PUBLIC TRANSPORT.

Evening Post, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 65, 16 March 1912, Page 3

PUBLIC TRANSPORT.

FOR SMALL TOWNS. MOTOR 'BUS, TRACKLESS TROL*LEY OR TRAM. ,MR. F. BLACK'S EVIDENCE AT NAPIER. Many towns of the second grade, such as Napier and PaJmerston North, are contemplating some " form of public transport. Among the'" proposals to solve the problem have been the Edison storage battery car, the trackless trolley, tho motor 'bus, and the electric tram. Napier is particularly concerned with the problem .at^present, and to assure itself of the . correct policy -to take up the Borough, Council has consulted Mi 1 . Frederick Black, the wellknown consulting- electrical engineer. Mr. : Black 1 , reported, as follows on Wednesday ( night''last :-- "Though .«o particular system •of transit is eveneiiggeeted by Mr. Fielder as being 'npve up to date' than electric tramways, . I understand that, .what' he and some other ratepayers have in mind is a /petrol 1 'bus system. I' - propose, therefore, to deal with this type *of traction, and for the information of the council to add' some remarks upon tho trackless trolley, system. , By way of preface I wish to state' that all. systems of .public, service traction .have 'had my atteption and study ' , during the last fourteen yeans! I, have followed tho development of the motor 'bus since' the days .Qf- the:., Glarkßoii steam vehicle to the . present, time, ' and ;.have ' received direct from tlie makers '" drawings, fipeci- | fixations, ' prices, ' and . ■ .actual * rqjining costs -for several of. the best types -01' -bus all een,t at my' request in correspondence wi,th the^ makers concerned. W.ijthih the. last month I. have ,ieoeived from Homo several p'articulans of : the filling-Stevens . „ motor ' . 'bus— the latest type.' placed on ,the v Lon'don streets. My yiewg on. tho capabilities of tho motor 'bus are tKerefore • based "upon some j knowledge of the subject/ v ' • FAILURE OF ' MOTOR /BUS. ."The motor", 'bite ' as it .exists to-day depends. 'for its, success: absolutely 'upOn | the provision of first-claee' 'paved roads — either' N'eubhatel" or ■wood-blo'cking.,be-ing essential. The' results .of operating over any other kind ' of road are excessive running and ■, maintenance charges to the' 'bufl" proprietors' and excessive cost of ro*d repairs' to" the local authority. ' , Several- 'English County Council* have suffered bo, much' iu the latter respect ■ that they ' recently' combined to aek for legislation that will relieve them of a' burden that" has become- intolerable. In London and other large- cities ' the strfl«t« a-re all paved; 'and -the'. motor bus is therefore practicable', so far l as thus . matter ' ia ■ concerned. In ' New .' Zea- j land, where" mac&dajnked roids are, as a rule, the beat that can "be afforded, two towne .at least have tried motor bus services, and lost every penny invested in- them.. In- Devonport the Chelmsford, 'bus, failed to, withstand the influences . of good" but' unpaved roads, and much 1 more" recently" a service in Timaru, where the-roads are as good as any in, New Zealand,' has ended- disastrously, and the 'buses' have been turned out^to rot- and rust' in' a field. If may be. urged that later, and better types, of buses are now available. This is true, but- the- latest and best of them all" is noti-one whit better or more capable of withstanding injury when the trouble encountered is, the never-ceasing vibration caused -by -uneven road surfaces.. >. It is: frequently -assumed that the 'successful, development of motor cans, us a sufficient -abdication. 1 of. tlie probable success of motor 'buses on ordinary roads.. '..■"' / . "THE REASON WHY. "A few words will explain .why. this. is far from" the. truth, and -at the same time make, clear the reason for the failure of l#. , motor 'bus in so, many instances. -A motor car- carries -«ay five people, and with its- load may weigh 'a' ton or a ton and. a,» half. It'is'mtfuhted on, the. best anti-vibiation device yet ; invented, th» pneumatic -tyre. The .weight on each wheel 'is\but a few hundredweight,' con-sequently-the stresses! and. strain* setup aremot'excessive-and are to- a' large extent absorbed .by. thp tyres, so 'that they' do'mot reach the engines.' . The motor 'bus,' however, must -carry from- 20 to- 26 people if /it*, is to "earn a' revenue ' that will ,pay .for 'bare, running . .expenses. With its loa'd;it weighs from- 5 to-6 tons, but all. of this is carried on four wheels-** , rao'mqre'than 'iriatbr'car has got--and the load per wheel instead of .being a' few: hundredweight" is about LJ-tons. Pneumatic tyres- have- worn -out so. fast when tried' J ,on' 'buses that it is impossible to use. them and'-soHd rubbers are employed: ' The result' is that the'stresses and -strain set up- are .those due to a load^ per wheel -four or five times greater than .occurs- on a ; motor car, and these are transmitted 'almost wholly to the engines, 6ihce the solid-tyres, absorb very little of the ,'sfroek, ,It matters little what improvement* are -made in motor 'buses if petrol enginesare,.refained and macadamised '■ roads aie run over; the road will always defeat the 'bus though it suffer itself in doing- so. - " ' .MOTOR. CAR INSTITUTIONS., "A matter, invariably disregarded by many people, who quote 'examples of-suc-cessful service ' is that .these -are .not motor 'boa but motor car' , institutions. There is a great difference-— the difference between success and failure — in the cases, of motor cars cpnveying a limited number, of people .to and from Mount Cook or over the' four lakes trip at Rotorua, and the motor 'bus running within tho boundaries of a town, stopping every few hundred yards of it* journeys and earning a revenue ,made up of pennies. The motor c*r service with its few pas-eengei-s, long runs, and .revenue earned in pounds, has nothing, in common with the motor 'bus. NOT SAFE FOR HILL- RO,ADS, 1 "The, council will not have any difficulty, I think, ,in realising that no ' form bi motor 'bus could safely be used on the hill roads in ,t the borough. The side slipe and. skidding which occurs on level roads both when very dry and when wet ■ would be- greatly intensified on the steep roads, of Scinde Island. 1 would not hesitate to say that no engineer with any sense of ,his responsibilities, would for a moment propose to use .motor 'buses of the size and weight mentioned in 4>hi« report on such roads as that over Shakespeare Hill. It would be idle, to suggest the use of smaller and lighter 'buses, since tjieir revetihu earning capacity would 4 be far too limited. Tlie claim made that -motor hitses* enable a route to b« tested is, the exiut revere© of fact. The public having no guarantee, that any route adopted will be permanently worked, will not adjust itself to the siM-vice as in tlje case of 'a tramway. -On route* outride .% town laud will noL be taken, up., nor residences •built until theie, can be some assurance) of a service that will be permanent. ' | MORE INFORMATION WASTED. "With regard to the tracklees trolley system', this is not 'in 'any sense a tramway. ■ The cave' do .not differ from the motor 'bus except that their power is obtained from- an cj.ternu! soiuoe, \ia., the power, sUtion. i'l is the absence of the petrol engin© and the apeed change 1 &SMS2 that 'enable the tracj^^»e\tro^e^

car to operate on macadamised roadt with success. The electric motor which propels it has only one moving part k and consequently the maintenance cost im not large. The trackless trolley 'bus is just as liable to side slip and skidding as the motor 'bus and equally unsuitable for hill working. In England the system hae been adapted in Leeds and Bradford for outlying routes, and it Is proposed to install it in a number of other towns to serve as a feeder system to the tramways. In France' and in Germany sev> eral trackless systems ' have been in operation for a number of years, chiefly in rural district*. At the present time there is not a great deal of experience available upon the- financial results of operation.