EDMONTON'S RETROGRADE STEP.
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In the Face of Eminently Satisfactory Results with Electric Dust-collecting Vehicles, Edmonton Council Has Decided to Revert to Horse Transport.
TWO YEARS and nine months ago, the extmonton Urban . District Council, as a consequence of the very unsatisfactory results obtained by the employment of a contractor for the collection of household refuse by horse haulage, decided to send a committee to various municipalities employing electric vehicles for this work. The investigations of this committee proved conclusively that battery electric vehicles were giving eminently satisfactory results in all the districts visited, which included Dover, Nottingham, and Sheffield. Following the report of the committee, the council purchased fiva Orwell dust-collecting wagons, each of 2-ton capacity, and built a commodious and well-equipped garage, complete with a charging plant, whilst ground was available for extensions if such should prove necessary. A loan extending over seven years was obtained for this purpose, and on this loan the council has to pa-y an annual charge of £1,627. Now' sifter nearly three years' of apparently successful operation, the council has decided to dispose of its electric vehicles, and, we believe, has actually arranged for the work again to be done by horsed vehicles owned by a contractor, Various statements have appeared in the Press regarding this matter. We do not know whether these are officially inspired or otherwise, but the statements made are certainly highly misleading. They are based upon certain extracts made from a technical report, and it is manifestly unfair to deal only with one part of such a report, as has been
instance. The in this The part referred to is the 'dost per ton of dust. carried. In the case of the electric vehicle, this was 17s. 5.98d., whilst the cost with horsed vehicles was 14s. 7.09d.—an apparent saving; but here we came to, a most important item, and that is, the comparison between the average mileage' travelled by the electric vehicles and by the horse vehicles respectively, which are 2.15 loaded miles and 1.21 loaded miles.
The average cost per loaded mile for the electric vehicle was 12s. 11.77d., and for the horsed vehicle 18s. 6.70d. This gave 8s. .135d. per ton-mile for the electric vehicles and 12s, 5.12d. per ton-mile for the horse vehicles, and it is upon this basis that comparisons should certainly be made. These figures are not-estimated, but are derived from actual experience, for the council has used four horsed,. vehicles in conjunction with its electric vehicles. The costs apply to the year ended March 31st, 1922, and considerable reductions in the cost of running electric vehicles have taken place since that time.
The estimated cost of dust collection by electric vehicles this year is £4.700 plus the capital charges of £1,627, making a total of £6,327. This estimated cost is admitted by Mr. Cuthbert Brown, M.B.E., M.Insb. C.E., the borough engineer and surveyor of the Edmonton II.D.C., to be on the generous side, as it was not submitted with the idea of competing with contractors' estimates, The lowest contract for horsed vehicles was £3,800, but to this must still be added the capital charges mentioned, less interest on the sum realized by the sale of the vehicles and plant and the letting of the garage, expected to be inconsiderable, making a total expenditure for the year of £5,427, or thereabouts, so that there is an estimated saving of only £900 for the year by using horsed transport. On the other hand, the volume of refuse is increasing yearly, and there is no guarantee that the contractor will not increase his charges if he finds that the work he has undertaken does not yield a profit. The council has already experienced trouble When the work was done outside, and we should Have thought. that it would have considered it wiser to have placed the wonderful efficiency which can be obtained by mechanical transport against the slight extra cost which might be incurred.
The acceptance of . a contract, -even if it includes certain penalties if the work he not satisfactorily carried out, is no guarantee of efficiency, as has already been proved. The horsed transport interests in the.council, in excusing the suCcess obtained by the use a electric vehicles in other municipalities, pointed out that this success was due to the fact that the dumps were 'a considerable distance from the points where the refuse was collected, hut that in Edmonton half the population lived within a mile, of the tip and the remaining half within two miles; as a matter of fact, the extreme distance is three miles, and the average distance two miles, and there are many instances of the eminently suceessful employment of electric vehicles in other localities similarly situated in this respect.
It was pointed out by one 'ofthe councillors that, in 1919 and 1920, when the work was being done—and that.apparently badly—by horsed vehicles, there were many deplorable epidemics. The dust collection was neglected, and the council had to employ extra horses and vans to clear the dust left by the contractor's men. Sometimes as many as 50 complaints had to be dealt with concurrently.
Compare this situation with that. existing at Enfield. Here the sanitary inspector has recommended the purchase of a second electric vehicle to collect the refuse from populous parts some distance from the tip. The estimated cost of this work is 10s. 00. per ton. At present four horsed vehicles and eight men' with an additMnai horsed -cart and man two days per week, are employed, and the cost is us. 7d. per ton collected; thus the use of another electric vehicle will effect a saving of 2250 per year. • The recommendation was adopted_, and an application is now being made to the Ministry of Health for sanction to. pnrcha.se.
In spite of the decision of the Edmonton Council, we consider that the matter should,. be, taken up by the Ministry of Health. The punctual and rapid handling of dust is a most important factor in _promoting the health of a com
munity, particularly if it be a populous one. Modern requirements call for modern methods, and we feel that, if Edmonton's decision is allowed to pass, unchallenged, it may have a very serious effect in retarding the great • progress which is being made in the municipal use of Mechanical transport.
It is interesting to note, from additions to the report which we publish exclusively, the good service which Edmonton's vehicles have given. The total mileage for the five amounted to 40,617 in two years and two months. During this time no tyres had to he renewed, and out of the total of 200 electric cells, only four have had to be renewed—a tribute to their excellent quality.
According to the log books, the vehicles did 12, 14, 15, 18, and 19 miles per day respectively, and it would be an impossibility for horses to do these distances in the same time and to carry the same tonnage, which, during the period in question, amounted to 15,510: tons.
Apart from some driving pinions which proved defective and were replaced, practically no new parts had to be fitted to the driving mechanism. Several springs and spring clips were broken as the result of the vehicles having to turn and back up rough sleeper roads to the chist tip, but it would be unfair to blame their design for a slight trouble caused by exceptionally rough usage.
Comparison of Cost of Dust Collection by Electric Vehicles and Horse Vans in the Service of the Edmonton Urban District Council. Period of 12 months ended March 31st, 1922.
From the above figures it is estimated that if horse vans had been employed in lieu of electric vehicles, it would have cost 29,019 153. 5d. instead of £5,888 2s. 3d., an. increase of 23,131 13s. 2d. for the year.
In comparing these costs it should be remembered that those for the electric vehicles are based on a capital outlay • which was made nearly three years ago, whereas all the costs for horsed transport are based on the prices now ruling.