New Britain herald. [microfilm reel] (New Britain, Conn.) 1890-1976, 1921-07-21
Conn. CO. REPLIES
TO OUR EDITORIAL
Figures on Bus Traffic in London
Submitted by President Storrs

Dear Sir:
Your ISSUE of the 18th instant con-
tains an editorial referring among
other things to the bus operation in
London. In order that you may be
more familiar with the situation in
London, I am taking the liberty to
call to your attention several facts
relative to the transportation services
of that city. t.s. e.
The first statement in the editorial
is that lin London there are remark
ably few rolleys." In 1920, the!
underground railways in London car
ried 100000 passengers, the SUI
burban, steam and electric railways
$50, 100000 passengers, the street
railways, 1,100,000,000 passengers
and the motor omnibusses, 1,035, 0O0,-
900 passengers. You will note, there
fore, that the street railways car
ried more passengers than either the
motor buses or the underground and
suburban railways combined, or a
little more than one-third of the
total number of passengers carried by
all transportation facilities. The
statement that there are remark
ably few trolleys," therefore, is hard
| ly borne out by these statistics.
In greater London, 348 miles Of
streets and roads are occupied by
electric railways and SIT miles are
occupied by motor BUSES, of which
| 222 miles are over streets which have
electric railways. One of the prin-
| cipal reasons for the large amount
| of motor bus service in London is
| the narrowness of it's main streets
and irregularity of the city plan
ming. The streets are so narrow that
because of q general requirement of
| all tramways in England to MAIN
tain a clear space between the outer
rail and curb of not less than 9 feet
| 6 inches very few of the street rail-
way lines are double tracked. Even
the Strand which is the main east
and west channel of traffic is only
| 80 feet wide from curb to curb al
thought it is, at the present time,
being gradually widened to 60 feet
Oxford street, another main east and
west channel of traffic, is only So feet
wide. ..-.-..
1t is, therefore, next to impossible,
and always has been, to construct
electric railway tracks through many
of the London streets and BUSES have
been operated as means of trans
portation even before the advent of
the gasoline motor as means of pro-
pulsion. The bus routes are SO laid
out that they overlap the street rail-
ways for only short distances and
then spread out into territory where
there is not and never has been any
| street railway tracks.
| Your editorial states that the BUSES
carry passengers long distances for
cents. The fare on the buses is
not uniform but is graduated on the
basis of the distance travelled the
same as the fare on the street rail-
ways and over 60 per cent of the
passengers carried on the buses ride
LESS than one mile. However, in
1920, the average fare paid per pas
lsenger was slightly in excess of
cents, some passengers paying more
land some less.
1t should also be borne in mind
in comparing the cost of operation
of buses in London with the cost
in this country that, in London, they
use double deck buses of from AZ
to A seating capacity and are even
Installing at the present time some
with a seating capacity of 60. There
are very few American cities, out
side of first class cities, where BUSES
: of this type could be successfully
loperated. Therefore, the cost per
passenger, owing to the greater ca
lpacity, is materially less in London
than it would be in this country. !
think you will find, upon careful in
vestigAtion, that a real bus service
Operating on regular schedule Is
hours per day and 365 days per year
Twill cost very much more per pas
lsenger than the street railway serv-
! ice.
1t may be Of further interest tc
!. lyou to know that the receipts of the
: London General Omnibus company
: Limited, in 1920, were $706,00O less
than the operating expenses or &
l deficit from operations of 0.S2 cent:
! per bus mile. 1t costs the Fifth Ave
nue. Coach company of New York
: which operates under the most ia
1 lvorable circumstances and with prac
f ltically maximum loads at all times
l Is 1-2 cents for every passenger car
Y ried
L I trust you will pardon me for hav
. ing trespassed on your time to th1
4 extent but I have done so merely TO
: the purpose of emphasizing that il
4 our enthusiasm for the reception o
some new departure, we frequent.
4 neglect to make sufficient serious com
Q parsons with the older method
: which we expect to replace.
5, Yours very truly,
L.. P. sToRRs,
s President
e We do not question the veracity o
: Mr.. Storrs' remarks. He undoubtedl.
T, knows of conditions. But, owing t
e narrowness of streets or otherwise
downtown London is singularly lack
: ing in tro11eys and remarkably full
Q of buses. The writer wrote witt
IS only his knowledge of greater Lon
don to depend upon, not with an
statistics at hand. He happens t
p, know that the buses will carry pas
sengers over mile for four cents
), normal exchange, because he was II
the habit of riding that distance a
least twice daily. Ed. -...--.