BIRMINGHAM BREAKS EVEN despite steady passenger lecline
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LIVE and let the private motorist live, yet still pay your way to the extent of meeting the cost of fleet replacements out of revenue, is the refreshing approach to passenger traffic management evinced by Mr. W. G. Copestake, general manager of the City of Birmingham transport department.
He is battling with a loss of 23 per cent of 508 m. passengers, following a record peak 10 years ago when the fleet totalled nearly 1,800 vehicles, the majority purchased between 1947 and 1953 by means of loans to overcome the ravages of war and to meet the increased demand following the closure of the tramways. No more vehicles were bought until 1962, when the current policy, buy out of revenue, was adopted.
It is interesting to analyse how the budget has been balanced in Birmingham.
Expeditious routeing of the buses has been an important factor in coping with rising costs but also significant has been the use of rear-engined, front-entrance vehicles and workshop economies provided by improvements in the wearing life of power units and other mechanical components.
These Birmingham buses are of the ever-growing frontentrance, rear-engined type, because in 1960 the decision was taken to standardize on this design as the basic vehicle for the fleet. The policy followed trials on an AEC Bridgemaster rear-entrance 72-seater which indicated the increased revenue potential per bus-mile. At the same time the transport committee approved the use of drivercontrolled doors in the interests of passenger comfort and safety. Contrary to expectations the use of doors did not increase overall route times.
By limiting the number of seats to 72 and eliminating standing passengers, it was considered that, together with the advantages of a front entrance, the conductor's duties would be eased, thereby minimizing fare evasion.
Accordingly, a pilot scheme was inaugurated to compare the merits of Daimler Fleetline and Leyland Atlantean double-deckers, 11 Atlanteans and 10 Fleetlines being purchased for operation on identical routes. Tests over a period of two years showed that the Fleetlines, in which the Gardner 6LX engines are derated from 150 b.h.p. to 130 b.h.p., on average returned a better fuel consumption, amounting to some 3 per cent. This advantage, together with certain " specification merits ", resulted in 1962 in a bulk order being placed with Daimler.
Fleetlines operated by the undertaking now number well over 200 and a growth rate exceeding 100 a year will take
the total to 597 by the end of 1968.
Some 24 Fleetline 37-seat single-deckers were purchased a few months ago for one-man operation on feeder services, lightly loaded routes and on routes with low bridges. Tests have also been carried out on Ford and Bedford 45-seat single-deckers.
The increase of 14 per cent in the number of passengers carried by the Fleetlines has, on average, enabled the number of vehicles to be reduced by 9 per cent on the routes where they are used exclusively, this being a valuable economy. Fewer buses are therefore required for peak services and the frequency of off-peak services has been reduced over the years in the light of traffic censuses.
Apart from the Daimler Fleetlines and Leyland Atlanteans, vehicles in the existing fleet comprise 197 Leyland, 251 Crossley, 301 Guy and 645 Daimler 55-seat double-deckers and 34 Leyland single-deckers. Details of overall running costs include 5.25d. a mile for fuel oil; 0.3d. a mile lubricants; 7d. a mile repairs and maintenance; 0-75d. a mile tyres, and rather less than Id. a mile cleaning. Representing the largest single cost item, the wages of drivers and platform staff amount to more than 40 per cent of the total operating costs. The mileage of the fleet last year was 428rn.
Of outstanding importance in respect of maintenance schedules and costs is the fact that the average life of power units has increased over the past 10-15 years from 150,000 miles and is expected to approach 400,000 miles in the near future, this in the main being attributed to improvements in lubricant quality and the use of large engines.
The undertaking's replacement policy is [wised on a vehicle life of 15 years, and with the average yearly mileage per bus having decreased progressively to about 26,000, it is anticipated that the time is not too far distant when major overhauls can be eliminated from maintenance schedules.
Unnecessary Overhauls Avoided
Detailed records are iept of the consumption of fuel and lubricating oil and an overhaul is undertaken only when these records indicate the necessity for attention. Fuel pumps and injectors are, however, serviced at intervals shown to be necessary by variations in engine performance or in the light of experience. A Supplement 1 type of engine lubricant is employed, the additives being matched to service conditions in accordance with experimental results and related recommendations of the oil companies. Lubricants of SAE 5 and SAE 10 viscosity were tested experimentally over an extended period some years ago but, although they provided a reduction in fuel consumption and aided starting, their use was discontinued in favour of an SAE 20 oil because they caused more rapid wear of certain parts of the engine.
In amplification of the opening reference to the private motorist in Birmingham, it should be noted that the bus fleet remains substantial at 1,630 vehicles, yet, in the view of Mr. Copestake when interviewed recently, the city should be able to absorb both this number and the growing car population.
Taking a long term view of the needs of the city as a whole, he is opposed to undue restriction on private cars by limitation of parking space so long as adequate off-street parking and rear-access loading for commercial vehicles can be provided.
He believes that congestion can be eased by various measures and it is significant that there is close liaison between the Transport Department and the city planners. The extent to which Birmingham is being rebuilt is proportionally greater than is the case of any other major centre, Mr. Copestake points out, and he considers that inspired road planning should ultimately ease traffic flow in the city centre, the suburbs and environs. The roadways in new housing estates are being carefully planned to avoid bottlenecks.
For the immediate future, Mr. Copestake would favour reserved lanes for buses, improvements in intersections at
approaches to the centre because traffic hold-ups are more common at these junctions than in the centre, and the more general use of laybys for loading. Motorists would have to be educated to accept reserved lanes and to give way to a bus pulling out of a layby.
Formerly chief engineer of the Transport Dept.. Mr. Copestake talks technicalities in the same positive manner. In his opinion, fully-automatic transmission is a, highly desirable feature of stage-carriage vehicles and it is notable that a fullyautomatic gearbox with a CAV control unit was fitted to a bus for experimental operation on various routes. The unit operated satisfactorily apart from the disadvantage that an involuntary change from third to top at a critical moment when the bus was overtaking another vehicle was sometimes an embarrassment to the driver because it reduced the rate of acceleration. Experiments are being made with other types of fully-automatic transmission and these show that a completely satisfactory system has yet to be evolved.
With improvements in space-heating systems, it is anticipated that it will be possible, in due course, to eliminate stearning-up of windows given that an efficient type of thermostaticallycontrolled variable-delivery radiator fan can be applied successfully. A number of such units are being-, operated experimentally.
Brake Fade Eliminated
Moulded brake liners are now employed throughout the fleet and there has been no evidence of brake fade in the case of the new buses. Although liners of this type tend to craze the brake drums, it is to a limited extent and use of the drums can normally be continued for several sets of liners. Recent experiments with air suspension indicated that the system would increase maintenance costs in service, and this disadvantage was decisive in Mr. Copestake's decision to retain conventional leaf springing as a standard feature of all vehicles. Mr. Copestake points out that there have been notable improvements in leaf springing over the years and he pays particular tribute to the suspension characteristics of the Fleetlines.
Whilst the ramped floor of the Fleetline double-decker is approved by Mr. Copestake as a means of eliminating a step in the interior that passengers have to negotiate when the vehicle is moving (it is a fairly common cause of injury) he considers that passenger convenience and safety would be enhanced by using a lower first step and a second step immediately inside the door, both steps being used only when the vehicle was stationary. A suggestion that grab handles should be fitted to the doors on the outside was overruled in favour of fitting diagonal grab handles on the inside of the door, location on the outside being regarded as potentially dangerous because it might encourage passengers to force an entry.
Regular route analyses are made with the help of a Swedish Alrnex machine which records on a carbon roll the value of the ticket, the stage at which it was purchased and the duty of the conductor. An anticipated development, the employment of a magnetic recording type of tape machine would enable a computer to be used to process the tape and thus provide a pattern of "desire lines" for each route which could be used to produce a timetable based on accurate matching of drivers' duties to passenger requirements. The savings offered by such analyses should be considerable.
Currently, vehicles may be turned round on some routes at the halfway mark to cater for traffic variation or to accommodate larger groups of passengers; this is decided by inspectors who base their instructionson visual observation of traffic conditions.
In common with the majority of undertakings, the staff problem continues to be acute, the existing shortage being about 900 drivers and conductors. On a typical day recently this caused the withdrawal of 188 buses from service. A few days later 145 buses were withdrawn from the morning peak services. The difficult hours associated with stage carriage operations contrast unfavourably with the five-day working week offered by industrial concerns that are short of labour. Thus, in Birmingham transport we find that in addition to working a six-day week, 65 per cent of the staff also work on what should be their day off.