The Institute of Transport Congress
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• R4sumes of Three Important Papers Submitted for Discussion on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday at the Birmingham Congress of the Institute of Transport
Municipal Passenger Transport
By A. C. Baker, A.M.LE.E., M.Inst.T.,
General Manager, Birmingham Corporation Transport Department
THE author commenees his paper with a brief review of municipal-transport history, which may be said to date from 1870. During the preceding years several companies endeavoured to promote tramway schemes within the boundaries of certain municipalities. The latter objected to these proposals and induced the Government to bring in the Tramway Bill of 1870, the resulting Act constituting the legislative basis of the tramway system.
It provided that Provisional Orders authorizing the construction of tramways might be obtained by : (1) the local authority; (2) any persons or company with the consent of the local authority.
It soon became clear that the policy of those authorities which had constructed tramways and afterwards leased them upon terms which repaid the capital outlay was a wise one, as when the leases fell in there was no cost, whereas in other cases the companies had to be bought Out.
The actual operation of tramways by municipalities commenced in 1894. Glasgow being one of the first large towns to introduce them.
So long ago as 1905 a few buses were being operated by companies, and opponents of tramways were already seeing their doom and the cars being sold for such base uses as sports pavilions and hen roosts. There was no general use of buses by municipalities until about 1911, when certain local authorities exercised powers under local Acts to use buses to extend tramway routes.
Trolleybuses Introduced in 1910.
The trolleybus was introduced to this country in 1910, short sections being put into operation in Leeds and Bradford.
From their inception, municipal-transport undertakings had enjoyed a monopoly. Soon after the war, however, bus services by private operators began to affect the revenues, and in Glasgow it was estimated that no fewer than SOO private buses were competing with the corporation tramways. To meet this competition, various expedients were resorted to, tow fares were charged, the speed of trams increased by fitting. more powerful motors, and the vehicles made more attractive. In addition, some towns instituted their own bus services.
Until 1920 it had been possible for the road authority, which, in many cases, was also the tramway authority, to control, in some measure, private operators who sought to ply for hire over their highways. The whole situation, however, was altered by the passing of the Road Act, 1.920, which largely removed this protection, and competition became more intense, so-called pirate buses being placed on routes at the peak-traffic hours. So serious had the situation become that the Municipal Tramway and Transport Association in 1926 introduced a private member's Bill in the House of Commons, This was defeated by a margin of five votes.
In 1928 the railways obtained powers to operate road passenger services, but protection was afforded to municipal services within the municipalities' boundaries. A few small municipalities abandoned their tramways, mainly becatise of the cost of track reconstruction.
The improvement in the bus and trolleybus after the
war was extraordinary, but it was not until the advent of the covered top that they could seriously be considered as a substitute for trams. The first top-covered bus was put into service in Birmingham in July, 1924. It was Constructed in the Corporation's workshops. It had previously been stated that the bus could not do the work of a tram on, an industrial route and for football matches. With the covered double-decker, experience soon proved this to be fallacious. On the Birmingham Inner Circle bus route, for instance, there is a dense traffic, more than on many tram routes, and buses do the work exceedingly well. Not only could they be parked in side streets close to football grounds, but they could be run direct from various parts of the city. •
Housing Estates Present New Problems.
The development of housing estates presented municipal undertakings with difficulties never previously experienced. As near sites became exhausted it was necessary to seek land at a distance from the centre, and the transport difficulties increased accordingly. In no town are the difficulties greater than in Birmingham. The residents of such estates are generally employed in local industries and have been moved from congested areas. They can ill ailard any increase in travelling expenses, and in some of the larger towns concessions have had to be made, so that earnings do little more than cover operating expenses and are insufficient to meet capital charges.
The most serious . factor, however, is the effect on the trams. The number of short-distance riders—the mainstay of trams—has been greatly reduced, whilst bus services instituted to the estates run over the tramways for a considerable portion of their journeys, and of necessity compete with them. The author is of the opinion that, in such circumstances, in the majority of towns these tramway routes will be abandoned, but there will still remain a number of routes which can profitably be reconstructed and retained until at least the bulk of the tramway capital is liquidated.
In Birmingham the results obtained by early experiments with oilers were so satisfactory that there could be no question of a considerable reduction in operating expenses as compared with petrol vehicles. The only doubt was that there might be a complaint from the public with regard to the change in the smell of the gases. To test this aspect, Birmingham transport committee put into service 40 vehicles on routes traversing a residential district, but not a single complaint of smell was received, and within the past two years 386 buses with oil engines have been placed into regular service, their operation proving entirely satisfactory.
Many Operators of Trolleybuses.
There has been considerable development with trolleybuses, which, -at present, are operated by 26 local authOrities and five companies in addition, to London Transport, whilst 23 other loCal authorities have the necessary powers not yet exercised. Disregarding the cost of fuel, the cost of operation of the trolleybus and motorbus, with vehicles of comparable site on a given route, should be about the same, and until the advent of the oil engine tbe total cost was generally in favour of the trolleybus. At present prices of oil fuel, however, traction current would have to he supplied at less than one half-penny per unit to make the trolleybus an economical proposition.
Compared with the oiler, the trolleybus is more silent in operation and has better acceleration, but not the mobility of the motorbus, and it is slower when negotiating junctions and curves. A factor in favour of the trolleybus is the use of a home-produced fuel, but there would appear to be a distinct possibility of a considerable increase in the production of home-produced oil fuel.
In some towns it has been suggested that public-service vehicles should be excluded from the central streets. It should not be overlooked, however, that mass transporta
tion is a vital public necessity. Disregarding publicservice vehicles, the largest proportion of traffic in the central streets consists of private cars, the number used
for commercial purposes and by travellers, etc., being comparatively small, Any benefit derived by excluding publicservice vehicles would be mainly by the motorist, The author is of the opinion that congestion in the central streets could be much decreased by the institution of one-way traffic, so that the direct crossing of traffic is eliminated so far as possible, and by prohibiting the parking of cars within 30 ft. of the intersection of kerb lines.
The view has been expressed that municipal passenger transport undertakings as such will disappear, and that mergers will be formed controlled by boards or joint committees. The author does not hold with this view in its entirety. He believes that a case can be made out that the public in many areas can equally well be served by co-ordination and co-operation between neighbouring transport authorities, whether they be municipal or company. The Midlands may be taken as a successful example.