CITY COUNCIL'S BUSES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXII, Issue 19032, 1 June 1925, Page 11

CITY COUNCIL'S BUSES.

ADDITIONS TO THE FLEET, LIGHT VEHICLES ON ROAD. Three of the new light buses recently ordered by the Auckland City Council to augment the tramway services and' to assist the corporation's fleet of buses now serving certain of tho districts lying off fc!ie tram routes have been placed on the road and are already proving eminently suitable for the work. When the City Council decided to put buses on the road ten large vehicles were obtained and these have been in constant service for the past seven months. It was seen, however, that these ten buses were not sufficient for the efficient handling of the traffic and the council last December accepted tenders for a further 20 buses. Fifteen of these are each to provide seating accommodation for 26 passengers and the other five are designed to carry 32 passengers each. The three buses now in service are of the 26-pass'enger type. The new buses have a number of features which make them particularly suitable for the short runs which take them over some of the steep gradientsleading out of the city. The whole of the fifteen are being built on Dennis chassis specially designed for passenger work. In appearance the bodies, which are being constructed by Messrs. Gilmoux, Joll and Williams, are very similar to those built for the first ten, but the slight modifications that have been made in the design are to their advantage. The height of the roofs gives clear head room to passengers over the average height and the seating accommodation is arranged to make the most of the available space without overcrowding. As with the larger buses the vehicles are lighted by wide windows but in these buses the windows are of plate glass and all lower by means of a simple attachment to aliow ample ventilation during summer running. The seats arc in red leather, and rubber matting on the floors adds much to the comfort of the interiors. The engines in these new vehicles develop 40 horse-power at ICOO revolutions and have ample reserve power. ' Their performances on the steep grades have been eminently satisfactory and being capable of quick acceleration littlo timj is lost after picking up passengers. Each vehicle is fitted with double pneumatic tyres on the rear wheels and single pneumatics on the front, and this, combined with the long flat springs, makes for easy and comfortable riding. At present the city buses carry conductors, but it is possible that within a few weeks they will be run as one-man units and will consequently operate at greatly reduced cost.