motorbuses. The serious limitations of rail
bound street traffic are now fortunately patent to all those who have been responsible for the maintenance of that class of transport in the borough. Local object lessons have indeed been plentiful. For instance, a vastly-expensive error of judgment resulted in the Laying of a fully-equipped tramway along Whitehorse Lane from Croydon to Thornton Heath. When it was ope,ned, nobody used it, and it was subsequently closed for several years, the track and overhead equipment remaining as a permanent and unfortunately-obvious memorial of local lack of foresight and precaution. Had such an error in the selection of a route been made by a motorbus company, it could have been remedied in one day without further cost.
Yet another object lesson. From Croydon to the Crystal Palace and to Penge much of the track is single, with the result that the services are so intermittent and so slow as to be almost a public scandal in these days of fast transport. We wonder if it will surprise the local authorities to be told that the traffic and engineering representatives of big London motorbus interests have just completed a careful survey of the Croydon to Penge route with a view to imminent developments in that direction and further,
Owing to the inelasticity of tramway servic::.., per se, Croydon finds it difficult to tackle any temporary rushes of internal traffic. The wild scenes of disorder, actually riotous at times, which ensue at such termini as West Croydon, when the occasional trains are asked to accommodate more than the usual quota of passengers, is a well-known local scandal ; much correspondence thereanent has appeared in the local Press, which is fully alive to the difficulties. Personal injury is a not infrequent result of the inability to aeeelerate
the rail-bound tram system—to push one tram ahead of another.
We refer our readers to photographs reproduced on page 566. These represent some of the further reasons why Croydon's inhabitants are beginning to wonder why they should be saddled with a system which, in spite of virtual monopoly of track, is inelastic, exceptionally noisy, incapable of extension to local beauty spots, expensive to maintain, slow to operate and obstructive to every other road-user.
No wonder Croydon wants motorbuses So do many other authorities, but they have not the pluck to say so.