MOTOR AND RAILWAY.

Auckland Star, Volume LVI, Issue 180, 1 August 1925, Page 16

MOTOR AND RAILWAY.

COMPETITION IN U.S.A. BATTLE IN FULL SWING. MILLIONS IN THE BUSINESS. NEW YORK, June 28. The battle of the automobile against the locomotive as a rival means of transportation is on in earnest, a nationwide survey shows. Starting with humble beginnings, the motor bus has become not only a very important factor in transportation, but has developed into a business in which millions are invested. Handsome terminals costing as high as six figures have appeared in traffic centres of the country. Reports from twenty-three representative cities of the country show that they are the centres for 1506 automobile lines which have invested in terminals alone upwards of a million and a-half dollars. Of course the investment in rolling stock and shops for maintenance is vastly more than the cost of terminals. Public service commissions in many States have recognised the motor bus as a permanent factor in transportation and have arranged for its regulation. Railroads are considering means of meeting the competition and in some instances have" met it by discontinuing competitive lines or by operating motor buses themselves. Pacific Coast Cradle. The Pacific Coast is the cradle of this infant transportation industry and it is there it has reached its greatest development. In Southern California alone three hundred stage companies operated, fifty of them runnmg twenty or more large motor stages which carry twenty to fifty passengers. In' Los Angeles there are two stage terminals costing 300,000 dollars each. In Northern California, San Francisco, Oakland, Satwamento, San Jose and Santa Rosa are the centres for approximately 250 lines. The San Francisco Union terminal cost a half million dollors. In the Pacific Northwest, Portland, Seattle and Tacoma have become the centres for an almost equally large system. Through interchange arrangements one may travel from the Mexican Border to Vancouver along the Pacific Coast by motor stage, making practically the same time as the trains or steamships. The fare is lower. Lines Are Licensed. The Coast states, to meet the transportation situation, have licensed the motor stage lines under their public service commissions. In California exclusive franchises are granted to operate over certain routes. Fares are regulated the same as are railroad fares. Thousands of tons of freight are handled by the freigbtlines — usually run independently of passenger lines. In Ohio it is estimated 500 motor transit lines are now in operation and one electric line—from Columbus to Zanesville —has been forced to quit on account of this competition. Cleveland and Akron are using buses extensively for city transportation. In Detriot, the United Lines—a trolley system—has been forced into receivership by competition from buses. The company now is attempting to meet the situation by buying the motor companies as feeders to its electric system. Railways Fighting. In Michigan, rail companies have asked the Legislature to pass a bill permitting them to parallel their lines with bus systems, claiming the motor stage is rapidly forcing them into bankruptcy. Fifteen motor stage lines centre in Madison, Wisconsin, charge lower fares than railroads. They are gradually expanding. Thirteen bus lines operate out of Cleveland, Ohio, and the Cleveland Railway Company is putting on fifty motor buses to supplement its service and meet competition. Denver, Colo., on the other hand, has defeated at a city election, a proposition to grant bus franchises to private concerns and in Colorado practically no motor stages operate. Twenty-four stages lines centre in Toledo, Ohio, while for city transportation passenger cars are charging lower rates than the street car fare. Buses operating out of Toledo represent a half million dollar investment. Operated By Tram Company. In Houston, Texas, the street car company operates four bus lines, but the voters have frowned on granting franchises to competitive lines. In Dallas six lines are operating and several local, passenger trains have found competition too brisk and have been discontinued. In the New England States inter-urban stages connect most of the principal towns, charging fares lower than the rail lines. Pennsylvania has a rigid system of regulation of motor transit lines already in force. All lines must have -the sanction of "the public service commission and to*secure the sanction mii&t prove the service is urgently needed. The motor stage business has become flourishing in Oklahoma, where 300 passengers and freight lines are in operation.