TRAMS FAIL MOTOR OMNIBUSES TO BE TRIED.

Evening Post, Volume LXXXI, Issue 25, 31 January 1911, Page 11

TRAMS FAIL MOTOR OMNIBUSES TO BE TRIED.

TO REMEDY CONGESTED TRAFFIC. STATE GOVERNMENT EXPERIMENT. In order to give some relief to Sydner's overcrowded tram lines, motor omnibuses are to be tried, stated a. brief cable message last week. The Sydney Morning Herald records that Mr. Griffith, the Minister for Works, was asked shortly before the end of last session to consider the matter. ' Questioned on the subject a few days ago, he said he had been looking into it, and he had found that although at first the latest type of motor omnibus was a distinct success. The London 1 motor omnibuses, he had ascertained, were capable of carrying 60 ippide and 40 outside, and passengers were carried two miles for a penny. What Mr. Griffiths figures as to the capacity of tho vehicles will probably be found to involve some error. Threo or four are to be obtained for a trial. Mr. Griffith has consulted the Chief Commissioner for Railways and Tramways, who has agreed to the experiment, being made. The route for the line of motors suggested by the Minister woul4 be from it stand somewhere in the vicinity of the G.P.O. or in Wynyard-square, to run along York-street to Market-street, along Market-stret over the Prymont Bridge, up St. Johns-road, cutting across the Glebe and Forest Lodge tramway line. This would make a. very much shorter route to Sydney for the residents of that district, and would very materially relieve the pressure on George-street during the busy part of the day. It would also be possible to give Pyrmont a good service to the city by this means. BAD STREETS. Mr. Griffith was asked if he contemplated extending the experiment, if succpssful, to other subuibs. He replied that the difficulty here was the shocking condition of the suburban streets — so bad that the cost of tyres would be absolutely ruinous. "So far as I know, there is no city, or even town, in Australia whose streets are in such a shockingly bad state as those of mostof the suburbs of Sydney." he said. "The roads in some of our wealthiest suburbs would be a disgrace to a. back-blocks district. One day last week I went to make a couple of inspections, and in travelling in the departmental motor-car from Balmain to Cook's River, that half-hour run knocked more out of the motor-car than would any 200 miles on any country road I have ever been over in the State. "While roads remain in this condition i& would not be possible to run an extensive system of motor 'buses," FORMER EXPERIMENT. Motor omnibuses were tried in Sydney a few years ago. "The less said j about these the better," said Mr. Grif- , nth. ''It didn't require an expert; any i layman could tell that they were abso- j lutely and hoplessly unfit for the work, j To start with, they were run by steam, { and they couldn't take a load up the j easiest incline. The road between Manly | and Narrabeen is one of the flattest in. j the metropolitan o.rea, and ' yet when '< a man purchased these cars from the Com- j niissioners — practically for a song — he ' found they were not fit to take a load [ on that road. The new London motor j 'buses are capable of climbing "Ludgats j Hillwith a full load at a good pace." I Within the next few weeks the I Minister expects to have definite quota- ! lions from two large manufacturing ■ firms as to the cost of the cars he pro- j poses to obtain. How many will be j bought will depend upon the pricg, The reports supplied to him about the vehicles in London are that the London Motor Omnibus Company, which has been running motors for more than- four years, increased its net profits during the last twelve months from £14,163 to £22,762 j £3000 was written off the pre- ( liminary expenses account, and a total balance remained at the disposal of the directors of £15,037. Dividends in- ' crea&ed from 5 to 6 per cent., though 15 per cent, might have bsen paid. The ! Eastbourne Corporation took up motor I omnibuses in 1904. The town has ye- ,' hides, a splendid garage, waiting roo'ass, etc., and the capital expenditure has not been quite £11,000.