PASSENGER TRAVEL NEWS.
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The Latest Doings and Developments in the Bus and Coach World.
FEW AREAS have provided such heated and prolonged controversies upon the respective merits of the various forms of passenger transport by road as the Hartlepools, which came into particular prominence by reason of the lengthy and determined trolley vehicle versus motorbus battle which was waged between the adjoining municipalities of West Hartlepool and Hartlepool during the latter part of 1924 and the earlier months of the present year. At was reported in The Commercial Motor at the time, the outcome of the deadlock was an eventual agreement on the part of the Hartlepool authority to relinquish its scheme for the provision of a municipal motorbus system, conditional upon a joint trolley-bus working arrangement being made with the sister borough which had championed the cause of the railless vehicle.
Attention is again focused on the neighbourhood by reason of two factors, the first being the gratifying results of the first complete twelve months' operation of trolley-buses over the original section upon which they replaced trams, and the second, the fact that such rapid headway has been made that another section will be opened for =Mess working in the near future.
The section for which the statistics are now available is that known as the Foggy Furze route, over which the West Hartlepool Corporation commenced to run railless vehicles in February, 1924. The results achieved are sufficient to present a strong case for the trolleybus, the salient factor being that the first year shows a slight surplus on working expenses, whereas the same section had previously invariably produced a deficit of considerable proportions.
In view of the fact that the West Hartlepool Corporation is the only municipality on the north-east coast operating all three forms of passenger transport vehicle, viz., tramcars, petrol buses and railless ears, these accounts —for the twelve months ended on March 81st last—are of particular importance as indicating the value of each type under the somewhat peculiar conditions prevailing in the north country.
To bring the entire annual statement for the whole system down to the very briefest form, it may be stated that trams, whilst showing a surplus en working of £4,889 for the year, were run at a total deficit of £2,292 after the settlement of establishment charges (interest, income-tax and redemption on loans), whilst trolley-buses, which are at the present time only operated over a single route 1i miles in length, had a Surplus on working of 151 and a deficit of £1,052, which must be regarded as quite satisfactory in view of the fact that the first twelve months' operation was, to some extent, experimental.
The position so far as petrol motorbuses are concerned was not so encouraging, for there was a deficit on working of £316, and a total deficit, including all charges, of £2,331. This result, however, compares favourably with the figures for the previous year, when the deficit on working stood at £753, or 1.94d. per bus-mile. A feature of the operation of petrol buses, however, is the economical results which have attended the use of a number of new vehicles, put into service since the completion of the figures quoted, and much more gratifying returns are hoped for in the future.
It is the instructive comparisons relative to trams and trolley-buses over the Foggy Furze route which give the balance sheet its greatest importance.
The most powerful argument in favour of railless traction, of course, is that it has, during its first year, converted a deficit on tramway working on the Foggy Furze route of £840 into a surplus of £51, despite an extension of the route mileage, without any additional charge being made. Other striking factors are that railless ears have been instrumental in securing :— (1) An increased annual mileage of 38,747; (2) an increased revenue of £1,454; (2) an increase in the number of passengers carried of 225,222, or practically 50 per cent, more than in the last year of operating trains ; (4) a reduction of 6.03d. per car-mile in operating costs.
The total expenditure involved in substituting trolley-buses for tramcars, including the cost of adapting the overhead equipinent and the purchase of four new 36-seater Railless trolleybuses, only totalled £9,600, whereas the outlay necessary to renew the life of the trams would have been £20.220, without taking into consideration the cost of four new vehicles which would have been required.
An item calling for special mention in the latest accounts is that of general repairs and maintenance, for whereas trolley-buses only aggregated £485 9s. 4d., or 1.26d. per mile, under this head, trains absorbed £11,315 2s. 8d., the major portion being in respect of permanent-way repairs, due to the advanced age of the system. The very material " cut " considerably assisted in maintaining a low rate of operation for the trolley-buses and, with similar economies effected in other directions, the total cost of operation was brought down to the gratifying figure of 10.59d., a direct saving of 6.03d. per. mile as compared with trams, which averaged 16.62d. per car-mile over the same route in the previous twelve months.
• Reliability has been a pronounced feature of the new vehicle% and services of higher speed and greater frequency have been rendered possible, the schedule speed having been increased to 10 m.p.h., as compared with only 6.6
m.p.h. for trams. The vehicles in service are, indeed, capable of 18 m.p.h. on good surfaces.
Tyre results have also been a source of keen gratification, the average cost being as low as 0.5d. per car-mile, whilst up to 25,000 miles have been obtained from a set. The most recent departure in this connection has been the substitution of Henley air-cushion equipment for solids.
The following table shows at a glance the respective results secured by trams in 1923-24 and by trolley-buses in 1924-25 over the Foggy Furze section :-
ASTRIKING feature of the recent Commercial Vehicle Exhibition at Olympia was the number of luxurious buses on view. This, coupled with the inauguration of a regular motorbus service between London and Bristol some months ago, induces us to think that our readers would be interested to know how the Iong:distance bus movement is developing in the United States. Judging by the progress reported from across the Atlantic, there seems to be no reason why buses should not be plying regularly between Loudon and such places as Plymouth, Aberystwyth, Llandudno, Blackpool, Scarborough and Cromer in the future, although, of course, one must not lose sight of the fact that the conditions of operation in the two countries are very different.
Regular long-distance bus trips were unknown in New York until 1923. In little more than a year the example of the company who pioneered the movement has been copied by about twenty other concerns. One company operating two buses to Boston, Mass., takes about £150 a day. Long-distance bus trips also connect New York with such places as Atlantic City, N.J.; Boston, Mass,; Hartford, Coon. ; Newhaven, Conn. ; Bridgeport, Conn; Springfield, Mass.; Pittsfield, Mass.; Paterson, N.J.; Albany, N.Y.; Philadelphia, Trenton, N.J.; West Point, N.Y.; Oyster Bay, N.Y.; and Washington, D.C. Some of these trips take 11 hours. Similar services have been suggested for Montreal and for Florida. This business has not only attracted new companies, but oldestablished transportation companies are taking an active part in developing it.
No fear is entertained that the ser
For the opening of the Park section, the corporation is purchasing three new Railless vehicles, two being singledecker 36:seaters, similar to those already in use, and the third a 5].seater open double-decker, complete with the necessary' equipment for enclosing the upper deck for winter work. The total cost of instituting trolleybuses will only,aggregate £7,110 as compared with an estimated expenditure of 1.13,500—exclusive of .new vehicles— had the corporation decided to renew the life of the tram track.
The opinion that the petrol motorbus accounts will, in the future, be much more gratifying is influenced by the purchase, during the past few months, of four 26-seater pneumatictyred Bristol saloon buses of the oneman-controlled type. These vehicles are being worked for 9.4d. per bus-mile, as compared with an average last year of 13d. for older units of the fleet. It is anticipated, under these very favourableconditions, that the bus system will be able to show a working profit in the next accounts, whilst trolleybuses should also show a greater surplus now that the experimental stage has been passed. The bus fleet numbers ten units, the remaining vehicles being five 32-seater A.E.C.s, and one 14-seater Ford for lean-traffic periods.
vices to Boston, Atlantic City, Philadelphia, etc., will be anything but permanent. The public demand for trips over these routes continues to grow, and will have a marked effect on the development of the unsettled sections between the various towns and New York. This will result, it is hoped, in the establishment of combined passenger and goods service, a business that has developed so remarkably in California its recent years.
Most of New York's long-distance bus lines start from hotels, pulling up at hotels en route and at the terminal point. Hotcd proprietors are beginning to realize that increasing patronage is to be gained by popularizing these buses, whilst the bus companies appreciate the fact that those who stay at hotels are thetype of people likely to use their vehicles. This co-ordination is a natural one. Hotels are generally found in cities where the greater number of commercial travellers and tourists are congregated.
Fares on such services vary according to the length of the trip, but they are identical where more than one line plies between the same places. The round trip from New York to Boston and back, • a total distance of 504 miles, costs $13.50. This works out at about 4d. for 3 miles. The average speed which is maintained on the journey, including stops, is
23 m.p.h. The wages of drivers oflong-distance buses operating from New York vary from £9 to £12 per week.
Most of the vehicles in use are fitted with luxury-type bodies, with deep upholstered seats, on low-hung chassis and pneumatic tyres. Where necessary, luncheon can be obtained at an hotel where a halt is made, whilst "comfort stops" are included in the working schedule. It is claimed that the motorbus can give better service for distances of 100 miles and over than any other transport medium. The tourist sees more of the country, the business man can get a better idea of conditions, so far as they concern him in the various places passed.
The bus is also more comfortable than the train. The latest type of vehicle is fitted with a buffet, and a light meal can be obtained en route. To step straight into a vehicle from an hotel and be carried direct to one's destination is the acme of convenience.
Long-distance travel by bus is more cleanly than a similar journey by train. A locomotive keeps the carriages behind it under a constant shower of sparks and dust but the exhaust from a bus passes away under and behind it. Road dust, once the bugbear of road travel, is seldom encountered to-day on the roads over which long-distance buses operate.
The secret of success in establishing a long-distance bus service hangs largely on advertising. The American companies have found that it pays to concentrate on the hotel user in this respect, giving great prominence to the schedules of trips which are available.