TRACKLESS CARS

Evening Post, Volume CVIII, Issue 55, 2 September 1924, Page 7

TRACKLESS CARS

TO THE EDITOR,

th? 'T 7 i h*V!u?^ d Wltli much- interest Qofr • *0! 6 m the Evening Post" of the inst., regarding the possibility of tte above; tyipe of car -being established on a_greater or-less scale in WeUington, it.trials at present under consideration Prove' successful. As : aj.citizen: who-is interested m. the methods'": adopted -for the city passenger transport,*-and having before me the official figures of fifty transport services in England' during the last twelve months/, it occurs "to 'me that possibly extracts from these reports" may- be of interest to tybiir readers.' J-hese, figures, of course, have.the virtue of coming from cities-which- have-been making the experiments"at'ftheir: own expense, and the council in their wisdom will naturaDy , reap. ■ the benefit gamed m, this way, by. other and older cities. , .•:.-. . . "-'. , ;

An ■_;■ investigation of these figures shows that the cities, of Halifax, Ramsbottom, Eotherham,; West Hartlepool and /i ork employ railless systems, and in every case-.-:except:''Ramsbottom'it happens that these cities "also run side by side petrol bus systems. An average of the railless car expenses in; these five towns shows the average receipts per bus mile to be 14.64 a, and their operating costs pcr x bus • 'mile to.be 16.98 d showing a deficit of 2.34 d per'.busrtnile-' A_ consideration of the- petrol "-bus services run by. these same cities '-shows; in the case of Halifax, a profit.of3.72d per bus mile, of Rotherham a profit of .02d per. ibus mile, while York shows a profit of 2;58d per bus mile; \ In West Hartlepool ■<• there is the only example of a loss, this being-7.09d per bus mile. Ihere are, -however, tho move striking' figures still ; (in that they are takenfrom a larger field comprising' 50 instances at hand), which show that for the. remaining 45 systems run by these municipalities on petrol- bus system 'the average, receipts ar a 16.77 d per bus mile .and expenditure 17.00 d, showing a loss' of .28d per bus mile. This', is a very different story from the correspdndin"deficit of 2.34 d per bus. mile "shown: by the -railless vehicles. -.; \ :

Reference is made in the article abovementioned to Birmingham, railless" bus cars. This is .apparently a recent venture, for no returns are available" in the official publication .from which these figures are quoted. There is, however, the very interesting , figure given; that Birmingham petrol busses numbering: 55 vehicles with a seating capacity varying from' 20-54, showing the receipts per bus mile to be 23.825 d, against the costs* of 15.407 d, showing.a very handsome profit p£ 8.418 d per 'bus mile.' These figures-' are very ■ interesting,' iii View :: of the importance which apparently is attachod to Birmingham's experiment in this article. .-" .. •... ' ■■:■.'■ -

Speaking generally, I should .-be very glad to be-informed what particular virtue is claimed for-these..cars which will .justify their selection for this city. It is'quite admitted, I-.think.' that the trackless bus possesses advantages from} almost* every point" of.mew ' over the ordinary electric train, 4>ut I think-that it cannot bo disputed that it is iy- engineeYs considered merely as a half-way house on the way to something better." I also think that it cannot be-contro-verted that the trackless electric bus falls short pf - the petrol vehicle 'in, the following instances:—• ■

•(a) Its initial cost is much greater.■■.. (b) Its' upkeep expenses ; are also greater in the majority of cases. . (c) Every unit of the system is dependent on. the'continuance of the supply of power from the generating station, and. any ; failure holds up the whole system. * ..-.•■■■

(d) New routes cannot be operated without the installation. .of overhead cable system, with its attendant expense. ' I ;- :■.".'

. (c) The whole system has very little elasticity. . . •.. .. •

, T trust that all these- points, will be luliy'.considered -by the council before committing-themselves to-such a system obtaining in very few. towns, and inthose towns showing not the- best results.—l am, etc., --: ■ •.-.-■ - -

WILLIAM- G. GOULD. Ist September.