PUBLIC SERVICE VEHICLES ON THE RIVIERA.
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Char-a-bancs Trips and Bus Services are Very Popular Among Visitors to the South of France.
TRE EFFICIENCY of the :motor vehicles available for public use on the Riviera has recently undergone a very severe test owing to the strike on the French railways. This strike began on the line serving the Riviera and persisted on that line after it had ceased elsewhere. Though it nominally lasted only three or four days, the railway services were seriously disorganized and, from the passengers' point of view, were negligible for nearly a fortnight.
A considerable number of well-to-do visitors hired cars to drive them from Nice, Cannes or Monte Carlo to Paris. The journey occupied three days or more, arid the fare Charged was, in same cases, about 8,000 francs, and in others as little as .6,500 francs. At the present rate of exchange, this latter figure is equivalent to about 2130.. The run is over a distance of something in the neighbourhood of 760 miles, or 1,400 if the return journey is taken into account.
We this see that-the fare was in the neighbourhood of 2s. per mile run, or, let us say, 6d. a mile for each :passenger in a five-seated •car. Many of the roads are very bad indeed. They are, moreover, circuitous
and hilly. Consequently, when • we recognize the
shortage and high price o petrol in the South of France, the high cost of la: our and the additional expense of exectiting away, from homeany repairs that might be necesSary, it. cannot he said that the prices charged were, by any means, exorbitant. Hired cars are, of course, in great demand for comparatively short-, •pleasure trips on the extremely interesting roads along and behind the Riviera. At the moment,' prices are on the increase, partly, no doubt, due to the effect of the railway strike and the consequent shortage of cars and petrol, As an example of normal charges this season, one may, however, take a popular trip which includes the coast road from Cannes to Mei-done, and the mountain road through La Turbie back to Niece, and thence, through the Gorges de Loup and Grasse to Cannes. This is a comfortable. day's run_ Starting, let us say, at 9 o'clock, one gets home in good time for dinner. The distande, suppose, is about 80 miles, but the roads are extraordinarily winding, and, in some parts, are both rough and precipitous. The wear on tyres must be very heavy. Great skill is needed on the part of the driver, and the car must be maintained in ,first-class order, if the trip is to be regarded as a safe one. The. average charge for a powerful car, with ample room for five passengers in addition to the driver, works out now in English money at about 27, so that, here, again, there can be no complaint of undue .profiteering. For quite short distances, fare.s are proportionately much higher. Thus the motoreab fare from Mentone to Monte Carlo, a distance. of not much :more .than 5 miles is 50 francs, and 80 francsis often asked for a hired car for the same run.
Turning to public service vehicies, we find a fairly satisfactory service of motor buses along the whole coast from Cannes to Mentone. The most frequent service is between Nice and Monte Carlo. The journey from Cannes to Nice takes 'about one hour, ,and from Nice teMonte Carlo about three
quarters of an hour, or rather less. The single fare for this latter journey is 8 francs. The buses are of a light typo designed to carry 14 passengers and mounted on pneumatic tyres. They are run by the HoeiRe Frangaise des Auto-Maila. Rochet-Schneider vehicles are employed. There is room for two pas-sengers alongside the driver, and, behind, are two rows of four open-seats, while the rear of the vehicle takes the form of a four-seated coupe. An extra charge is made for seats..in the coupe, though, under ordinary weather condition the the protection provided for the passengers near the front by means of screen, hood and side curtains is quite adequate. Above the coupe there is roof space for a certain amount of lug-gage, though in the services under consideration, this 'space is seldom utilized. The rear wheels arefitted with twin tyres, one of each pair being stoil studded.
As regards speed, there is very little to choose between these buses and the average private ear along the coast road of the Riviera. The drivers are, of course, thoroughly familiar with every turn and gradient, and know just where to antiCipate possible danger. If anything, they err on the side of toomuch speed, but they are undoubtedly skilful, and it would be u_nfair to suggest that they run undue risks. They have, fortunately, the advantage of travelling over roads which never tend to become greasy. The road, as a rule, is of fair width and the gradients, if stiff, are not exceptional. Such danger as there may be lies, mainly, in the casual handling of many of the horsed vehicles, coupled with the fact that, if one runs off the the road, the result must almost inevitably be fatal. Except in the actual -town streets; there is usually a vertical cliff on the one side and a precipitous drop, if not a precipice on the other. On the coast side of the road there is generally, but net always, a low wall, though quite insufficient to be of much assistance in the event of an accident.
The roads, as already mentioned, are very circuitous, and this fact gives the motor busts an immense advantage over the trams, which are compelled to Scream their way round the sharp corners at a very low speed. Moreover, the width 'of the road is only suffi cient to permit of a single track
-with occasional crossing places, _ unless the entire roadway were to be given up completely 'to the trains. As a rule, the run from _ Monte Carlo to Mentone takes about 20 minutes by muter bus, and not less than an hour by tram. The consequence is that the buses are well patronized at fares about four times higher than those charged by the tramway company. In fact, if the bus service were more frequent and the system of booking seats were better organized, the patronage obtainable would be immensely increased, and so, probably would be the profits in respect of each vehicle. Tickets are bgeked in advance at any one of the main points, but if. is impossible in theT ordinary way to book a seat, at the starting point for the return journey.
This lack of organization naturally , discourages custom. For example, anyone thinking of driving in by bus from Nice to Monte Carlo at 8 Vela& in the evening has to reckon on the chance of getting a seat far the return journey on the 11.30 bus from Monte Carlo after spending the evening at the theatre or Casino. • There is no systematic method of -telephone communication, and if, on arrival at Monte Carlo, it is found that all the seats on the late bus are booked, there is no alternative but to hire a oar or cab, for which,at that time of .night, an exorbitant fare is probably charged. It is, in fact, clear that the first requisite of the more complete service, which the custom obtainable during the season would certainly justify, is a proper system of booking seats both out and hoine.
The excellent opportunity for the profitable running of motor buses is still further increased by the inadequacy and total lack of punctuality of the railway services. These, moreover, are extremely slow, and it is seldom, if ever, possible to traiel by rail from Nice to Monte Carlo, or Mentone, at an average speed approaching equality with that attained by the buses..
The lack of depot organization mentioned above also tellsheavily against the successful running of chars-it-bancs, or similar vehicles, for pleasure tours. At the very centres' siieh as Nice, onemay be fairly certain thal, after booking seats, one will actually find the vehicle ranning. At the smaller points, the running of the vehicles is generally contingent on a -certain number of seats having been booked. Consequently, there is an element of uncertainty -up to the last moment, and few people care to try the experiment, unless they are able to make up their own party to fill the better part of the vehicle. The fares charge& for char-k-bancs trips are by no means unreasom.ble. Thus, one may dot,he complete run along the coast road between Cannes and Mentone, and in the other direction, along the mountain road through the Gorges de Loup and Grasse for a fare of 45 francs. Other trips run across the Italian frontier to San Remo and Bordighera, but, at the present moment, the number of these is curtailed owing to difficulties in the way of obtaining passports for Italy, a process which entails a series of visits to a considerable number of officials. c18 . For pleasure trips, a considerable variety of -veld-des is _available, from the large. char-à-bancs capable of carrying 20 to 24 passengers down to the 10 or even eight-seater. These smaller machines are much more suitable for many of the inland rims, since there are plenty of mountain roads involving numerous hairpin bends, so sharp as to make it necessary for any vehicle of long wheelbane to be frequently _backed on the corners, a process which is not altogether pleasant to passengers when the road flapper's.
' to be, as it. often is on the edge of a precipice.
Practically every hotel of any consequence on the Riviera owns its motorbus, or a motorcar serving a. somewhat similar purpose. The buses are not Merely used for station work, but, in many eases, run. at regular hours between the hotel and the local casino, or some other point to which visitors frequently wish to go. The distances in some cases are trifling, but such a service is often useful, as saving the trouble of walking up from --coast level to hotels often situated on much higher land and approached by steep winding roads, with the alternative, of almost endless steps for pedestrians and mules. Some of the hotels at the quite small residential places in the Monte Carlo neighbourhood use their buses for regular service to the casino and Monte Carlo.
Altogether, the Riviera may be said to be very fairly provided with public service motors.