MINIBUSES TO EASE CITY TRAFFIC CONGESTION ?
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AFREQUENT service of gaily striped minibuses has been operating in downtown Washington, D.C., since last November, in an experiment to ease traffic congestion. The experiment is backed by the Federal Government, private business, the local transit company, the District of Columbia Government and the Washington Area Transit Commission, and 14 minibuses are operating around a 12-block loop in the downtown area on a two-minute frequency.
The trial was introduced for a period of one year, and the backers estimated that the buses would carry a total of 900,000 passengers during this time, However, the 100,000th passenger was carried only a month after the programme started, and the 1,000,000th customer was ceremoniously honoured at the end of seven months. The minibus route connects the most widely separated department stores in downtown Washington, passing all the others in between, and the ride costs 5 cents—about 4d.
The programme has been a co-operative effort from the outset, but after the plan had been thoroughly studied and the required type of vehicle determined a snag was encountered. There was no such bus on the market and it seemed that no one was particularly interested in producing one. One of the searchers, however, saw some small buses at the Los Angeles Airport, and the manufacturer, Passenger Truck Equipment Company, of Huntington Park. California, was contacted and agreed to make a 14-bus fleet to a special design.
Only slightly longer than a luxury car, the minibus rides on what are claimed to be the smallest bus tyres in the world— Goodyear 6.50-10 equipment, commonly used on fork-lift trucks, being employed. The bus is fitted with large doors for the benefit of shoppers carrying large packages, and bench-type seats around the sides and rear seat 18 passengers.