TROLLY-BUSES AND ELECTRIC TRAMS

Dominion, Volume 37, Issue 236, 3 July 1944, Page 6

TROLLY-BUSES AND ELECTRIC TRAMS

Overseas Expert’s Views POINTS APPLICABLE TO WELLINGTON The statement of the new mayor of Wellington, Air. Appleton, during the election campaign that tlie city council thought the capital’s transport problem child be solved, in part, by trolly-buses, gives special interest to the action of the Dunedin City Council in securing the services of an Australian expert. Sir. Wil-, limn Goodman, Adelaide, to report on its transport system. Mr. Appleton said in May that route surveys had been made, maximum likely grades ascertained and corners and tlie like viewed in terms of trolly-bus movement. 'Preliminary designs had been drawn and certain aspects taken up with the Transport Department. An exploratory specification had reached English manufacturers ami information had been sought regarding standard de- f sign,.delivery and cost. Meantime further aspects were being studied by the coun cii's experts. ' Though the population and total length of tram routes in Wellington and Dunedin differ considerably—Wellington has af total length of 66 miles —there are certain aspects of Sir William Goodman’s report which have probable application to both places, or to any others with electric tramway systems.

He says, first, that in view of the development of modern road construction with bitumen surface, the remarkable advances in modern passenger transport vehicle design, and the load-carrying capacity of the pneumatic tyre, he did not consider any transport authority would contemplate advising the installation of a tramway system for urban and suburban passenger transport. It was evident that for a few years before the war tlie private motor-car had diverted many people from using the tramways. The increase of passenger travel by public transport since 1939 was due to war conditions. After the war there would be a rapid increase in the use of the private motor-car. Tramways transport would consequently suffer and its finances again become seriously affected.

Tlie council (Dunedin) must therefore consider adopting a public transport system which would tend to induce the rider to utilize tlie public transport, system. The only means of obtaining this result w.as to avoid useless and unwarrantable expenditure in attempting to rehabilitate flic electric tramways system and to substitute a modern type of transport. The choice then lay. between the motor-bus and the trolly-bus. The general experience showed that people preferred Ims transport to tramways and wherever tramways hurl been superseded by a bus system public patronage had been captured and the financial position of the transport system made safe. In Adelaide, even before tlie war, people living contiguous to Ihe trollybus route gave up using their motor-cars and patronized the Ims. > Up to 1940 many electric tramway systems were faced with falling revenue dim primarily to increasing use of private motor-cars. The position of many was so serious that other means had to be considered to hold the customer. The consensus of opinion of many leading transport authorities favoured superseding electric tramways by trolly-buses or motor-buses and many electric tramways systems had been replaced by trollybuses. Outstanding Features. The outstanding advantages of the electric trolly-bus were:—Smooth running, practically noiseless, freedom from vibration and petrol and fuel odours, rapid acceleration and retardation, ellifient braking (quicker and safer than the braking of motor-buses), popularity with public and drivers, low maintenance costs, whatever the-motor-bus could do. tlie trollybus could do. and better. The American City Journal of December, 1943. in a com-, partitive article had stated: “The trollybus. after paying all operating expenses, taxes and depreciation, bad eight times more available to pay interest than electric trains.” Continuing, Sir "William said that wherever electric trolly-buses had superseded electric tramways, there had been a great increase in passenger travel. In England, at present, there were 3321 trol-ly-buses operating over 700 miles of route, half the number in London alone.

Seattle. United States, had electric and cable trams to 193!). when the accumulated deficits were £1,600,000. It. started a substitution programme and now htid 307 t.rolly-buscs on 117 miles of route. The t.rolly-liuses carried 12,800,000 passengers in December, 1913. against 6,200,(100 by electric and cable trams in December, 1939. Operating costs for 194." were 63 per cent, of revenue, the lowest in .Seattle’s history. The first trolly-buses were installed in 1940; by xApril. 1943. £515,000 of the installation- costs had been paid out of revenue. Kansas operated 96 trolly-buses over 54 miles. The net. income from revenue from 1.939 exceeded the entire cosj of the buses, including interest and depreciation. At December. 1943, 2927 trolly-buses were being operated in tlie United Stales by 44 authorities and >f these, 10 had more than 50 trolly-buses, three more Ilian HU), three more thn •: 150. two more than 200. and one more than 300. Trolly-buses were operating in Sydney in very congested areas. In Berth tlie Government operated 40 over 13 miles of route.-' Auckland had adopted a recommendation to substitute tlie trolly-bus for I lie electric t ram, and in Christchurch, 11 trolly-buses were operating over nine and a half miles. Sir AVillinm recommends the Dunedin cottnc.il. if it decides on trolly-buses, to act. immediately in inviting tenders for the chassis in order to secure priority for ma ntt fact it re. The bodies could lie made ioeally. An outstanding trolly-bus advantage in Dunedin, was that it would operate from the corporation electricity supply, and not by imported fuel.