Thinking in the Future With Liverpool Buses
Page 50
Page 51
Page 52
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
THE development of new trading estates on the perimeter of Liverpool has been one of the main features in determining the pattern of municipal transport in the City during the past 10 years.
The latest of these is at Kirkby, which has been developed along community lines with townships at West Vale, Southdene and Northwood, and the trading estate to the east, linked by a town centre complete with shops, bus station and senior schools in the control belt, plus a twice-weekly market.
With more than 130 factories on the trading estate, the movement of population outwards has been considerable and this has given the Transport Department some measure of staggering in that early-morning buses can achieve twoway loading—out to Kirkby for 8 a.m. and returning to the city for 9 a.m., for much of the labour employed at Kirkby is not resident locally.
Frequent services from the city are planned to cover at least two of the four outer components of the estate, but inter-estate day services to the shopping centre have not been put into operation because of unsuccessful experiments in other parts of Liverpool—notably Bootle and Huyton.
At Speke, another of the city's perimeter estates, Ford and Triumph factories are in process of erection and a new bus depot, opened in July, 1957, is in operation. Here the Council's policy of full support for industrial estates and the building of adjoining dormitary areas have created a township of some 40 industrial and commercial concerns and 6,000 homes.
The garage design combines an enclosed administrative and maintenance block with a concrete open-air parking ground. Fronting the 3-acre area is the administrative block opening into a spacious traffic hall. Crews starting and finishing duty are under the direct observation of controlling inspectors and cash counting booths and ticket machine racks are located centrally. The upper floor consists of canteens, kitchens and recreation rooms.
Throughout the garage, particular care has been paid to the health and welfare of employees. Deep windows, fluorescent lighting, good ventilation, terrazzo and rubberized floors, white glazed walls, locker rooms, wash fountains, car parks and bicycle racks are among the amenities provided.
The maintenance garage, with 16 pits, is constructed on the barrel concrete roof principle. Pits are of white glazed brick with fluorescent lighting and arc heated individually by pipes led from the central system. Access from the parking site -is by a series of folding doors.
The garage is equipped to deal with a planned programme of fleet maintenance, the vehicles following a circuit to the parking ground. The sequence of operations are vacuum cleaning, refuelling, engine-oil check, washing and parking. the actual parking position being shown by an electric indicator. The concrete site has space for 100 vehicles parked herringbone fashion. A steam cleaning ramp is employed and each vehicle space is provided with steam heating connection for winter frost prevention.
Fuel oil for vehicles is stored in two 12,000-gallon tanks located above ground at the rear of the garage, from which• there is a gravity feed to the pumps._. A similar station, to ere Kirkby is being bunt at Ciillinoss.
A peak-hour problem, which faced Mr. W. M. Hall, the general manager, occurred when the overhead railway along the dock road out to Seaforth was closed down. Bus services which were put on to make good this loss did not run along the dock road for the greater part of the journey, but parallel to it and slightly farther away from the river. The changeover took place smoothly and the alteration of route has enabled the department to give a better service to many adjacent works.
A pool of extra buses is kept to deal with sudden movements of dock labour and the Dock and Harbour Board give overnight warning of the following day's movements.
The department has gained useful operating experience of the latest types of double-deck buses by running an A.E.C. Regent V and a Leyland Atlantean. They have also given extended trials to an A.E.C./Park Royal Bridgemaster, The Regent had a seating capacity of 72 with the front entrance behind the front wheels and a pneumaticallyoperated door. Fluid flywheel transmission, fully automatic gearbox and compressed-air brakes were employed. It was built on a conventional chassis with two steps into the lower saloon.
This bus, say the Corporation, suffered from the disadvantage (only so far as they were concerned) that the front axle loading was relatively high and appeared to result in comparatively poor riding qualities with pitching and general hard riding for passengers seated at the rear, especially on the top deck. It was found that the conductor obstructed boarding and alighting passengers.
The Atlantean seated 78 passengers, and had pneumatically-operated doors. This bus had a low floor height with no step into the lower saloon. While retaining the conventional leaf springs, weight distribution was much better as a result of the engine being placed at the rear and the• general manager's view was that, for a vehicle fitted with conventional springs, riding was most satisfactory.
The Bridgemaster had a seating capacity of 76 with an open rear platform. A special feature was the suspension, which incorporates coil springs at the front with air suspension at the rear. The result was exceptionally good riding qualities and no trouble was experienced with the air-operated rear suspension.
Some difficulty was experienced with timekeeping for, operating under normal conditions, the experimental buses attracted additional passenger traffic and their revenue on particular journeys was as much as 5d. per mile over that of the bus preceding and following. This, and the fact that passengers were not familiar with front entrance design, tended to slow them up, the times taken at stops being One or two seconds longer.
Overall, in view of other operators' experiences and the performance figures obtained, it is felt that high seating capacity buses will be able to maintain existing schedules when complete routes are converted and passengers and crews become familiar with their operation.
No difficulty was detected in fare collection, but it is felt that for Liverpool's type of operation the high capacity bus of front entrance design, in which the driver takes over much of the platform work, is essential. It is not thought that the proportion of uncollected fares on large vehicles will be any greater than on standard types.
Passenger reaction was mainly favourable, particular mention being made of comfort, automatic doors and saloon heating. Adverse comments were few and mainly related to particular features of the vehicle equipment rather than general criticism of design. The feature which created most adverse comment was moquette seating, mainly on the hygienic aspect as compared with leather. There was also some criticism of ventilation.
One of the new methods adopted to meet the everrecurring problem of the peaks is a plan to standardize the fleet in units by purchasing buses in large batches, the first order being for 200 Atlanteans. This will start the replacement of the first post-war vehicles and new orders will be placed every two to three years. The purchase of largecapacity buses will enable the fleet total to be reduced by about 200 over the next 18 years.
The service experience with the Atlanteans revealed some difficulties from a loading point of view in that the entrance gangway between the staircase and the nearside front wheel was somewhat narrow, resulting in a limited amount of congestion, and the three-seater longitudinal seats over the wheel arches were not ideal from a passenger's point of view.
When a low gangway is used, the relative height from the gangway to the top of the wheel arches is increased to the detriment of the passengers; in some designs the majority of passengers have to step up in order to enter any of the seats. In Liverpool, there is no problem of low bridges and, therefore, the department's technical staff have redesigned the lower saloon of the Atlantean bus by incorporating, from the rear of the vehicle to the front edge of the staircase, a• flat floor at an approximate height of 2 ft. 41 in. with one step down to the platform, thus eliminating the use of foot stools to the longitudinal seats.
By virtue of raising the floor, the staircase risers have been reduced from eight to seven, and this allows the staircase to be fitted in a much smaller area, giving an improved landing area at the top of the stairs and more space in the lower saloon. An added advantage is a simpler staircase with the inner stringer becoming a single flat panel. This design has enabled the width of the gangway in the vicinity of the staircase to be increased by 75 per cent.
Altered Seats
The two, three-passenger longitudinal seats over the rear wheel arches, together with the foot stools, have been removed and substituted by four, two-passenger seats arranged transversely and back to back (thus two seats on each side face the rear). The total seating capacity of 78 has been retained by replacing the two-passenger seat on the offside behind the staircase partition with a single seat, and the three-passenger seat over the front nearside wheel arch has been reduced to two. Space has therefore become available for the incorporation of a large-size clothing locker for the crew, and a detachable bucket-type used ticket box.
It is considered by the department that these improvements will have a very material effect in improving the loading characteristics and maintenance of the vehicle and its appeal from a passenger's point of view. The experimental Atlantean has been modified accordingly in the department's works and is now operating in service.
Geographically. Liverpool's transport system radiates fanwise, north, south and east from the city centre, and is bounded on the west by the River Mersey.. Services extend beyond the city boundary into the area of six adjacent local authorities and, since 1931, the department has had working agreements with Ribble Motor Services to the north and Crosville Motor Services to the south and east.
At January, 1961, the bus fleet total was 1,232 vehicles, mainly 56-, 58and 62-seat double-deckers of A.E.C.. Leyland, Daimler and Crossley manufacture. Many of the a18 vehicles were assembled at Edge Lane Works, which employs about 750 men, and is the largest municipal transport works in the country.
Maintenance is carried out partly on a mileage and partly on a time basis by a system of "docks," which are all done at the undertaking's eight garages, save for the five-year complete overhaul for Certificates of Fitness, which are done at Edge Lane. Engines, with their increased reliability, are changed only as and when necessary. Some Leylands have already passed the 400,000 mile mark.
The department also operate 150 ancillary vehicles, including low-loaders and heavy lorries. This part of the fleet includes a 1936 A.E.C. Regent, converted to a stores wagon and fitted to carry engines, which visits all eight garages daily.
Recent improvements at Edge Lane include the modernization of the paint shop, which now has 20 working bays for preparation, work, a hot spray painting booth, which will take a complete vehicle, together with a cellulose spray booth for cars and light vehicles and a wet-back spray booth for dealing with components. It also includes a stoveenamelling plant and a glass-fibre component section.
A radio communications system is operated on a special private wavelength enabling patrol cars to be sent at once to hold-ups and permitting the most economical use of buses on major traffic occasions, such as big football matches or Grand National day.
Congestion a Problem
As in all large cities, traffic congestion has now become a serious problem and efficient peak-hour operation is almost impossible. During the evening peak, the majority of buses are scheduled to operate two round journeys, but great difficulty is experienced in returning to the city terminals on time. Wherever possible, fully loaded buses on outward journeys are diverted from the centre by "escape routes."
The recent trend in industry towards a shorter working week, usually an earlier finish, has added, to the undertaking's problems. Industrial finishing times range between 4.45 p.m. and 6 p.m., but loading is particularly heavy between 5 p.m. and 5.30 p.m. The increasing drift towards this short and concentrated period, particularly in the outlying industrial estates, is causing great anxiety; in some instances workers finishing early are arriving home later than usual, because there are insufficient buses to meet demands. • In an effort to present the department's difficulties to industry, some 113 companies in the Liverpool area were circularized and discussions invited before alterations were decided. Copies were also sent to Liverpool Trades Council for transmission to the respective unions. The response was disappointing and one of the main difficulties seems to be that in the majority of the new factories on the industrial estates, car and bicycle owners among the workers far outnumber the bus travellers and outvote them.
On the new trading estates at Kirkby and Speke. employers face difficulties in adopting unpopular hours because of a shortage of unskilled labour; consequently the adoption . of the 42-hour week when the majority of employees voted for an earlier finish between 5 p.m. and 5.30 p.m. has in many cases completely disrupted peak-hour services.
Recent wage awards, costing more than 1300,000. have necessitated a further look at the fares structure. The last fare increase was in 1956 and, with the estimated deficit for 1961 of 1350,000, rising to 1700,000 in 1962, a proposal is being considered to make fare stages -1-mile in length. instead of j mile and to reduce tapering on long distance services.