MOTOR TRAFFIC.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXX, Issue 5492, 25 October 1929, Page 4

MOTOR TRAFFIC.

BUSES BEST FOR SAFETY.

A MOTOR MAN’S VIEW.

The value of the motor bus in the handling of city traffic was emphasised by Mr J. J. Sullivan, chairman of directors of the Comfort Coach Company, who returned to Sydney by the Maloja after an absence of five months in Europe and America. “One has only to visit London to see this,” said Mi- Sullivan. “London traffic, in which the bus predominates, is safer, faster, and more free from congestion than that of any other big city.” Mr Sullivan said he felt bound to reply to the statements of Mr S. A. Maddocks, who recently conducted inquiries for the State Government regarding the need for retaining trams. His statement that where mass transport had to be handled on the surface the electric tram was still the most efficient and economical form of transport was combated by Mr Sullivan. Glasgow had scrapped its trams, sad Mr Sullivan. Leeds and Bradford were gradually doing the same. Birmingham had practically abandoned trams in favour of buses, and other English towns were following suit. Fifth Avenue, New York, served by motor buses, running a half-minute service, he said, was the only street in New York that was free from traffic jambs. Michigan Avenue, Chicago, enjoyed the same reputation. “It will probably surprise many to know that trams do not run in the principal streets of Paris,” he said. “The statement of Mi* Maddocks’ that nowhere are buses allowed to run in competition with trams to the same extent as in Sydney is not correct. This happens to an even greater extent in London and in other large English towns, as well as in Paris, Liepzic, New York, Detroit, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Cork, Dublin, and Winnipeg.” Mr Sullivan paid a compliment to the traffic control of Sydney, which he said was stricter than elsewhere. The Sydney police were second only to those of London, and it would be difficult to improve on their control. “It is obvious,” stated Mr Sullivan, “that the fixed-rail system in our streets is the outstanding cause of all our traffic difficulties.”