THE ULSTER PASSENGER TRAFFIC CONFLICT.
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Public Sympathy with the Buses in the Struggle Against Rail and Tram Interestsc HE contest for the distinction of 1. carrying the people of Ulster becomes more intense week after week, with the raotoritus interests steadily gaining ground, The sympathy of the
public is with the bus owners, and protests by magistrates, chambers of commerce and local bodies against the unfair prosecution of drivers and conductors have resulted in some falling off in the number of summonses issued. Demands are now being made for the abolition of the speed limit for buses, and Coleraine Chamber of Commerce has made an important representation to the Government on the matter.
Up to the present the railways have endeavoured to meet the bus competition by greatly reduced fares. Thus, one may travel from Belfast to Bangor and hack, 24 miles, for Is.; to Newcastle and back, 60 miles, for 1s. 6d. on half-holidays, and to Portrush and back, 120 miles, on certain dayS at 2s. 6d. Needless to say, these extraordinarily low fares operate only on the lines where the bus competition is keen. Their effect has been to increase the number of people spending days at the% seaside, but it would create a false impression to state that the buses have, as a consequence, been less patronized. At the 'moment, however, the cockpit of the bus conflict is Belfast, where many small companies have followed Messrs. II. M. S. C'atherwood and the Belfast Omnibus Co. into the field of activity in opposition to the corporation tramcars. Buses now run in opposition to the trams on the Knock, Glengormley, Castlereagh, Cregagh, Ormeau, Green
castle, Lisburn, Shankill and Din/L.1one routes, but probably before these lines appear in print many additional services will be in operation, for every day witnesses new developments in this direction.
The companies now conducting services in Belfast include a number of one-man concerns.