PASSENGER TRAVEL NEWS.
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The Latest Doings and Developments in the Bus and Coach World.
A BEARDMORE CAB FLEET FOR EDINBURGH. A Large Fleet of Vehicles to be Used in the Scottish Capital.
THE Beardmore taxicab, so well known in London, is now finding a market in its native country. In all the big towns in Scotland the taxicab fleets are composed of all sorts and conditions of vehicle. Some of the finest of cars are kept for private hire, but, generally speaking, the class of vehicle to be found on the public ranks leaves much to be desired. The difficulty is, of course, that regulations vary so much in different towns that it is hardly possible to produce a standardized vehicle in such numbers as to permit of a really competitive rrice against a second-hand landaulet
3foreover,,the Loudon taxicab built to Scotland Yard requirements has generally been considered unnecessarily ugly and cramped for use in those areas where regulations impose no such limits as in London. It is being recognized, however, that the Scotland Yard regulations, based on London conditions, are in the best interests of the user, and result in the use of a vehicle which is suitable for the heavy traffic now common to all big cities, as well as London.
Some half a dozen Beardmore taxicabs were recently put on the streets in Glasgow, but the first large order to be given in Scotland for these vehicles has come from Edinburgh. Messrs. John Player and Song, .a very old-established hiring company, who hold the contract for the Waverley Station, Edinburgh, having recently changed hands, it was decided to install a fleet of 20 Beardmores as a result of comparative tests with other vehicles, of both British and foreign make, in which the I3eardmore showed up to good advantage.
To mark the occasion, Beardmore Motors, Ltd., recently organized demonstration run from Edinburgh to Peebles, where, after lunch, Mr. F. M. Luther, the managing director of the company, dealt with the difficulties confronting the taxicab builder. Mr. Luther stated that one out of every four cabs in London was a Beardmore, and that recently over one-half of the new cabs licensed were of Beardmore make. He also thought it was quite fitting that the visitor to the capital of Scotland should be met on his arrival by a Scottish car bearing a name known the world over. Be hoped that the example sot by Edinburgh would be followed by ether towns. •