The Vindication of the Motorbus.
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Sixth Set of Extracts from Mr. Albert H. Stanley's Evidence-(Continued from page 292).
Speedometers not in Favour-Points from L.G.O.C. Maintenance System-Police Inspection.
It will be observed that Mr. Stanley is responsible for rather a sweeping denunciation of speed recorders.
We cannot go the whole way with him in his views, although we agree as to the extreme difficulty of securing absolute reliability. Given, however, a margin of even so much as 20 per cent., to cover the different variable factors to which he draws attention, a speedometer of approved type can properly fulfil its functions as an indicator of road speed. The notification of 14 m.p.h. would have its advantages.
When Mr. Stanley elaborates or infers the possible development of such a fitting into a governing and speed-controlling device, then we are strongly on his side, and deliberately against fittings of the kind, which we consider are more likely to involve new eleinents of danger, incidentally because they provide the driver with the excuse that the control is taken out of his hands at critical moments, than to be of public benefit. We have so written before this.
In so far as a speed recorder per .se may at times cause the driver to fix his eyes upon it, instead of upon the road, we think that its working in conjunction with a cab signal of the buzzing type would clearly get rid of this objection. Our past effective criticism of anything in the nature of a past howler" will not apply to any satisfactory device of the class which we now indicate. There are, in our judgment, many reasons to commend a gentle buzz behind the driver's ear. Will the L.G.O.C.,, we ask, accept this hint as a word in "the private ear" of the management ?
Speed and Speed Recorders.
The views of a. company with so extensive an experience of motor vehicles as the L.G.O.C., on the subject of speed recorders, cannot fail to command attention. We accordingly give this portion of the evidence in full.
The speed of the motorbus depends upon two factors, the ratio of the gears used in transmission and the speed in revolutions at which the engine runs. The normal speed is 750 revolutions per minute. While the engine is constructed to run at this speed in revolutions which, on the third or highest gear, gives a working speed of 11.62 miles per hour, there is a reserve of power provided in order to attain a reasonable speed on gradients or on bad roads; that. is to say, the engine can run at a greater number of revolutions, and this is necessary on the first and second speeds to attain to even less than 12 miles per hour.
The following table gives the resultant speeds in miles per hour for different rates of revolution with each gear based upon new tires compressed by fullload and a level road : Revolutions Speed in miles per hour. per minute. 1st speed. 2nd speed. 3rd or full speed. 720 3.57 6.20 ... 11.16
750 3.72 6.46 ... 11.62
800 3.96 6.88 ... 12.39 900 4.46 7.75 ... 13.95 1000 4.96 8.61 ... 15.50 1100 5.45 9.47 17.05
1200 5.93 10.33 18.59 Mechanical Limitations to the Speed of a Motorbus.
In so far as gearing has any control over the speea of the motorbus, the present motorbuses are geared down to the legal maximum speed. If the running speed is to be further restricted it can only be by cutting out the accelerator and governing the number of revolutions of the engine.
There are three reasons against this: 1. At the loaer gears, the moterbus would not be able to approximate in the least to the authorized speed as is shown by the table.
2. The efficiency of the motorbus would e impaired by its inability to accelerate and clear off in cases of necessity.
3. The reserve of power necessary for negotiating gradients or unsatisfactory roads would be lost.
Speed Recorders.
Assuming, then, that the regulation of speed is not a practicable proposal, the next question that arises is whether it is not possible to give some satisfactory record of the speed at which the motorbus is running at any given time. Much has been made of a provision requiring the motorbus, in default of its being geared down in such a manner that it cannot exceed the speed limit, to be equipped with a device that would give audible warning when that speed was exceeded.
Defects in Speed Recorders.
This again is not a practicable proposal, Already the matter has been discussed before this Committee, and the experience of the London General Omnibus Co. only confirms that of previous witnesses as to the 1. Unreliability of all devices so far submitted for trial.
2. Lack of protection against tampering to which they would be subject.
3. Ease with which they can be disconnected and thrown out of service.
Objections to Speed Recorders.
The Company would also associate themselves with the expressions of dissatisfaction which certain phases of working to arise out of their use must create. For instance, a. driver may be tempted lo run at a speed too great for the circumstances of the moment simply because the warning is not sounding. Or again, the effect such a device will have in stereotyping speeds. The traffic conditions of the streets of London call for an infinite variety of speeds, not only in certain streets, but at certain times in those streets, and not other times. Flexibility of speed is the only real safeguard that the conditions of the moment and the place may be adequately and properly met. There are occasions of emergency when it is desirable that the speed limit should be exceeded if by so doing accident may he avoided or its consequences minimized.
Confusion would arise in the identification of the vehicle originating the disturbance to be caused by the sounding of the warning, and in the distinguishing of the speed warning from the other classes of warnings given by power-driven vehicles of all kinds.
Unreliability of Speed Recorders.
The real objection to such devices, which has not so far been clearly put before the Committee, is the fact that they cannot be made to accommodate themselves to the differing conditions of the vehicle on which they are fixed.
Due to Variation in Wheel Diameter.
Such a device may be worked from the road wheels or from the rear propeller shaft which drives them. In either case it is the circumference of the wheel which determines the distance element in the speed. Now this distance element is not fixed. The wheel is shod, in compliance with the statutory requirements, with rubber tires. Rubber tires are subject to compression, varying in amount with the load. They are also subject to fairly rapid wear.
Due to Variation in Gears.
Or such a device could he worked on the engine or front propeller shaft, but in this case it, would have to be set to control the highest gear, with the result that when the motorbus was running on the lower gears the speed would he restricted to about 3.7 miles per hour for the first gear, and to about 6.5 miles per hour on the second gear.
The following diagram illustrates the operation of the device in this case:—
On these facts it would clearly be impossible for the police or any other public authority to take action against a driver in any spirit of fairness or ,justice without having definite knowledge as to a number of minute factors governing the situation. That is to say the provision of such a device and the determining of a penalty for an offence in connection with it would be so much waste-paper.
Speed Recorders Fitted to Learners' Buses.
co state these facts is not to object to a speed recorder in itself. Speed recorders are fixed to some of the learners' buses, These are the buses upon which such devices are tried, and they are of some value in assisting new men to judge approximately at what speed they are travelling. What is objected to, is the use of a speed recorder as a definite measure of speed when it is known not to be such a measuri; and to attach to a breach, determined by so fallible an instrument, penal consequences.
The most satisfactory way of judging speed is a relative measure based on the steady and known speeds of other classes of traffic in the roads, particularly the horsed traffic. By experience it is thought that the men become reasonably accurate judges of the speed.
The Maintenance of the Motorbus.
There has been steady progress, over a term of years, in the working up of the organization which is now seen in force on the maintenance side of Mr. Stanley's company. The best points have been taken from the practice of various companies, and a synopsis of the essential features is presented in the following portion of the evidence :— The maintenance of the motorbus in good running order and condition may be considered in three Ways A. The day-to-day inspection; n. The periodical rest day for overhaul;
c. The annual refit.
Daily Inspection by Drivers.
The driver of a motorbus is required to present himself for duty at the garage not less than 20 minutes before the advertised time of his departure on service. He books on and obtains from the foreman driver a running-sheet.
His first duty is to examine the Drivers' Report Book and ascertain what was booked against the bus allotted to him on its last day's work. He must then satisfy himself that any subject of complaint has been properly rectified and that the motorbus is in fit running order. He has to sign on the hack of the running-sheet that he has gone through this routine, among other things.
Recording oft Failures and Defects.'
It is the duty of a driver on bringing his bus in at night to inspect it before leaving the garage, and to enter up in the Drivers' Report Book any defects coming to his notice, or any
information relative to the working of the bus which he thinks deserves attention. If he finds difficulty in explaining what is wrong he must interview the garage foreman on duty. If he has no remark to make, he must still sign for the bus as O.K. before leaving the garage. It is the duty of the night foreman to refer continually to the Drivers' Report Book, and as the motorbuses come in from their day's work to make provision amongst the staff for the execution of all needed repairs and adjustment.
Garages Complete in Themselves.
Each garage is equipped with all that is necessary as a complete repair shop, in addition to being supplied with complete sets of spare parts, which are interchangeable throughout all the motorbuses of the type. Each garage is staffed by' specialized employees capable of dealing with all the various parts of the motorbus and its mechanism which require attention, such as brake fitters, steering-gear fitters, engine fitters, coachbuilders, greasers, etc. Each garage is in the charge of a superintendent competent to deal with every sort of mishap that may occur to the motorbus, and he has under him a general foreman for day work and a night foreman, so that there is always someone definitely in charge of the work of inspection and repair. It is tile duty of the night foreman to make a general survey of all the motorbuses in the garage, and to see that the work to be done on each is completed, and that the Drivers' Report Book is duly signed by the employee to whom he allotted the task of carrying it through.
The next day the Drivers' Report Book is posted to summary sheets for each motorbus, termed the Driver's Report and Dock Overhaul Sheet, upon which the record of that bus is kept pending the periodical overhaul.
This completes the regular nightly procedure, and leads up to the second stage of maintenance.
Garages Equipped and in Service.
The number of garages at 31st January, 1913, was 31, two of which were just opened and without a full complement of motorbuses, and two were provincial ones of small size. The number of motorbuses licensed was 2850, the average number on the streets 2181; the difference being withheld for overhaul or repairs. The largest garage held 155 bus, the smallest 15. The normal size of a garage is 80-120 buses. The staff employed upon the ordinary maintenance and upkeep of buses is as follows :—
The Periodical Rest Day For Overhaul.
Apart from anything which may have happened that would call for immediate attention, the motorbus is withdrawn from service once every fourteen days for overhaul. This is an approximate interval.
The dock overhaul sheet is posted on the bus giving the fitter particulars of all complaints made regarding the working and all defects developed in the machinery since the last overhaul.
All these points are checked up and in addition the engine is stripped, the wheels removed, the steering and brakes taken down and all the dismantling done which will enable the fitter to completely fill up the particulars set out on the lefthand side of the form and to certify that all cause of complaint against the bus has been removed.
Upon the completion of the overhaul the bus is taken out and tested and a certificate of fitness signed before it. is placed back in the number of running buses.
The Annual Relit.
Once every year, at the police licence falls in, the motorbus is withdrawn from service. The body is taken off the chassis and sent to the coach factory, where it is entirely renovated and repainted. The chassis is completely stripped and every part thoroughly examined and brought up to, as nearly as possible, new condition.
When the chassis is again assembled and complete it is thoroughly tested as for a newly manufactured one and sent on to the coach factory to have the body fitted. When this is done it is again tested and subsequently submitted to the police for licence for a further period of a year.
Here again it has to be approved and passed as for a new bus, except that it has not to pass the Noise Committee.
The influence of Scotland Yard upon the welfare of the motorbus industry is known to all—both to the man inside the movement, and to the man in the street. The officers who are responsible for the Public Carriage Department of Scotland Yard have been anathematised times without number, but not by THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR. We have criticised some of their actions, and sometimes their *inaction. We know that those criticisms have not been without effect. We may additionally recall, in connection with presentday regulations, our insistence—at the time when the 3A-ton limit of unladen weight was suggested as an inflexible condition—upon the necessity for an alternative laden weight. The introduction of the ladenweight limit of six tons, which was subsequently approved, has been greatly appreciated by ail who have to deal with motorbus construction or operation_ In relation to the great problem of silent running, which supposed desideratum was gradually achieved by steady police pressure, the writer, in his own evidence before the Select Committee of the House of Commons, advanced the opinion that there might now he held to be a state of "dangerous silence " in motorbus running. The absence of a characteristic noise, peculiar to motorbuses only, is undoubtedly a serious factor in the traffic conditions of London streets as one sees them to-day, and we venture to hope that when the report of the Select Committee is issued, the police will not be in disagreement if any precautionary suggestions hereanent take the farm of specific recommendations. We do not, of course, suggeFt that a special type of warning device will get rid of all accidents, but the adoption of any particular new and characteristic warning feature, which can in itself get rid of a percentage of accidents, either fatal or nonfatal, should be worthy of acceptance.
At the present time. having regard to the practical achievement of perfection in police methods of inepeciionand licensing, we feel very strongly that the immediate duty of Scotland Yard is to concentrate upon ro-operation with the motorbus companies to reduce * "EICeSSiVe NOiSe from Motorbuses "-5th February, 1506. zn From Probation to Regular System '-3rd May. 1000.
the number of accidents. The motorbus is now the quietest traffic unit in the whole of London, with the possible exception of sense high-class private motorcars, and for that reason, amongst others, it has proved to be the unit which, in spite of recent indications of improvement, remains with the highest ratio of mishaps recorded against it. Time will provide the remedy, but Time must be aided.
Procedure.
The method of procedure adopted by the police is to issue notices which have the effect of preventing the use on the streets of the motorbuses in respect of which they are issued. The police have to give notice to the registered proprietor of the motorbus. In the case of London General Omnibus Company this is the Chief Engineer. The notices are of two kinds. The first kind is a positive atop which prevents the vehicle in respect of which it is issued being used in the public service until it has been inspected and again passed by the police. The second kind is what is known as a "two-day stop," that is to say, it calls attention to some irregularity and requires it to be remedied within two days. If the necessary change or work is executed within two days, the vehicle in respect of which it was issued returns to public service without the formality of being re-inspected.
The stop notices are sent out from head office to the garages with a form attached calling for report and for particulars of the work that is necessary to be done to remedy the case. The forms are returnable to head office, where they are the subject of record and eonsideratien.
When a motorbus is submitted for passing after a positive notice has been received or a two days notice has lapsed, the form of notice is presented to the police and cancelled if they are satisfied that the case has been fully remedied.
Of these causes two-thirds relate to noise and concern chiefly the older type of vehicles; enly a tenth represents anything of an apparently serious nature, and in these cases it is usually nothing worse than the need of some minor adjustment.
In order to snake it quite clear that a police notice has not any serious significance, it may be stated that the notices are dealt with by way of correspondence, and when received by the Company usually date back to inspections made three or four days previously. There has never been, in the recollection of the Company's officers, a case in which, within recent years, a motorbus has been peremptorily ordered off the streets as a source of danger.
(To be concluded.)