PASSENGER TRAVEL NEWS.
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• The Latest Doings and Developments in the Bus and Coach World.
A 21-SEATER PAY-AS-YOU-ENTER-TYPE BUS.
A New Design of Passenger-carrying Vehicle Emanating from the Vulcan Works.
T IS doubtful if the utility of the oneman-operated bus has been adequakly appraised. In most of the big towns and cities, tramway services are utilized for " down zi town " passenger transport (as our American friends would' say), whilst motorbuses connect up the various tramway routes and neighbouring towns and villages, the frequency of the services being determined by the support given to the vehicles.
H the patronage is inclined to be sparse, many operating authorities consider themselves faced with only four different methods of procedure: (1) Continue at a loss; (2) find new routes; (3) charge more, or (4) reduce the service. During the winter months the vehicle owner obviously wants to keep his vehicles in employment as much as possible, and if the service between any two points is reduced in frequency he tries to find alternative routes to tap. He cannot afford to continue at a loss, and at the same time fears that to advance fares might only have the effect ofdiscouraging passenger traffic.
The one-man-operated bus is one of the most economical types of vehicle, and its employment during the winter months seems well merited. Even for town work it could sometimes be found useful employment. Take, for instance, the football crowds on match days; they usually rush for the trains journeying from the centre of the town to the sub
urban grounds. If afixed travelling fare were charged the one-man-operated bus could easily become a sort of express local passenger vehicle.
At some of the seaside towns in the summer, when bus services are in vogue, the use of the one-man-operated• bits should present no difficulties. The 'Vulcan Motor and Engineering Co., of Southport, have marketed a useful type of pay-as-you-enter-type bus, drawings of which we reproduce herewith. Aswill be seen, it is of special design and has a deep domed roof, making a smart and attractive-looking vehicle. One of the most interesting features is the safety entrance at the front, which is opened and closed by -a special device operated by the driver, who, as is usual in this type of vehicle, also collects the fares. At the left of the driver there is a control lever, which not only shuts the door, but also folds up the steps. Perfect safety is, therefore, assured, it being impossible for any passenger to leave the bits without the driver first-opening the door.
The seating 'provides accommodation for 21 persons, and the seats, which are arranged in pairs, are of the bucket type, with the exception of the rear row of seats, which holds five persons. The gangway running between the seats is 14 inches wide. The windows on each
side are arranged to be raised and lowered with the minimum of trouble and they can be fixed in any desired position by means of leather straps. Above the windows are four narrow ventilating lights. An emergency door is provided at the rear, with an easily operated quick-action release. Four electric lamps in brass .swan-neck brackets-two each side-are fitted. An extra door fitted with slam lock is provided for the use of the driver.
The leading dimensions of the Vulcan pay-as-you-enter-type bus are included in the tablet accompanying this article. Other features can he gathered by perusing the drawings which are reproduced showing plan and side and e•nd elevations of the vehicle.
The Shopkeeper and the Motorbus.
iT IS NOT always realized, we think, 1 by the shopkeepers in provincial towns, to what an extent their business prospects are being improved by the enterprise of the bus companies. All over the country progressive bus concerns are establishing country services which are bringing, an ever-increasing number of customers to their doors. These services are rapidly completing the debacle of the village shopkeeper, and the tradesman in town is reaping a corresponding
• benefit. Not that the village shop will ever be entirely eliminated, but its im: portance in the scheme of national distribution will inevitably decline, as the -inexorable law of the survival of the fittest makes itself felt.
• It is time, therefore, that provincial ' tradesmen began to realize that their interests are -very largely wrapped up with those of the bus companies, and that some measure of co-operation is essential. The bus companies aree providing the 'facilities for transport ; it is up to the shopkeepers to help to stimulate the demand,
The shopping facilities of the town constitutes, very largely, the bait by which the country people are induced to travel. Other factors operate as well, of course, but shopping is the great inducement. Is it, therefore, unreasonable to suggest that the shopkeeper should help in every possible way to increase the popularity of the country bus services in his surrounding district?
He could do so in many ways, one of which is by the repayment of bus fares to persons who purchase goods above a certain minimum amount: In his advertisements in the country papers he could point out the advantage of the travelling facilities which the bus company provide.
By co-operation of this kind much new business would be obtained both, by the tradesman and the bus company.
Motorbuses Preferred.
Ilford people prefer buses to trams, and the matter has' been investigated by the manager of the Ilford Council tramways, who took a census of buses at the "White Horse" corner in the Broadway going towards Seven Kings direction between the hours of 7.30 a.m. and 11.34 a period of 16 hours. During this time 404 buses stopped opposite the "White Horse," and 2,206 passengers boarded these buses going in the direction of Seven Kings. Of this number 358 buses did not go farther than the Seven Kings garage, and 1,837 passengers boarded these buses. Of the remainder of passengers carried, viz., 369 in the Romford and Upminster services, it would be safe to assume that only half of these travelled beyond the tramway terminus, so that the total number .of passengers who travelled between the Broadway and the limit of the tramway system at Chadwell Heath was just over 2,000, and these passengers, says the tramways manager, "could, and should, have been carried by our tramcars."
He did net take a census of the 'buses travelling in the opposite direction, because it is reasonable to suppose that a number of Ilford residents wish to go from places in the High Road to places Londenwards, and, therefore, they have an excuse for travelling in a through bus. " Passengers, however, travelling in the opposite direction have no such excuse, and there is no reason whatever," he adds, "why they should not patronize their own tramcars."