TRAMWAYS AND BUSES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19415, 25 August 1926, Page 15

TRAMWAYS AND BUSES.

THE POSITION IN BRITAIN. AN EX-AUCKLANDER'S VIEWS. THE CLAIMS OF THE TRAMS. A paper on the subject of the competition of motor-buses with tramways was read by Mr. Leo M. Myers, formerly of Auckland, at the annual congress of the Tramways and Light Railways Association, which was held at Torquay, England, on June 24. ' Mr. Myers, after referring to the evolution of the tramway industry, remarked that tramways were carried on in Britain for many years, in spite of heavy burdens, with more or less financial success. Subsequently the development of the internal combustion engine made the motorbus possible, and very soon the tram bore a similar relation to the motor-bus that a deep-water tramp bore to a stately liner. He did not agree with those who cried: " The trams are oboslete, scrc.p the trams," etc. Rather let them endeavour to investigate the spheres of usefulness of these two methods of transport, each of which in its turn had reflected the greatest distinction upon those responsible for the scientific and engineering development of the last 50 years. The tram was not obsolete. The bus was a most valuable and useful means of transport, but its physical capacity was limited, not by scientific deficiencies, but largely by the configuration of roads and by local conditions. The Pro and Oon Trams. Trams were objected to by certain elements of the community, said Mr. Myers:—(l) Because they are on rails and therefore lack flexibility of movement; (2) because they are not noiseless —a characteristic that applies more or less to all vehicles; ' (3) because they lack aesthetic attractions—an objection that might be levelled with equal justice at most of our houses and other buildings; (4) because usually they do not embark and discharge passengers alongside the kerb. Some of the advantages which the trams conferred upon urban traffic were:— (1) They are capable of carrying a larger number of passengers than any other vehicle; (2) they run on a fixed line of rail, so that oncoming and passing traffic has no fear of movement to the right or left; (3) for the reason mentioned in No. 2 the passing traffic can frequently utilise the .near-side which it would fear to do with a vehicle that has flexibility or side movement; (4)-the tramcar carries workmen's traffic morning and evening at very low rates of fares. It was pointed out by Mr. Myers that in round figures nearly £100,000,000 has been invested in tramways in Great Britain. If the wishes of those who glibly cried "Scrap the trams," were realised, not only ' would this large amount of capital be utterly lost to the community, but to carry the passengers that the tramcar was in the habit of carrying an enormous capital would have to be provided with which to replace buses and their necessary garages, repair shops, etc. The fact that 4,444,000,000 people were carried on the tramcars last year indicated clearly a demand that could not be regarded as negligible. Omnibuses performed a most necessary function in serving not only urban areas where no trams exist, but in linking up villages, hamlets and rural areas with each other and with the neighboring towns. ' . > . • Minijnum Fare for Buses. Mr. Myers proceeded: "A reasonable piotection, either in the shape of a slightly higher fare or a refusal to allow omnibuses to ply for hire below a minimum fare when running parallel to tho tramways would give a fresh of life to the latter institution and prevent that dislocation of traffic that would ensue were tramways to be forced out of existence, The route of a bus may extend to .30 and 40 miles and it mjiy run alongside a tramway in the' course of that route for'three, four or five'miles. Surely it is not too much to expect that this protection that I have above suggested should be given to tramways over such a small portion of a long route?" Those .excellent- facilities for traffic which were being given at unremuner-i----tive periods to the public, day after day and week after week,, said Mr. Myers, would no longer be available unless the undertakings as . a whole could produce some reasonable return for their shareholders. The question of how far tramways successfully fulfilled their function 'cf providing public passenger service was best tested in connection with the peak loads of traffic in the morning and evening, said Mr. Myeri;. The opinion" of traffic experts was that no other form of traction could approach the tramway *or dealing with the masses of . passengers which had to be conveyed to and from their work at ,those periods. The time for ' dealing ;vith peak-load traffic had been shortened in recent years; owing-to the adjustment of the hours of labour that had taken place in almost every in dustry, involving a later- start in the morning and an earlier cessation in the evening. Due to the same cause, the hours of shopping had also been restricted. These conditions made the tramcar more necessary than ever. ,