The Royal Show.
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THV FORTHCOMING Royal Show at Cardiff will be the first event of vital importance in the world connected with mechanical haulage by lorry and tractor since the Armistice ; it will mark a milestone in the progress of reconstruction, though the difficulties with which some manufacturers have had to contend in order to get new machines prepared in time for the show make us fear that the milestone is not one that is .very far advanced on the road.
This difficulty is, in part, due to the fact that new machines are snapped op at once by purchasers, and most of those which will be exhibited have been made to order and will be delivered to the buyers immediately the show -finishes.
The fact that over 50 concerns are showing exhibits connected with lorries and tractors and with mechanical ploughing, and that only the impossibility of obtaining the necessary accommodation has thwarted the enterprise of other entrants, proves that the trade is fully alive to the importance of " getting going."
From the forecast which we publish in this issue, it will be observed that surprisingly few actually new designs will be seen ; in many cases, improvements in detail have been effected, but the average manufacturer prefers, for the time being, to keep to models which have gained the approval of users. This may not be a good policy, but it is one that is necessitated by circumstances. In the past, the manufacturer succeeded by continuous improvements in design in . bringing the pleasure-seeker back to the road—he has now done marvels in the matter of facilitating and speeding up goods transport, the horse has been outclassed :in practically every phase of its transport capabilities, and railway monopoly is seriously menaced, even for longdistance work.
The intensification of agriculture., and the replacement of the horse, wherever practicable, by Mechanical means is now receiving especial attention, and we have no hesitation in saying that, the success which attended the efforts in other fields will be . extended -quite as thoroughly and as efficiently to that of agriculture. It behoves the farmer carefully to study the various machines which have been produced to 'increase, with a minimum of effort, the output from his farm, to multiply his markets and to expedite his deliveries. They are not merely experimental, but have been tried with success, and their use is rapidly multiplYing throughout the world.'
London Bus Traveliers: A Neglected Section.
HAT AMOUNTS to an unintended experi ment in passenger transport is now being
tried in London, and we urge that the trial should be deliberately extended with a view to the removal of .a certain disability suffered by a large section of the travelling public. The lorrib.uses run along the ordinary bus routes but stop at only a limited number of points. They thus differ in two essentials from the ordinary buses, in that they maintain a higher average speed by reason of the elimination of multitudinous steam (the other day, after a bus had stopped on one side of the street, had restarted and had reached the opposite corner, we saw a woman passenger deliberately stop the bus again in order to enable her to alight, having saved herself the trouble of crossing the street!). They also cater more definitely for the passengers requiring to travel the longer distances. These passengers are to a very great extent excluded from bus travel by the passengers who, whilst only travelling short distances, will jump on to any of the buses going in the required direction. As an example, there are four or five No. 19 buses to one No. 38, but the routes of these two services coincide in the middle sections. But in the West End it is almost impossible to find room on a 38 for a journey to Leyton because those buses are full of passengers who could reach their alighting point by a No. 19. The penny fare passengers, in fact, aided by the good fortune which pursues the man who takes things as they come, displace the passengers from tha buses on the only service of use to them.
It would be impracticable to attempt to select at the stopping points the passengers who needed to go the longer distances. And, perhaps, there is less profit accruing from the longer journeys than from the short ones. But this is the improvement that is really desirable. Probably it could be effected by a development, as we have suggested, of the "limited services" now being afforded by lorribus, the conductor (who has no upper deck to look after) having the authority, in the presshours to exclude penny fare passengers. The bus conductors, we always find, are above the average in intelligence and could be entrusted with this authority: ' The long-distance passenger (we refer solely to passengers on .central London and suburban services) is inadequately catered tor at the present time_ At the starting point" of each service he can look after himself, but, at any intermediate point, whether the bus is of any use to him is a matter of sheer luck— with the luck "generally against him
THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR The London Traffic Enquiry. •
HEN ONE BEARS in mind the fate of pre vious enquiries which were instituted for the purpose of solving some of the difficulties of London traffic, one may be excused for expressing some doubt as td whether the labours of the present Select Committee Will lead to any tangible results. If it should, it will be faring better than its predecessors.
Some 15 years ago, a. Royal Commission went into the whole question in great detail and made ionportant, recommendations, the great majority of which were never carried out at all. When, years later, the difficulties anticipated by the Royal Commission became more and more acute' a further enquiry was instituted and, as a result, the London Traffic Branch of the Board of Trade was formed. Unfortunately, however, this body was given no powers worth , mentioning. Apparently its only sphere was to collect information and make suggestions which no one was obliged or inclined to carry out.
Probably, the most important thing that the London Traffic Branch did was to analyse the vehicles using the streets from the point of view of the obstruction caused by them. The results, as many of our readers will remember, were extremely illuminating. They showed that three tramcars were responsible for as much congestion as ten motor omnibuses and that, generally speaking, the horsed vehicle of any class was responsible for twice as much congestion as the motor vehicle of the corresponding class. The obvious declaction to be made from these findings was that motor traffic should be encouraged by every possible means, in order to relieve the congestion of the streets during the interval which must necessarily elapse before the 'big schemes of street widenings and the provision of new arteries could materialize.
In point of fact, no actihn whatever was taken as a result of the investigations of the London Traffic Branch, the work of which has for some time past been discontinued. In the circumstances, it seems that very little good is likely to come of further investigations, unlessit is clearly understood in advance that the body responsible for reporting has power to insist that action shall be taken upon its report.
It is to be feared, moreover, that the present committee, will look at the 'whole thing to much as an emergency problem. It is one thing to devise' little schemes for getting over a temporary difficulty and quite another thing to get to the root of the whole matter -and devise a`broad scheme leading to steady improvement and the ultimate complete "elimination of our present troubles.
• We may get some temporary relief by dealing with the problem piecemeal, 'but we shall never get going in the direction,of real reform until we have tackled it on broad lines and insisted that the body responsible for devising a big scheme shall also be given executive powers and the necessary financial help to make that scheme effective,