BUSES v. TRAMS.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVI, 7 August 1926, Page 16

BUSES v. TRAMS.

PROPOSED NEW YORK EXPERT MENT.

The proposed experiment in Now York of handling mass transportation by means of powerful motor-'buses is being watched by many other municipalities (says the San Francisco Examiner). While such a proposal is by no means now in the annals of city transportation, the experiment in Gotham is on a much broader scale than hitherto attempted in any American city. It is planned to consolidate the large coach company that lias been operating on Fifth Avenue and the street railway lines into one large corporation. The ultimate aim of the proposed new company will be the gradual “motorisation” of all the surface street car lines in the city. Such a plan, it is easy to conceive, will mean, one of the

greatest transportation changes in the history of the country.

It is contended in favour of the attempt that it will mean a long step toward' the solution of traffic congestion in large cities. The greater flexibility of the motor-’bus and the fact that it is much easier for such a vehicle to pick up and unload passengers is counted upon as the great factor in the scheme.

That it will be a costly substitution is beyond question. A tremendous amount of capital now tied up in rails, street cars and power plants will have to be scrapped. To this must be added the purchase price of the great number of the newer vehicle that will be required to handle the horde of passengers to be carried.

In favour of the ‘ ‘motorisation ’ ’ it. is pointed out. by its proponents that, the motor-’bus draws over to the kerb, thus getting out of the main stream of traf - fic. which can easily swing around the halted ’bus. On the other hand street cars have a tendency to slow up traffic, because all vehicular traffic is virtually halted when a street car stops to load or unload passengers.

Another point claimed in favour of the motor-’bus is that it .does not cause congestion in the event of a disabled or wrecked ’bus. The traffic may easily be routed around it. On the other hand, it, is declared, a wrecked street ear, because of its fixed right-of-way, instantly'jams all traffic behind it.

Many cities in all parts of the country have been flirting with the idea of “niotorisation,” but thus far the proposed experiment in New York is the largest one to bo given serious thought. Individual lines have been started in several cities, notably Detroit, Cleveland. St. Louis and Lo*s Angeles.

That it has its value in the scheme of mass transportation in our large cities is beyond question, as a supplement to the existing street car lines. Whether it will prove' successful as a complete substitution remains to be seen.

The New York experiment, if it is put into effect, will go a long way toward finding the correct answpr to this present moot question.