WHITE COLLAR PASSENGERS create Chester's peak traffic patterns
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By Ashley Taylor
Assoc. Inst. T
IN the ancient but intensely busy city of Chester, traffic conditions necessitate choosing " horses for courses which is one reason why the orthodox Guy. doubledecker is the basic unit in the corporation transport fleet. Narrow• streets with, at many times, thronging traffic, mean that there is little room to maraeuvre, a fact which militates against the use of vehicles with long overhang and correspondingly wide end-sweep. Unlike most other cities, Chester's worst congestion may well arise at the week-ends when tourist traffic is at its height and crowds are making their way to the North Wales resorts.
When he hears . operators talking of congestion in industrial areas, Mr. H. J. Flooley, the general manager, has a wry laugh as Chester's problems in this connection are severe and difficult of prediction. An extreme example he can quote is that of the bus which sonic months ago
arrived at the city centre 1 hr. 50 min. after leaving a terminus only 217 miles away.
The undertaking is unusual in having a brief morning peak and much less pressure in the evening, the outcome of this situation being the retention of some vehicles which carry out but a minute daily mileage. Partly because of this position, the total annual vehicle mileage is on the low side.
If one traces the ordinary weekday employment of Chester's 50 vehicles, one sees a pattern created by a population with employment largely in offices and shops rather than in factories. Inevitably the thought comes to mind that shortening of working hours generally must in the future mould quite a proportion of other undertakings into much the same pattern. Outstanding stages on the weekday operating graph start at 6.30 a.m., when there are 10 buses.on the road. this figure rising to 21 at 7 a.m., 26 at
7.30 a.m. and 39 at 8 a.m., the peak of 45 being reached at 8.30 a.m.
From that point the capacity required falls to 13 units at 9.30 a.m., 20-22 at 10 a.m. and rises to 37 at 5 p.m., prior to a fall to 19 for the basic evening requirements. With both offices and shops starting work at approximately 9 a.m. and schools between 9 a.m. and 9.15 a.m., it will be seen that the pressure is greater then than at any other time in the day. During the evening the load is better spread, as workers in offices are leaving mainly between 5 p.m. and 5.30 p.m., whilst the tendency is for the shops to close from 5.30 p.m. onwards. Normally the 45 vehicles on the road at the busiest time comprise 43 double-deckers and two single-deckers, there thus being five units spare, including those on maintenance.
Mr. Hooley came to the city some nine years ago, immediately before that having been deputy general manager at Bolton. An examination of the Chester department's work revealed that useful mileage economies might be achieved, and in 1956 Mr. Hooley started to cut back the operations from a stage where they represented 1,374,000 miles annually to a situation where the yearly total was 1,264,000. This pruning was achievec without any great deal of dis. ruption, it being done largely b3 a re-linking of services and E reduction in the number of buse running down the busy mair street of the city. The carefu' trimming of wasteful running undoubtedly saved the neces. sity for a fares increase around that period. Over the pas1 10 years only five increases have been granted to Chester, a total that compares favourably with many similarl) situated undertakings. The last was in November, 1962 but recent wage awards must certainly necessitate thoughi being given to a possible fares revision some time in du fairly near future.
Bus Life Extended
When new vehicles became available in the post-wa period the undertaking's policy was to purchase six buse. a year, an arrangement that by 1955 left the corporatiot with a substantial proportion of reasonably modern 56-61 seat double-deckers. As the vehicle mileages were on tiv
ow side Mr. Henley then proposed working on the basis an 18-year bus life or a purchasing programme of three sew units annually. The process of equalizing the replace/tent sequence made it possible te suspend further purchases between March 1957 and July 1961. At the latter stage Chester went over from 60-seaters to 73-seaters ;o that the necessary working capacity was maintained with a. relatively smaller number of buses.
Good Economies Achieved The fleet includes 38 Guy Arabs, eight Fodens, three A.E.C. Regals and a Daimler. In 44 cases the bodies are by Massey Brothers. During his tenure of office Mr. Hooley has brought into the department a considerable amount of work that was formerly left to outside specialists. Woodworking machinery, a guillotine and vehicle lifts have been added to the equipment and now on the maintenance side operations are very largely self-sufficient. Careful attention has been paid to the service arrangements for fuel pumps and it is interesting to observe that whereas the average consumption in 1955 was 9.4 m.p.g., this figure has now risen to more than 10 m.p.g., although considerably larger vehicles are in use. A close watch is kept on the performance of the Gardner engines and, subject to their achieving satisfactory results, they are allowed to continue without dismantling. In these circumstances various units have covered upwards of 350,000 miles without overhaul.
The predecessor of the Chester Corporation transport department was the Chester Tramways Co. Ltd., which started operations in 1879 and was taken over by the corporation in 1902. "lite trams were operated until 1930 when, having obtained 'powers to work
within 3+ miles of the city centre, the , department went over to Motor buses, the first fleet consist; lig of five A.E.C. Regent double-deckers and 10 Regal single deckers.
Steady Expansion With the extension of residential development on the outskirts of the city the undertaking's operations have been extended in various directions and the route mileage is now 36.72. Some 15 million passengers per year are carried and the Chester fleet runs a total of about 1.-}-miltion miles annually.
Chester is in the fortunate position of having its bus depot within 100 yards of the main station and less than a quarter of a mile from the city centre. The site is that of the stables, offices, boardroom and manager's house of the old tramway company. The house was occupied by the various managers until about 1951, and within living memory the building was backed by lawns and orchards. Demand for more accommodation for the vehicles necessitated drastic alterations a few years ago and buses now run over the spot where successive chief officials and their families dined.