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M.T.T.A. Conference Papers Reviewed A S befits a body of the
Page 100
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importance of the Municipal Tramways and Transport Association, the quality of the three papers presented during the Conference at Bournemouth, which concludes to-day, was very high. Limitations of space prevent us from doing more than include brief summaries of the three, and we have been forced to exclude the many graphs and some of the tables given by Aid. A. H. Gledhill and Mr. C. A. Hopkins.
Relativity and Transport THE paper by Aid. A. H. Gledhill, J.P., presented last Wednesday, indicated most careful preparation and was full of valuable information. The author submits that the use of the mile as a common denominator is misleading. In previous papers, the allocation of the cost of capital_ charges required information as to miles run, bus hours worked and passengers carried. These are not easy to estimate, so the author deals with fixed capital charges in relation to frequency of service.
It is obvious that these, on a service with a 2i-minute "frequency, would be much less than the cost with a 15minute frequency. There is danger in adopting an average cost for services with high frequency and using it to determine the policy on a new route with low frequency. The object is to enable the ascertaining of the cost of fixed capital charges for any given route by reference to the service frequency.
The various charges and their relation to costs are:—(a) Capital charges for fixed assets are relative to the frequency of service; (b) for moving assets are independent of frequency, but relative to mileage; (c) passenger standing charges are relative to the number carried; (d) mileage standing charges to mileage run; (e) wages are relative to speed; (f) repairs and maintenance relative to mileage; (g) tyres, licences and similar running costs are relative to mileage.
Conditions Must be Comparable.
Costs cannot be comparable unless all conditions are also comparable. In determining costs by frequency of service, let us consider, says the author, two points one mile apart, the hours run in a year being 6,000. If a vehicle travels between the points once every hour throughout the year, 6,000 vehicle-miles will be run. If the frequency be 15 minutes, then 24,000 is the figure.
In calculating the cost per vehicle-mile for trolleybus overhead equipment. the capital expenditure, including turning circles and feeder cables, will be £3,000 per mile. Interest and sinking fund on a six years' life would be £600 per annum, On a basis of 6,000 hours per annum the cost per hour would be 24d. The cost per vehicle is relative to frequency and varies from 6d. for a 30-minute frequency each way to 0.2d. for a frequency of one minute. The cost on a 10 years' life would be £375 per annum, or 15d. per hour for 6,000 hours. The corresponding costs per vehicle. mile would then be 3.75d. down to 0.125d.
The capital charges for moving assets (trams. trolleybuses and motorbuses) are not relative to frequency. A vehicle averaging 10 m.p.h. may make 10 journeys over a
one-mile route in one hour, giving a six-minute frequency, or may make, at equal cost, one journey of 10 miles—a 60-minute frequency.
The capital charges are relative to, and inversely proportional to, speed. Assuming 6,000 running hours a year and averaging 8 m.p.h., the figure of 48,000 vehicle-miles is obtained. Another vehicle, averaging 16 m.p.h., would run 96,000 miles, so that the yearly charge for interest and sinking fund or depreciation in the first case would be divisible by 48,000 and, in the second case, by 96,000 to give the cost per mile. For a town-service vehicle, however, 40,000 miles per annum is considered a good average. Using this as a standard basis, the author arrives at the following costs per mile for the capital charge:—Tramcar, 1.19d.; trolleybus, 1.64d.; double-decker motorbus, 1.85d.; single-decker motorbus, 1.5 Id.
The relation of seats sold to seats provided is investigated; also that of bus hours in service to total capacity; an average efficiency for the latter is 60 per cent.
Maintenance-charge Considerations.
In connection with the maintenance charges for trolleybuses and motorbuses, load costs are frequently quoted from places where the installations are not more than two years old, and, in consequence, these charges have not de-1 veloped. If a comparison be made with older servicedi at least ld. to lid. per mile must be added to arrive at true average costs after working for two or three years.
Maintenance for trolleybuses and overhead equipment in some towns has been set down at lid. per mile, but, in one city, with older equipment, the costs for the past three years have been over 4d. per mile. Similarly,' in respect of bus costs, the first or second year's maintenance may be 0.5d. per mile, and the fourth or fifth year 1.75d. to 2d.
An examination of the statement that electricity for trams and trolleybuses provides more work for British workmen than does petrol for motorbuses, proves this to be a fallacy. The petrol tax yielded £40,000,000 in 1934-35. This was used for purposes unconnected with the roads, and spent entirely at home. It represents a special charge on transport, and affects the cost of commodities. Distribution employs, directly, some 30,000 men, and involves the expenditure of large sums on equipment, lorries and cars. The shipping cost is almost entirely domestic, as the oil companies own large fleets. One company alone has an annual rail bill of £1,000,000 and runs a fleet of 2,400 lorries, whilst the production of oil is largely in British hands and employs thousands of our people.
Of the total amount paid for electricity only £350,000 represents the cost of coal.