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Our Anahois of MUNICIPAL BUS SERVICES
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Our Annual Compilation, Based Upon Official Returns, Giving Details of the Composition of the Motorbus and Trolleybus Fleets of Local Authorities Throughout Great Britain
THIS unique compilation, which for many years has been a feature of our Annual Municipal Number, has been revised and brought up to date and contains official particulars relating to the motorbus and trolleybus fleets of 96
authorities. Valuable deductions can be made from a close study of the information that is published. Short cornments on the activities of certain of the bus undertakings are also given.
The changing conditions of passenger transport have caused Mr. C. Irwin Baker, M.Inst.T., general manager of the passenger transport department at ASIITON-UNDERLYNE frequently to reconsider opinions previously expressed, and this, he thinks, is not sift-prising when one recalls the advancement, progress and transition which have taken place. Recent legislation has, to some extent, been responsible, and it has, in the past 12 months or so, favoured the operation of oil-engined buses.
One of the things that the past 12 months have taught Mr. Baker is that an ordinary 32-seater petrol bus gives just over 5i m.p.g., whilst a 48-seater oiler runs 9 m.p.g. It has also made a difference in his view of the trolleybus, the claims of which are somewhat reduced by the cheap operation of the oil-engined vehicle.
In spite of the serious depression in trade which has been the lot of BARROW-IN-FtraNEss for the past few years, the change-over from trams to buses has been fully justi
fied. Mr. T. Smalley, the general manager of the corporation passenger-transport undertaking, although not prepared to anticipate the annual statement of ac,counts, is hoping to present a good report to the council. Furthermore, owing to prospects of employment in the town being better than for some years, he is looking with confidence to the future.
The transport system at GLOUCESTER was originally operated by tramcars, but the last vehicle of this type was run on January 11, 1933, The first portion of the tramways was replaced by petrol buses during September, 1928. The buses serve 25 route miles, and the approximate annual revenue of the transport department is £43,000. Mr. S. Billingtou, the general manager, tells us that the buses have hardly a gradient to negotiate ; there are no stone setts on any route, and the roads are particularly smooth. These facts, coupled with the use of modern vehicles of roomy proportions, enable the corporation to provide a service which not only benefits the passengers, but results in increased tyce mileage.
At LEEDS, the general manager and chief engineer of the transport department, Mr. W. Vane Morland, A.M.I.Mech.E., M.I.A.E,, M.Inst.T., is impressed with the ever-increasing development which is taking place with bus scrvices generally. Additions are being made to the fleet at Leeds, whilst several important substitutions of longdistance tramways will be carried out shortly.
The operating area of LEIGH Corporation is in the centre of an industrial district, with the usual peak periods in connection with colliery and cotton-mill traffic. For this reason, Mr. J. Atherton, A.M.Inst.T., tells us that the vehicles must have the characteristic of utility, that is to say, they must be comfortable without possessing many luxury fittings. The percentage of double-deckers in the fleet is being increased.
In view of the fact that the Lancashire United Transport and Power Co., Ltd., has now ceased to operate its tram ays through Leigh, the transport department, under agreement with the company, has recently taken over additional territory, which means that it now participates in seven additional co-ordinated routes and has increased percentages on four others. The transport undertaking now participates in 19 co-ordinated routes. In spite of industrial depression in the district, the profits of the Past years are being fully maintained; and the department is able to make all fleet replacements out of revenue.
MIDDLESBROUGH Corporation •buses provide services to all parts of the county borough and two services which extend by different routes to the neighbouring borough of Stockton-on-Tees. In addition to the ordinary services, Mr. H. G. Jeken, A.M.I.E.E., the general manager and engineer of the transport department, tells us that arrangements are made with the railway company whereby excursion trains, etc., arriving after the ordinary services have ceased, are met so as to convey passengers to their destinations within the borough.
Mr. Frank I.ythgoe, A.M.Inst.T., general manager of the municipal passenger-transport undertaking at RAW TENSTALL, is obtaining the utmost satisfaction from a number
of oil-engined buses. In connection with bus arrangements in the locality, the public is being catered for in a mariner never before equalled, and the facilities provided are reflecting very favourably on the earnings of the department. Receipts are growing steadily, and the extreme mobility of the buses enables the .department to cater for individual works and spasmodic peaks in a way that would be impossible by other methods of transport.
Considerable development on the bus side of the passenger-transport undezt-tking of READING Corporation has taken place during the past 14 years. In fact, several of the tramway routes have been abandoned and replaced by motorbuses. The bus system began in a very humble way with a couple of vehicles running from the north of the town to the west side ; to-day nine routes are being operated, and they radiate from the centre of the borough to all the important outlying parts of the boundary. .
Another feature of the system which Mr. J. M. Calder, A.M.I.E.E., A.M.I.Mech.E., the transport manager, stresses is the co-ordination between the railways and the corpora tion bus service. This, naturally, has had a beneficial effect upon the residents of Reading who have to travel daily to business in London. Special bus services are also run to meet factory workers at various times of the day.
The experience of the STALYBRIDGE, HYDE, MOSSLEY E54
and DUKINFIELD Tramways and Electricity Board with oil-engined vehicles has been so satisfactory that an additional five vehicles of this type have been ordered, and when these machines are delivered, the Board will have
18 oilers in service. Although the district is of a very hilly nature, being on the border of the Pennine Range, the operating costs for the oil-engined vehicles compare most favourably, says Mr. A. G. Grundy, M.Inst.T., transport manager, with those of any other undertaking in this part of the country.
STOCiSTON Corporation is responsible for the passengertransport facilities for the area covering the boroughs of Stockton and Thornaby, the urban districts of Billingham and Haverton Hill and the parish of Yarm, in addition to which a main-line service to Middlesbrough and North Onnesby is operated in conjunction with Middlesbrough Corporation.
Mr. W. M. Ca.mpbell, A.M.lust.T., the general manager of the corporation transport department, tells us that the inhabitants of Stockton axe moving out to the suburbs in great numbers, and routes are now in operation which cover every district within the area. These services are linked up with each other to such an extent that delay in changing from one route to another is practically eliminated. The area being essentially a manufacturing one, workmen's services predominate.