MOTOR TRAFFIC IN MARKET TOWNS.
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Goods and Passenger Services in North and South Country Compared.
AT FIRST glance, it is by no means easy to determine theprecise value of the motor vehicle, whether used for goods or for passenger service, to the market town; but. on making a close analysis it soon becomes obvious that, without so important an auxiliary, local markets would became a mere shadow of ail-at they are at present. A.market town is usually a weekly, or semi-weekly, rendezvous for a scattered district, in which the means of transport are limited to a railway service which may, or may not, be convenient and accessible to all parts of the outlying. districts, and to motor coach an motorbus . services which, operated by owners whose zeal for traffic iS an evidence of their business acumen, are run at sufficiently frequent intervals to -ensure quick -journey for both passengers and goods at-a fare which • will .at least_ compare, very favourably, with the alternative mode. of conveyance.
Multiplicity of .Uses in Northern Towns.
-Visiting such northern -market -towns -.as ..Orinskirk . in Lancashire, Mold in Pliatshireo and Chester; one beCemes -Mipiessed with the multiplicity of uses to which the ubiquitous commercial motor vehicle is put, and especially the utility of the lighter transport units. Farmers sometimes club together and bring their live stock to "town " in a suitably enclosed vehicle owned by one of their number; buyers fregmently have their own vehicles on the spot. ready to transport purchases, or may use the railWaya-according to' the destination to Which they. intend despatching their -loads ; _. farm. produce, eggs, butter, flowers, etc., in baskets are brought by farmers' wives by means of motorbus ; itinerant -travellers and " cheap jacks " have motor shops -a.dipted to suit their needs, of beth .pleasure and business; and finally thereare motor 'stalls for hardware, brushes,. tea and coffee, etc., which, week in and week -out traviul from One market town to another. •
In this manner all the tail 'ends of a scattered district are linked up with the main centre of supply and exchange. The local councils of market towns are generally sufficiently foresighted to arrange good facilities for the parking and unloading of incoming motor vehicles, for, as is repeatedly stated in 'mina, " the motors bring business."
Where the South Differs from the North.
Having. now given a bird's-eye view of conditions at some of the northern market toWnS one might now change the scene to 300' miles away—Truro, the cathedral city of the Cornish Riviera, where the writer recently. had the opportunity of notingthe* points of difference in the transport arrangements of south-ern and northern market towns. The desire of the motor vehicle owners in the south to provide a first-class service, both for goods Erna passengers, is at. Ouch apparent, with the only difference that owing to industrial and commercial conditions not being so highly developed. many of the private owners have not
1326 the necessary capital which would enable them to launch enterprises as ambitious and extensive as one finds in south-west Lancashire. .
The shadows of the industrial north.' seem to hover over the market towns of south-west Lancashire' with the hustle and bustle of which the quieScent aouthern towns are in strange contrast. The thronged market square with motor vehicles at every, point of refuge is too commonplace to command attention in the north, but in the south the market attendances are in. due ratio to the smaller number of visiting motors. Thus parking difficulties are not so pressing. As a matter of fact, in' 'Truro, the square
i in front of the cathedral s generally adequate for visiting cqaches and buses, although it is at times congested.
Comparatively speaking, the number of general utility vehicles is much more numerous in proportion in the Truro district than in the north, and well .appointed saloon buses, with electrically lighted interiors, drop windows, patented spring-backed seats, and such features, are Very few in number.
One .is speaking now of privately owned vehicles, excluding those owned by the Great Western Railway Co., who run a number of -road motor services, the principal being (1) Penzance, Pen. deen and -St. Just, (2) Penzance and Land's End, (3) Penzance and Marazion, (4.) lielsfon and the Lizard, (5) Heletrin and Porthleven, (6) Redruth and Falmouth; (7) Redruth, Mogan and Portmath,. (8) Redruth, St. Day and Carharrack, (9) St. Auster and St. Dennis, (10) St. Dennis and Blazev Gate, (11) St. Austell and Bugle; and (12) Sanest and Callington.
Ex-London Buses in Service in Cornwall.
One of the important bus services in the Truro district is that operated by the Enterprise Co., who run a number a ex-L.G.O. vehicles between Falmouth, Truro and Perranporth, where the company have a larget and squatli built garage which houses their coaches and buses_
The distance from Truro to Perranporth is about 12 miles, but as the Great .Western Co. issue cheap rail tickets daily, which are available on the outward journey,, -byo any one of six trains, and on the return journey, by any train at a single fare (namely, is. 8d.), local coach and motorbus owners have not much of -a say in charging fares which in other holiday 'centres would be regarded as fair and equitable. The return journey to Perranporth by motorbus costs 2s., and as the journey is more direct by road, the service is well patronized, although 'it is somewhat infrequent Motor coach owners at Perranporth also run vehicles to Truro at a similar fare, but only as often as Truro attractiens warrant. Wednesday and Saturday seem to be the favourite days— Wednesday for the River Fal trip, Saturday morning for the river excursion, and Saturday night at 6.30 p.m.
" for the pictures. Such an announcement in Lancashire would tempt the hard-headed mill operative to smile, for
in some of the cotton towns there is a pictnredrome at every turning.
The foregoing example of the situation in road passenger fares is simply typical of many others, for on investigation, it was found that the G.W.R. Co. issued cheap daily tickets from Truro to about 22 destinations. Many of the fares fixed by coach owners were on the basis of a mere id. per mile. From Falmouth, however, dearer charges are made, the fares generally being about 11d. per mile.
What Coach Owners Down South Have to Face.
The following table will show in simple form how the coach owners in the south are "up against" the . cheap -railway fares. If the rail services, were not so good, the coach owners would not have much cause of complaint.
One of the principal fleets at Falmouth is that run by the owners of the Silver Coaches, who have depots at London, Torquay, Plymouth, Newquay, and Penzance, and run 28-seater Dennis vehicles chiefly. This company's tour to the Lizard, for which a fare of 7s. 6d. is charged, allows for a break of four or five hours on the journey; Newq-aay, 60-mile journey, is available at 6s.; an 80-mile tour to Penzance, Land's End, and Marazion allows passengers to break the journey at Penzancis; the longest day tour is to Tintagel and Boscastle, 320 miles, for a fare of 16s. Motor coaching: organization in the Truro district is not highly developed. Afair number of vehicles are. ownerdriven, and in the season it is necessary for passengers to book their tours one or two days in advance. In the north, for ordinary day and half-day tripe, the prospective passenger hardly ever troubles to pay for his seat before he is 'ready to start on the journey.
Coaching Plans Made Well in Advance.
Truro owners, however, make their arrangements a fortnight in advance, and bright-coloured window bills are exhibited In shops, giving details of tours, starting times, destinations' and fares for the ensuing two weeks. Each owner does this; and as every individual coach is named, such as the "Progress " or the "Success," in the printed announcementa, the coach designation is printed in very large type. Most of the local coaches are of the smaller 10-18-seater type, and a few run on pneumatic tyres. A large number of general utility vehicles, Fords especially, work from Truro carrying both passengers and goods. "The seating arrangements of these vehicles are generally of a very primitive description.