TROLLEY BUSES.

Press, Volume LXV, Issue 19624, 21 May 1929, Page 12

TROLLEY BUSES.

NORTH BEACH LINE. ! i TRAMWAY BOARD'S DECISION. i In order to effect a aa\u;g t:; ti.North Beach line, the Trcuaway Board decided yest?rday afternoon to estal- - lijii a trolley bus service from North Bea'-h. usiny tno existing Eervioo r_i?r as >hirley road. The Work, an-J Traili-' Committee reported as ioiluv>.-: The Works and Traffic Committee has had under close consideration t Imposition of the North Beach line. The section beyond Burwood was laid with liglit 631b* rails in 1910. It is now completely worn out, and is only kept in running order by constant and expensive maintenance to an extent which makes the necessity t<> renew ;;n imperative one. jf the service is to be continued. To renew the line iron: Burwood to Ozona corner, leaving the Esplanade out of the calculation in the meantime, would cost £28.000 it the latest standard of construction was employed, viz , 1121b rails in a concrete foundation. Sleepers and ballast construction would cost £21.250. Csing 90ib rails the cost in sleeper and ballast construction would be £22,800. Tins service has always been run at u io.-N. although it ; 3 not exceptional in tb;.lespcct. The patronage of the private l.,;is service continues, -in spite of the loner tram fares offered by the B:>sird since October of last year. In view of ali i'iio circumstances, the committee cannot recommend the Board to spend the money required for renewal or the track. The standing charges for ;n----tere.si and .-inhina; fund remain the same, whether tiafiic is heavy or light. When, with a small population, the traffic is light and a pri .-to bus service is allowed to corfie the burden for standing fharges btv.mes too preat to be borne. The capital cost of incline k-tween Ozone corner and the corner of Shirley road, when the existing line between Burwood and _ Shirley road with rolling stock is included, amounts to £52.000. This does not include any proportion of cost of power station and ear shed buildings—power plant, etc. —which could easily he made a justifiable charge. The interest and sinking .fund charges on £'o2.<)oo amount to 9.3 fid per car mile. The operating costs being 13.28 d. the total cost is nearly Is lid i>er car miie. Even with the good traffic at the City end included, the average earnings over the whole line are only Is 3d per car mile.

Cheaper Transport. I The question is whether a cheayer and possibly a more popular means of transport might be provided by means of petrol omnibuses or by trackless trams, uow more often called trolley I buses. For months past the general manager has been in communication with the tramway authorities in England and America respecting the use oi trolley buses, and much printed matter has also been collected of a most interesting character. The attention of quite a number of the smaller tramwav concerns in England, faced with the necessity of renewing tram tracks, has been directed to .substitution of trams by petrel or trolley buses. The abolition of trams is, however, not being favoured in the big cities with heavy traffic, and a number of these are extending their tram systems. The expenditure on tramways in Great Britain at the end of l72S'had amounted to £103.9-21,678, or an increase of 3 per cent, over the previous year. The expenditure on petrol buses up to the same date was £3,000.C00 or 17 per cent, increase over the previous year. The expenditure on trolley buses, £'1,0v50,714, or an increa-ss of 39 per cent, on the previous year There are 346 trolley buses operating in England over 120 route miles. The significance of the figures is the relatively larger increase in trolley buses in IC2B than in the other two forms of street transport. The longest routes being Bradford (15 miles), Ipswich (15 miles), and Wolverhampton (18 miles), these were questioned by cable, including this querv: "Why do you prefer trolley buses to petrol busesr" The replies \tere —Wolverhampton : "Cheaper, smoother, better acceleration, more popular/' Ipswich: "Cheaper, smoother running, utilising existing power and overhead equipment.' 7 Bradford: "Safer, quieter and cheaper than petrol buses up to a 20-miuute service." Yet the cost of petrol in England is only lljtl per gallon, as compared with Is 6*d per gallon in New Zealand. The Utah. Light and Traction Companv in U.S.A., operating 116 miles of tramway track, had a profitable track of four'miles worn out. Rather than renew it the company in September last installed electric coaches or trohey buses Although petrol was obtainable at 10Jd per gallon, they preferred the trolley buses. The manager was cabled to for the result of his experience. His reply was:—"Our experience through very severe winter with electric coaches emfnentlv satisfactory." The committee thinks that there is much to be said for using locally produced electric current, rather than sending money out of the country for ; more costlv petrol. Moreover, petrol j prices are" under the control of large combines, which, of course, the Board cannot influence, whereas electricity is generated in New Zealand by our own ■ Government. While the trolley bus uses overhead electric wires, it is sufficiently mobile to be able to pass other traffic, and to draw into the ker>> to pick up or discharge pas-enger.<\ ;;:st j as the petrol bus does. j The feature, too, which appeals _ 10 , tramwav proprietor? is that their exist- , incr overhead electric equipment and j power plant do not have to be scrapped. . hi.. The weight per ax;e or a trolley ~.is is ho greater than ivitn n pttroi Ims of the same carrying capacity, w.i.le ■- smoother accelerate will have h-s wearing effect on f.e road possible are higher tma, wouul! * ■-> j Aidered safe in Chrxac-hurch. Th- c. > . ital cost is not much, u any more tlyn. ■ Jero! W. with thr« to be added that j ? h riifeofatrdl r biisi,2sr-rc,nt | or more longer than that oi a petrol j bus. j

Operating Costs

The lulluvvmg arc operates ts ■i ~, tlic section concerned. ~a r mile oiithi -<£ t buses 14.44 d. tro.iO b to f v. hi.'h siandinK charge. P« '-r r ■ ''ViH. rram section Letween wurE "rS ami Ozone corner are con= ; - £i ent upon the large sum re t truck, upon v/hich 011K dv. runs., the The committee ha- Wl , h manasers - t a, troilev bus .service from Vo-t- £- nt using the extstmg overhead eq . ■m far as road At t.iat t the bns would leave .ratn , Mrmn-^.d.toWe' City, the petrol hus service on tne '»"« pa-t , the route hein P withdrawn. The£F tal cost for the a-teratioi , the existing overhead hne * or " nt overhead eauipm'-nT alone; the P™*? Shirlev bus'route. 'l 00 ' 1 *^ s€ with • the car shed n M«jrhgJ avenue, and for sevon uuses (o-l *«•• , ea-M. is £'24.500. . ._ ; troilev hu? l- «e.i )).•-- y ; perimental stasze if England., Its us under ] oea ] conditions nr«2 ; it ,v equally successful. The nresttit ""orn out. condition of the North Bea/.-h trad

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atiurds a good opportunity to demon- , strate tins new form ul transport. 1 "•' : expenditure of i-iOu.OOO on the rt-ucrai . of tram tracks within the next live , vears will have to be faced. T-e result j "of the propped North Beach expen- : ence of troilcv buses will be most u.-c- , ful when various sections oi tram , tracks wear out, but the committee . wishes to repeat that m large cities j ■.vith heavv density of population an; ■ concentrated traffic the tramcar is stnl | considered to be the cheapest method , of transport. . . j Mr .1 A.. l'Tesher ((.hasrman) said the result of t!kj experiment would | be watched closely throughout the , Doininicii. and tlie committee was con- , ficlent that the Board would be saved , heavy expenditure. . I Mr Flesher moved the adoption ot , th- report. | Mr H 11. Andrews bCConde<l the motion. He said it was a very definite fact that these troll-ay buses, with six pneumatic tyres, were pai Dcular.y sunnln- tor rough roads They were practically silent, there were no gcare, and thev were- verv comfortable. It." fact that thev could pull into the herb and run on the right side of the road all the wav was a great factor in the tratlic of 'anv city. The most important factor, however, was th t a big saving would be effected. He thought the general manager had b<en conservative in his report, and he was glad the Board was going to replace the Shirley buses bv this service. Petrol buses accounted for the bulk of the Board s losses last j'ear.

On the Wrong Line. Mr \V. J. Walter said he was not opposed to the trolley bus.s. but he considered they were starting on ttie wrong ilncs. He doubted whether t!ie bus would carrv the traffic at the busy part of the year, and he thought experiments should be made first on the Opawa or St. Martins line. 'V> hy not relay the North Beach line.- ho asked. There was no question but that the trolley buses would be damaged on the rough roads. He moved an amendment that the report be referred back to the committee tor further consideration. Mr J. Wood seconded the amendment. He said the trolley buses might be all right on a quiet day, but on a busv day they would be playing into the fiands of the petrol buses. H-3 could not see how the trolley buse* were going to nnorove matters,. Their upkeep would be" a considerable item, and he believed they should be tried first on the St. Martins hne. Mr D Svkes congratulated the committee on its decision, it was no new system, he as trackless cars had been rumjinc-: on the Continent for 30 years. He" believed a trackless car would do anything done by a motorcar. Mr J. Wood: We have all the information here. Mr SvKes: Mr Wood is a wet blanket. He declared that he would extend the tracklc.s car service right along the Esplanade. They would go across the swamps just like a flying mnchine. Mr H. Pearco said the present line to North Beach was worn out, and he would like to know whether any member of t!i« Board would favour expending the .sum required to relay it If the trolley bus would give the service and reduced the expends of the Board, they would be well a'lrised to adopt it. Mr Flesher said the difference- in '■o.=ls iii running a tram and a troile.v bus was 7l<i per mile, and in running a, "irolley b.ss and a petrol bus -i>] per mil;-. The report was adopted en tlu voices.