Parisian Passenger Transport Services.
Page 9
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From Our Own Correspondent.
The committee of the Conseil Municipal occupying itself with the question of the re-organisation of the public transport services of Paris has reached another stage in its proceedings, and one which permits Parisians to obtain an inkling of what they may expect in 1910, when the concession to the existing omnibus company expires. M. Duval-Arnould has just published his report on the problem, and one fact which emerges significantly is that in future all public conveyances over which the city has control shall be mechanically propelled. This is certainly the most cogent point in the rapporieur's reconuneuaations, but the requirement is qualified in the sense that the motive force to be employed is not stipulated. Contractors who tender are free to submit vehicles bearing any type of engine, but the committee will have to be satisfied of their efficiency for public service. Propositions are to be entertained from Mr, Alfred Parrish (of the General Electric Co., of Schenectady, U.S.A., and the ThomsonHouston Co.), M. Darracq, the Societe d'Etudes et d'Entreprises, M. .Melearji, M. Paindavoine, and, through: M. Etienne, its new president, the Compagnie Generale des Omnibus de Paris, whose motorbuses (by Brittle) are now being utilised here, and which company is seeking a renewal of its monopoly, though it has not yet indicated the nature of its proposals.
As the new concession will be for a tenure of 35 years, the public is looking to the committee to improve on the existing transport conditions of the city and to ensure a service more satisfactory in all respects. There is no denying the fact that at present Paris motorbuses and tramcars leave much to be desired. The visitor is at once struck by the antiquated and dowdy tramcars used on some of the routes, notably the steam cars with trailers running from the Louvre to Versailles, and the frail, primitive horse-cars serving Auteuil from St. Sulpice Church. These are but two cases in point, but it may be said without exaggeration that, save for the tramcars built on the conduit system by J. G. White and Co., of London and New York, which cover the Montparnasse-Etoile route, there is not a tramway service in Paris which does credit to the city, while in such a centre of the automobile industry one might reasonably expect a better type of motorbus,
Outside seats en motorbuses and tramcars are now, without exception, of the longitudinal, back-to-back type. It isnot an easy matter for a passenger to squeeze into his place over the legs of others if the " imperiale " happens to be well patronised, as it generally is, and, if he is a stranger to Paris, be will inevitably have his hat knocked off or crushed in by the overhead covering. The detached, garden-seats of the London motorbuses are so much better than those of Paris that a company which at all pretends to consider the comfort of the public should not hesitate in seleeLbig the former design even if it entails a little loss in seating accommodation.
M. Duval-Arnould's report allows for a total distance over all routes by bus and tramcar of 162 kilometres. The fare will be 20 centimes first-class and 10 centimes second on lines not exceeding 2,500 metres in length. Where the points of destination are separated by longer distance's than this, the route will be split up into two or three sections, but the passenger going over the whole distance will not have to pay more than 25 centimes first-class and 15 centimes second. On week-days workmen's cars will be run at reduced prices until 7 a.m. This revised tariff, which seemingly abolishes the " correspondance " system—an ingenious but complicated arrangement which none but its creator ever properly understood—would at first sight appear to be an improvement from the public's standpoint on the present scaie ol charges, which exacts three sous second-class and 30 centimes first, between any two points on one route, with transfer facilities to firSt-class passengers. In some cases the fare will be increased, but over the majority of routes the graduated scale will operae to the public's advantage, and the successful company should benefit also by its traffic returns.
Another provision recommended by M. Duval-Arnould, and one which Will probably be adopted, is that of giving the staff of the concessionnaire a proportion of the profits accruing from the monopoly. It is suggested that over and above 8 per cent.. of profits, the contractors shall hand in 45 per cent. to the City, to per cent, in addition going to the employees, who must, moreover, receive a minimum salary of 15o francs per month and work to hours a day at most, save in exceptional circumstances. This communistic principle of profit-divicting will no doubt be beneficial to the employers—more so, perhaps, than to the employees, but, as its merits or demerits will be estimated from a political standpoint, it need not be discussed here.
In the Course of his report on the transport question in Paris, M. DuvalArnould remarks : " A comparison between the different schemes which have come under the Committee's notice would be difficult, not to say impossible. In all the propeeitions received, certain essentials are ignored, and no scheme is complete in all the necessary details. It remains for us, therefore, to lay down a definite and comprehensive specification from which the contractors: can work.
" M. de Selves, the Prefect of the Seine, has proposed to the Municipal Council to institute a series of trials in order to determine the best type of inn. torbus. The Committee have fully discussed this suggestion, but, while they entirely appreciate the significance which would attach to such tests, they have not yet decided to adopt the Prefect's recommendation. One point of view taken over this question was that it would be imprudent to undertake the organisation of a long and complicated series of trials, while the City Council wished to obtain a solution of the trans. port problem at the earliest possible moment. But we have not abandOned the idea ; in fact, the majority of the Committee does not share the opinion held by some of us that such trials would not disclose any new elements for consideration, the industry of the poids lourds (so say the minority) having already reached maturity. . . . One thing certain is that we must be assured of the financial stability of the concessionnaire and his capacity to carry out his contract under the terms of the agreement."