Bus Loadings Measured Electrically
Page 27
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THE development of devices, perhaps electronic, to provide continuous accurate information of loadings or receipts on individual bus routes was forecast by Mr. H. N. Tuff, general manager of the West Yorkshire Road Car Co., Ltd., in an address to the Yorkshire section of the Institute of Transport.
For this purpose, the West Yorkshire Loadmeter (briefly described and illustrated in The Commercial Motor on March 28) was developed. A micro-switch was placed under each seat and as a passenger sat down a flow of current was recorded on an ammeter with a pen and a time-base chart in roll form. A scanner was devised to enable all the main points on a route to be marked on a scale on a time basis and applied to the chart.
Records were taken from Monday to Friday, and the five days were superimposed in one colour on the roll, so that later another five-day check would be made in a different colour for comparative purposes. Twelve months' use had shown that the pattern of traffic did not vary greatly from one period of the year to another. During the winter, tests were to be carried out also on Saturdays and Sundays to ascertain the reductions in week-end mileage that could be made during this period.
Already the use of a Loadmeter had
enabled single-deckers to be exchanged for double-deckers in some cases, with a slight saving in fuel. Another field of investigation that might yield economies was in the operation of duplicates.
At present the information contained on the rolls was extracted and transferred to a punch card. The whole roll was copied in a Copycat machine and the facsimiles were cut up, each journey record being affixed to a card. Later, copy rolls would be sent to depOts..
The punch cards supplied all the information required on operations from Monday to Friday on a particular route and journey. In addition, the maximum and minimum numbers of passengers carried we(e given. The cards were, however, only a temporary development.
The -Loadmeter had possibilities in enabling the flow of traffic inwards or outwards' from a town at various periods of the day to be measured and might assist in the planning of housing estates. It also afforded valuable evidence for submission to the Traffic Commissioners.
The instrument had been experimentally attached to a gearbox to measure the length of time spent in each gear. It was hoped that the company's engineers would be able to study gear ratios more closely with a view to ultimate economy in design.