MOVING WEMBLEY CROWDS BY BUS.
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How London's Buses will Deal with 200,000 Passengers per Day to and from the New Bus Station at the Exhibition Entrance,
UPON THE efficiency of the passenger transport is going largely to depend a great deal of the success of the great Exhibition which is now being held at Wembley. We think the railway companies are doing their best, and that they alone will deal adequately with a large proportion of the traffic to and from the Exhibition, but, because the railway lines radiate from Wembley in only a few directions, the public will look to the bus organization largely to help them to reach their destination. The London General Omnibus Co. has, therefore, arranged to provide for 200,000 passengers per day, and the bus station which has been laid down at the south-west entrance is framed on this basis. An area of nearly two acres is occupied by this, the first motorbus station of its kind in the world. With the Wembley Hill Road passing the entrance a good feeder exists, and the ample space will permit arriving buses at once to draw into the station and there to off-load, each bus passing in turn to one of the eight platforms which will be erected almost parallel to each other. Certain platforms will be allocated to certain ser-' vices, and electrically lighted indicator boards at the Exhibition ends of the platform will denote the destinations of the departing buses.
Each of these eight platforms will be 80 ft. in length, accommodating four omnibuses, and thus in all permitting 32 buses to load up simultaneously. Taking an average load of 50 passengers, 1,600 passengers should be able to move off by bus every two or three minutes. This would give a capacity of over 35,000 per hour at the peak hours. On the face of it, the accommodation and, the facillties seem to be quite sufficient. The works department of the company has been solely responsible for the whole of the construction, the designs being the work of Major Holden, the well-known architect. The land was somewhat ef a morass when the department took it over at the beginning of March, and to-day it is a beautifully paved concrete courtyard. For the transformation 3,000 yds. of hard core had to be laid down as a suitable foundation. The finished surface called for 15,000 tons of ballast, 350 tons of cement, 350 tons of granite and 5,700 yds. of reinforcing material, whilst 100 men have worked continuously in order that His Majesty the King
should be able to pass through the entrance at the State opening last Wednesday. Proper drainage was provided for, and underground conduits had to be laid for the electric cables. In order that the buses may expeditiously reach the platforms without risk of fouling the ends thereof or needless manceuvring, countersunk channels have been cut in the roadways.
Facing the station platforms is an inquiry office and a control room. The traffic controller located here will be in communication by telephone with the central traffic controller of the company at Leicester Square, and he will be able to secure a flow of buses to suit the needs of the traffic. There will also be a corps of traffic regulators and interpreters, so that not only will the public be assisted in every way, but the ideal of one bus leaving the station every 15 secs. would seem easy of attainment, which perhaps might seem to belittle what would in any circumstance be a remarkable accomplishment. But careful planning, sound organization and smart Control may be relied upon to be adequate for solving what is really a groat traffic problem.