Motor 'Buses v. Tramcars.

Progress, Volume II, Issue I, 1 November 1906, Page 16

Motor 'Buses v. Tramcars.

By A. J. Wilson in Autocar

The epoch-marking discussion aroused by Mr Manville's address to the London Automobile Club, which we recently printed, appeared to me to miss two points of great importance, both of which tell in favour of the motor 'bus Firstly, not a word was said about the frightful dislocation of traffic occasioned by the laying of a tramway, especially a conduit tramway such as those which

have been during recent years and are now being laid in and around London. Even a short length of line such as that from the Angel at Islington to Southampton Row, where the line dives underground to Aldwych, had the effect of upsetting and diverting traffic m the district for nearly a twelvemonth. While Rosebeiy Avenue and Theobald's Road were impassable, Holborn and the Strand were shockingly congested for many months, and business men found it actually quicker to walk than to drive in any kind of vehicle Motor 'buses do not entail such inconvenience The other point is common to all tram lines, whether ho r sed or electric in perpetuity, and m my own experience the Angel at Islington, again is an object lesion, since I pass this spot every morning and evening on my way into and out of town A numbei of omnibus loutes as well as three tramway routes are squeezed into this neck of street, and the public vehicles proceeding away from the city all stop at the Angel itself There are generally from two to seven omnibuses diawn up in a line at the kerb setting down and picking up passengers, and seldom less than three tramcars alongside them There is no space between 'buses and tramcars so that all other traffic has to crawl and stop behind the tramcars, and not only the tramcars coming in the opposite dnection, but also the omnibuses (which will keep to the middle of the road instead of keeping to their left) interfere with this occasional possibility So the load is clogged, and the ratepayers employ extra policemen to regulate the traffic Do awaj with the tram lines and substitute motor 'buses and the congestion will be abolished , the motor 'buses Avail pull up at the kerb, passengers will not be compelled to dodge into the middle of the road to board the tramcar, and all other tiaffic will be free to pass along without incommoding anyone Moreover, the abolition of the horsed omnibus will do away with the vicious practice of such vehicles pursuing then course along the

centre of the road. The horse-omnibus driver keeps to the middle of the road, in utter unconcern of faster traffic, because he likes to run his irontyred wheels on the smooth tram lines, and thus save his horse power , but with tram lines absent and with an abundance of surplus power the motor 'busman will obey the rule of the road by keeping to the left, thus leaving the centre of the road free for faster traffic