Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1925-01-25
Bus Taking Lead in Bettering
Motoring for Au Types of Cars
Growing Popularity of Coacf, Idea Noted
F. Observation-Disclosures Traffic
BehaUior and Regulation.

Motor buses and coaches day by
day are rapidly Transforming street
and highway transportation, but few
motorists have stopped 10 consider
how this transition is affecting the
operation of passenger cars.
A few years ago the oversize We
hlcIe on the highway was considered
a danger and a nuisance. Cautions
drivers dared not attempt to pass it
unless the road was wide and clear
ahead for a quarter mile. 1t was
hazardous to be behind one of these
mammouth vehicles going up hill and
equally hazardous TO be ahead OF
one when descending. But the situa-
ton is being reversed.
The modern motor coach never
fails to elicit admiration from the
passenger car owner as 1t sails by.
modishly built, low hung and fleet.
The controls on these busses are so
well designed that they are steered
and handled quite as skllfully as
their smaller versions along the road.
and when it comes 10 hills they are
not only powered for the job of ascend
Ing. but are under exceptionally good
control in descending.
Safe on Down radc.
This is making a vast difference in
general motoring. No more is Il
necessary for the average driver TO
trail behind the motor coach. Watch
him try to beat it!
DownhilI many Of the motor
coaches, with their powerful, we'll de-
signed four-wEeel brakes, are the
safest OF highway comrades. Watch
the average driver try to stop his
car as quickly as the motor coach
on the downgrade.
Persons who saw Americas pioneer
motor bus that was ordered from
the first truck manufacturers for use
as Il sightseeing vehicle in Prospect
Park, Brooklyn, n. Y. would hardly
have guessed that the crude and awk-
ward affair with its greatly over
worked single cylinder could by any
stretch of the imagination be de-
Veloped into the graceful motor
coaches that are coming into service
all over the country today. Natural
" no one would have guessed that
the motor bus would ever ert any
great influence over mos dom In
general
That was in 1895. Twenty-seven
years have passed. and now the mo-
tor bus represents the most advanced
type of motor vehicle. Consider it
mechanically, for instance. when no
ting its influence over the passenger
automobile.
On Six-Cylinder Chassis
The motor coaches are built on six
cylinder chassis, the power plants in
some instances being equipped with
air cleaners to further increase their
efficiency. Four-wheel brakes are be-
coming the rule, with air-brake types
included as well as mechanical and
hydraulic. The center of gravity Is
low for safety. Steering has been
developed to a high point Of precision
and security. Springs, and spring sus-
pension. are of the latest design. And
some Of the busseS are appearing with
six wheels, development that Is said
by some to presage a similar develop
ment in the passenger automobile.
The specifications OF some of the
newest models in motor coaches read
like the specifications OF the average
automobile of tomorrow. Mechanical
" they are abreast OF the most mod
ern passenger cars and a little bit
ahead of the average car. In one In
stance a manufacturer is using four
wheel brakes on his buses before
using them on his passenger cars,
which suggests the possibility that
the experience gained will rebound to
the material benefit OF his passenger
car customers, who have learned to
place confidence in the value OF the
changes he makes from year to year.
Curb Loading a Factor.
But the motor bus, as we now
have it, is of greater interest to mo-
torists because of the time-honored
problems it is rapidly eliminating
Drivers of passenger cars who for
merly feared the consequences OF SUBJ
shutting enormous buses in place OF
street cars for city transportation use
now find that, because the motor bus
takes on and discharges passengers
at the curb traffic has fewer causes
for delay. The Philadelphia Rapid
Transit Company, widely known for
its efficient management as one OF the
worlds largest transit services, has
ordered 200 busses for delivery early
in 1925. Philadelphia motorists will
find traffic moving in a far more Or
derby fashion on many streets where,
without the bus. ii would be neces-
sary to construct new street car lines.
Experience has demonstrated that
traffic can be better regulated when
the units are more nearly of the one
kind Railroad traffic would never
have been able to reach its present
stage Of efficiency had some OF its
units run on rails, some on roads and
some crossing these lines OF traffic on
the same plane, and If these units