Tulsa daily world. [volume] (Tulsa, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1905-1919, 1918-01-06
TRACTORS
GOOD ROADS
POSSIBILITIES OF
PUBLIC MOTOR BUS
Special Adaptability of Ma
chimes Have Cleared Away
Municipal Prejudice.

Tho drcoms of the motor bus enthu-
siN1ie have not been realized, but the
wnrrn ,r progress, as indicated hy the
remarkable growth ip the last four
yeurH hna vtrurk pl'c from which
there can hr up turning back por-
/ hHps tho ora ~ motor passenger frau--
| porlatlnn service l4 not vet upon ug.
/ lut as arrival la nome fUr lu.. ruJ.
| tain FOR heiuT en- tlr i.Hlu uf fulufI-
/ tics. Even tho most conservative how.
ever could scarcely fan To- hc Infected
/ w'th tho 'pirlt uf outhu#. .Hm Chat h.l
prJndod tho public passenger trbus-
rurHNpu mu,omrnt ln America
AZ thl7 luuuturn uu" nav recall ma
/ |tathrr mrpruHiuR statistics. published a
/ lLtuo more than four Years age, Wtt
| an article In The Power Wagon. CON
| corning the extent of motor vehicle us,
] IN transporting ppH1rngrrs for htrF
/ Then n was shown that 73i motor
. bus, tHNlvRh and motor stage line en-
/ tcrptIscs vorporRtoly and lndiyiduul-
/ ~ operated had already been csinh-
/ liBhcd I'm the United states The 3gI
motor vehicles employed by them
were worth In the noighhorhood az
! $4,000 O00 and we're Transporting pos
/ Tihly no less than 10000 persons daily
! While not complete the figures pre-
seutcd were nearly exact and provided
a very faithful picture OF the Situa-
ton
An investigation or present condi-
tions only recently finished, Ia infer
tor To tho previous census In the mat
ter of accuracy, owing to n late de.
v-lopment In motor bus ownerHhip.
At least half OF tho public motor ve-
hiclos ia Use today are owned by In
divlduhla, plan OF operation COM
mon In England. where these opera
tors are known AS owner drivers.
These mon were not. OF course, un-
known IN this country when tho fig
ures already given were compiled, but
their rapid Increase since that tlms
has been one of the most remarkable
| features OF u very remarkable develop
mont
while the popularity enjoyed by tho
o-cnllcd ''iltnoy' bus during the past
, two or three years has subsidized and
viii probably never be revived tho
men who operated them have not dis
appeared, and many OF these grad
ustes Of the school OF costly expert
4 encc.-arc among the most successful
operators OF modern motor buses. Yet
Ownership shifts frequently IN a busl-
ness no lacking In stability, and tho
compilation lately undertaken IT, for
that reason, perhaps not more than
? 90 or SO per cent complete, Aitho tho
r last census shows 2, i6b public pas
seuaer motor operators owning T,46i
machines, tho true figures are certain.
lW Ior~ Than 90 per cent largur.
, Number of Vehicles Increased.
, On this assumption. which IL fully
: warranted by tho very thoro and pains.
, taking investigation OF present con
. dltions, the number OF operators may
be taken na AT least $500 and tho
. number OF machines ms nearly Il 900.
Compared with the record OF four,
, years ago, striking growth Ia shown
naaa d mas al Ia .l...N
OF operators and more than ss per
, cent IN tho number OF vehicles.
In the same period comprehensive
. and modern motor bus service, To
serve ultimately a population Of over
1000. 600 people, has been established
In the second largest city OF the coun-
! try Ban Francisco has tnaugurated a
, city owned motor bus line 10 oper-
alto I'm competition with municipal and
. corporate street railways. and n great
T many electric city railroads have In
stalled motor buses aa feeders" 10
existing lines aud "A developers OF new
, traffic In sparsely populated sections.
! And, as II this were not enough, ono
a ~ the wealthiost and most influential
electric railway operators Ia America
"a man who. several years ago. sent
paid investigators y Europe In an
effort 10 prove that English and con-
tlneutal motor bus services were mil-
uIeAi ana the Wbole motor BUS IDEA
a dclusion--thls man IN today "a large
stockhodor In the largest motor bus
undertaking IN this country operat-
ing In competition with his own rail.
way lines) and lis giving financial aid
to the establishment Of another I'm
der Such conditions. continues ths
article, the uninitlated may well ask
what has brought about this change
% feeling
Compared with the most modern
typo Of street railway facilities the
motor bus appears 10 hc Il very au-
periOr means ot passenger trauaporta
tiOn. It's advantages IN this respect
arc not limited 20 the operators hut
are enjoyed by the travelling public ne
well, and Il is this fact that has won
for the machine such immediate recog
milton nt tho hands of tho critical
passenger. All its merits can he
grouped under two heads: those hen-
efiung the operator and those bcue-
fitting the public,
Except whore recent legislation has
provided special requirements, no
franchise for motor bgs operation Is
uogpHvarv