MOTORBUS versus TRAMCAR "DOWN UNDER."
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Why Certain Authorities Favour the Flexible Means of Passenger Transport.
THE RELATIVE merits of the motorbus and the tramcar for passenger transport have Provided much material to enable exponents of each system in this country to engage in heated controversy, and although honours may or may not have been easy in the past, there is little doubt that the flexible means of transport has now secured many advantages. The recent announcement in a. certain well-informed quarter that no snore tramways would be laid in this country is a. trustworthy indication of the popularity which, has been achieved by the motorbus, and needs no labouring emphasis on our part.
That. this trend. of opinion is not confined to this country alone is fairly certain. For instance, a proMinent Anstraiian municipality, the Newcastle Town Council, 19 considering whether the tramways in the town should bescrapped aria superseded by a system of motorbuses. The town clerk and chief engineer have reported on the relative merits of each form of passenger transport in no uncertain terms. They state that the question of finance must largely.enter into the matter and be the deciding factor, and open up their report with the query: " What are ,5 the facts facing us in,, Newcastle distriet,.4oday? ' and continue ; ." The Railway Commissioners -stated here recently to our deputation that the cost of converting our trams from steam to electric traction will now be £1,100,000, and they were averse to commencing the work unless all the money were available.
" The annual loss on the local steam service is £50,000, according to reports.
" Forty buses are now runningfsuecessfully in opposition to thews trams. There were only two or three buses four
years ago. There will probably be-;30 snore of them in another three years' time, whether we then have electric trams or not.. It is our firm con-viction that the motorbus has come. to stay It is ..successfully competing. against.most modern electric tramways abtad_ In the United States franchises ',. -for the use of the roads_by private companies are not being renewed, in several cities, excepting for motorbusea, and tramways have to cease runninA as
their franchises ' expire. There are nearly 200 licensed motorbuses now running in New South Wales A. number of these are in direct maposicion, in Sydney 'and suburbs, to the elecisie trams, and new buses continue to be added.
Tramway Service Unable to Cope with Traffic.
" The Sydney electric tram service is reselling a serious stage, inasmuch as it —s.ble'comfortably to .cope with the lemands made upon st---particularly'at
certain busy hours. Loud 'complaints are mace about the noise and rattle'of the cars, now mostly old and worn, and the City Underground Railway has become an urgent necessity
"Can a• £1300.000 electric tramway service hope to pay for itself, in competition with buses? " the town clerk and
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ehief engineer ask; and " Would not a State or municipally controlled motorbus service be a better proposition than any class of tramway service?
If so," they add, answering their own question, " why continue the agitation for the latter? " We propose to submit the reasons which led us to believe that a State or municipally owned bus service is a much better proposition than electric tramways."
Advantages of the Flexible Bus System.
They are as follow :—" 1. Electrification may not come for years, owing to the huge capital cost involved.
" 2. It would take at least two to three years to inaugurate. " 3. It will have to carry an annual interest bill alone (at 5 per cent.) of £55,000, if carried out within the estimated cost—which rarely happens with State enterprises. " 4. It will have to compete with fleets of modern motorbuses, which possess the following principal advantages :— (a) Flexibility and mobility of the service, not being tied to any particular track or permanent way.
(b) Speed of transit. (c) Convenience of picking up and setting down where required. This is done close to the footpath, as a rule, instead of the centre of the street.
Less noise from rattling of vehicle, and much more comfortable riding. No fear of complete breakdown of the service.
Low cost of extending services, or instituting new ones, and opportunity to test same at low cost before permanently establishing. Low cost of plant compared to tramways.
The freedom of the street from the encumbrance and danger of overhead electric wires, poles, etc.
Bus Difficulties which can be Readily Obviated.
" On the other hand, the motorbuses, as they now run, present the following difficulties and diaadvantagess " 1. Excessive wear and tear on roads, including the tracks laid by the State Government for tramways, and little revenue to the councils.
" 2. Irregularity of the service, due to several causes, viz. :—Breakdowns and repairs, leaving of regular routes to attend special functions, and not keeping to time-tables. "3. Overcrowding to a dangerous extent.
" 4. Excessive speeds, and incentive to racing, through competition. " 5. Divided control by different councils.
"6. Difficulty of parking buses at City termini. "We consider all these troubles could readily be obviated by one ownership, with strict regulations. The profits could be all expended on the roads in. volved, which would greatly reduce cost of upkeep of the vehicles.
" In any case, all are agreed that motor traffic now demands a higher standard of road construction, even if the trams are retained. This the councils will . be inevitably faced with shortly."
In dealing with the estimated extent of present. bus business the town clerk and chief engineer state that " Forty two bases are licensed.Average in daily use, say, 35; average trips per day, say, 15; average passengers per trip, say, 20 (35 by 15 by 20-10.500 persons carried daily).
"The trams carry an average of 42,185 passengers per day, using 120 tramcars. Each half-year shows a decrease in passengers and revenue.
"It would appear that 200 buses would easily meet present requirements of all the travelling public if trams were dispensed with."
Cost of Establishing a Municipal Bus System.
They next deal with the cost of establishing a State or municipal bus service, and add, " We have not gone into the question of costs or profits, but it is apparent. that the capital cost of installing such a system would not exceed £250,000-=a sum which will be lost. in five year§ on the existing tram service. The service could be built up gradually, WO required, from profits of the under taking. •.
" The machines would, of course, be of a standard make, and spare ones kept to Lake up the running in the event of breakdown, or on special occasions, and for tourist, traffic, thus ensuring the close keeping of fixed time-tables. There would be no incentive to excessive speeds —in fact, the engines could be governed to make it impossible., " In short, we respectfully subruit that, before the councils of this district have a further deputation to the Government requesting electrification of trams, it is desirable first to consider the advisability and practicability of the establishment of a complete motorbus service, whether nationally or municipally controlled.
" Further we are of opinion that, if we are likely to have an electrified tramway service at all, the proposal to establish a municipal bus service is likely to hasten its advent more than anything else will do," A " Greater Newcastle " or "County Council " should be able to obtain approval to establish bus services and reveve the town of the annual losses on its antiquated local tramway system There are a number of such services abroad, municipally controlled. As a consequence of the foregoing report, the Town Council has decided to hold a conference of district councils and other bodies to consider the question of nationalization or municipalization of the district motorbus service.