The Real Cause of Noise from London Motorbuses.
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Excessive speed is still the canker that eats into motorbus profits in London. Time and again have we protested against the foolish and undiscerning behaviour of the many drivers who force the pace regardless of the surface. Nobody can rightly be opposed to a reasonably high, point-topoint speed; in fact, the public now demands a better average than can be maintained by any horse-drawn omnibus, and there can be no reversion to the old-time schedule of six miles an hour. It is for the happy mean, that we once more appeal, because nothing mechanical can withstand the fearful stresses which are inseparable from persistent overdriving where roads are in a bumpy condition.
We are no supporters of a mere technical adherence to the maximum limit of 12 miles an hour, and we feel satisfied that there will be no idle adoption of measured distances, for there is, at the present time, plenty of evidence to support the view that the London police are under broad instructions to take no action in respect of such temporary spurts as may be due to traffic exigencies. The Chief Commissioner probably realises, as much as do the general managers of railway companies, that hopeless congestion follows any unnecessary delay on the road, and that the Whole volume of traffic is facilitated by allowing as many units as possible to go on their way, and thus to make room for others which would otherwise be obstructed.
A police campaign against excessive speed has been invited by us on more than one occasion, and we should very much like to see activity increased in certain directions. The preponderating source of undue noise is steadily changing from the internal mechanism of the motorbus to particular external conditions, and we consider that the methods of police superVision are in need of corresponding revision. There are many wood-paved thoroughfares in the Metropolis where bad foundations have resulted in depressions and saucer-like cavities, and the rapid passage of motorbuses over these gives rise to more noise, both along the faulty stretches in question and, as a sequel, in consequence of the abnormal wear and tear engendered, at others, than is readily appreciated. We have frequently joined issue with people who professed to believe that the Public Carriage Department of New Scotland Yard desired to repress the motorbus, and we are in that happy position of independence which has permitted the making of suggestions, both to the authorities and the proprietors. No apology is needed, at a time when it is exceptionally difficult to balance expenditure with income, for a further suggestion, and one which merits a favourable reception. The proposal is of a two-fold nature, in that it affects both owners and controllers, and it is based upon a close observance of motorbus happenings during-the last few months. Why should motor-omnibus drivers be sent upon different roads without any instructions, other than of a general character, to aid them? The men are given a short period of tuition, until they pass the police examination, and most companies cease to take any interest in their road careeL afterwards, except in respect of lost journeys or accidents. Men are often changed from one route to another, before any proper notices have been issued to convey intelligible' and uniform warnings to them. If they are naturally careful, if they possess good memories, if they are on a single route for a sufficient number of months, a code of their own is mentally established; but anything in the nature of a standard set of precautionary measures for each separate road is unknown. Now, it is with this omission that our proposal is concerned. Too much has been left to rule of thumb and word of mouth, but, while proprietors are marking time, there is opportunity for improvement in every detail of the organisation which affects the actual running of their existing vehicles. We would recall the well-known track warnings of our great railways : drivers are visually reminded when to whistle, are given exact speed limits for curves, are confronted by boards whereon they cannot fail to read that steam is to be shut off, and so on, whilst fog or frost each brings out its apposite code.. There is no occasion to quote at length, because the basic principle is alone of interest. Have our London companies, one may well enquire, vet taken in hand the parallel branches of route definition which are calling out for attention? If they have begun, the sooner they proceed to turn their results to account the better, and we will give to one section of likely application exclusive consideration now. It is disproportionate speed over bad roads that kills ; yet variation of pace is practically left to the unguided judgment and idiosyncracv of the individual driver. This haphazard driving lies at the root of more breakages, worn parts, and noise complaints than does any other one factor, and we ask that its elimination from the problem shall be promptly secured. Oldfashioned, time-keeping systems are inappropriate, but there is no occasion to plaster walls or hoardings with drivers' warnings, and, although possessed of a great belief in its efficacy, we do not ask that the use of the speedometer should be made compulsory. Our suggestion is that the acquired experience of all the older drivers should be turned to useful purpose, under the direct review of each chief engineer, by its embodiment in a graphic chart of such parts of each route as may require noting, subject to complete revision each six months, and to any incidental rectification that may prove to be either expedient or necessary. Each chart should be a large-scale tracing from the plan of the road, and it might be carried, vertically, on the driver's side of the dashboard. The markings upon it might be such as follow : good surface (between lengths); slow (about six m.p.h.); very slow (about three m.p.h.); *.:* (keep to crown of road); + (pull up before or beyond this spot). The last two warnings, of course, can only tend to mitigate the possible effects of excessive camber, because no printed sheet will prevent a rough driver from producing a bad side-slip, but it is better for the companies that their new men should he helped to steer clear of inevitable disaster, than that each fresh arrival should gain his own experience at the cost of half-a-dozen smashes. They are, however, purely subsidiary to the main effort to modify speed on bad roads.
The scheme looks ridiculously simple, and hardly worthy a considerable space in our columns, but much benefit may follow the adoption of this recommendation. It is avowedly open to criticism, and as far removed from perfection as must be anything which is correlated to the gross imperfections of many London streets, but it has in it the germ of systematised road control, which course is bound to be accepted as the common practice, by degrees. Multiple axles, smaller units, better roads, or a proper regulation of speed, are the four outstanding alternatives to which we have directed attention in the past.* We come back to the last of these, out of respect for the views of the managers who assure us that any material reduction in the seatingcapacity of the double-deck omnibus must prove the last Straw, and because we note the half-hearted move of the Metropolitan Stearn Omnibus Company in the direction of the smaller unit, with its new Darracq-Serpollet vehicles, which have only 30 seats, instead of the more customary 34 seats. We do so, too, from a perception that there is the chance of co-operation between police and proprietors, in order to further the general convenience of the public. Let the companies, of their own free will, prepare route-charts such as those we have outlined above, and let them ask Sir E. R. Henry to give orders for the summoning of drivers who deliberately ignore the checks and warnings so laid down. We have confidence that joint action of this kind would have most salutary effects, and that there would be soon a remarkable diminution in the noises from motorbuses, to the effects of which no impartial mind can be oblivious. The results should be of service to the whole community, for Sir Herbert Jekyll, or the Traffic Board when formed, would be able to bring pressure to bear upon the negligent authorities whose highways compared unfavourably with contiguous ones which carried the same tra ffic.