UNITED STATES BUSES

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXII, Issue 22166, 20 July 1935, Page 11 (Supplement)

UNITED STATES BUSES

BIG IMPROVEMENT SHOWN Marked improvement in the financial condition of the bus industry in the United States during 1934, and an increase of about 15 per cent, in employment is reported as a result of an analysis of statements submitted by 187 motor carriers. Buses handled a greater volume of business than at any time since 1929, and the net income per bus owned in 1934 was double that of 1933, in spite of increased operating costs and tax levies. Companies in the Western States fared best. Taxes levied on the industry in 1934 were the highest in the history of motor transportation. Inter-city buses paid out in taxes an average of about £SOO per bus, with long-distance buses paying an even greater amount because many States require each bus crossing its border to p«-ty for full licence plates for that State irrespective of the number already carried. The purchase of 8101 new chassis and 8470 new bodies was only a little short of the 1929 record, and almost equal to the combined purchases of 1932 and 1933. The number of buses owned is now about 108,000, and their average age is four years. There arc 43 ; 000 buses in revenue service, divided into 17,580 in city service, 22,020 in intercity service, 2(300 in sightseeing and charter service, with 64,130 owned by schools and 1000 classified as miscellaneous.