Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-03-27

~ public highways which has
" been brought about by the
expansion In the use of
automobiles, transporta-
ton by bus is becoming q factor of
ever-increasing Importance through
or less to city transportation. the use
of the bus now has spread to the
point where it frequently is used on
long journeys, trips covering thou
sands of miles and lasting for many
days, or even weeks.
The trip from New York to San
Francisco already has been negotiated
entirely by inter-city bus. and thou
sands of persons, in all sections of
the country, use bus lines daily going
to and fro between their homes and
other points, either downtown or In
other more distant parts of the city.
And in the rural communities of the
nation the bus is playing a role of
the utmost significance.
But in spite of the great activity
In inter-city bus transportation which
is displayed in the United States, COM
paratively we still lag behind some
countries of Europe in the develop
| ment of this phase. The most au-
thoritative figures available give the
number of buses of all types in oper-
mately 5000. This figure, as com
pared with the number in operation
| in the British Isles in 1925, compares
| unfavorably, there being at that
time 5000 BUSES in operation there.
This number since has increased to
| above 100000.
Developed in France.
Another country which shows the
increasing development of the motor
| bus as a factor of transportation Is
France. Extensive bus routes have
been inaugurated in that country dur.
| ing the past two years, so that 1t now
! Is possible to travel In many parts
| of the country by this means. Practi
| cally all other countries of Europe
| are increasing their bus lines and
| motor transportation systems. Many
| of these lines are operated by the pos'
| Office departments, others by various
| other departments of the govern
ments, others by the railroads and still
others by private companies.
London is the real haven, so tt
| speak, of transportation by motor
bus. In that city, because of the
| narrow streets, municipal ordinances
| forbade the operation of street cars
except on a limited number of streets
| and they were replaced by horse
| drawn BUSES. With the Inauguration
| of the motor bus as a favorite and
| faster means of transportation, the
| horse-drawn vehicles were replaced
| by the more rapid motor Dusses, sc
| that now thousands of such vehicles
| are being operated in the streets Of
London and it's suburbs by companie:
| which are numbered in scores.
| Not only do the busses operate II
1 diGfr
radiate from the metropolis to prac
tically all parts of England, Scotland
and Wales, and it now is possible tt
go to almost any town in England by
means of public automobile transpor
tation. In 1925, it was possible to 81
from London to Liverpool and Edin
burgh by easy, pleasant stages. New
routes are being installed continual,
in all parts of the islands and ar
proving exceptionally popular.
Used by Railroads.
In many instances new services ar
inaugurated by the railroads, which
use the busSes as feeders for thei
main lines. In Ireland, since las
October alone, approximately 20 sucl
services have been inaugurated
thereby increasing the already exist
ing service and bringing quick an(
adequate transportation almost TO the
doorstep of those who formerly haC
to travel anywhere from 5 to rs mile:
afoot or by horse, before they could bt
considered to have started on theil
journey.
Bus service in conjunction with the
railroads and operated by them, OIL
operated by private companies il
competition with the railroads. is in
creasing in Europe. In. Denmark
during the past year, service on q
number of branch lines of the rail
roads had to be curtailed consider
ably, and in some cases completely
abandoned, owing to the strong com
petition which was being furnished
by private bus services.
In France, some of the railroads
notably the Paris, Lyons & Mediter
ranean, have established bus routes
running from Nice practically the en-