Tramways and Other Forms of Transport

The effect of this decision was far reaching. The street railways soon discovered that bus service, properly regulated and operated, could meet many transportation demands more efficiently and eco nomically than could the street-car. Extensions of street railway lines virtually ceased, and substitutions of buses in place of cars began. As a result, the electric railway trackage in the United States shrunk from approximately 45,00omi. in 1917 to 25,000mi. in 1937. Similarly, the number of electric railway passenger cars declined from 8o,000 to approximately 35,000. In this connection, however, it should be noted that many electric railway companies formerly had duplicate equipment, open cars for summer and closed cars for winter, and a substantial part of the reduction has been due to abandonment of open car operation.

Since the time that the street railway industry decided to enter the bus business, it has succeeded in co-ordinating a very large part of the city bus operation with its rail operation. Thus, the competition between the motor-bus and the street-car has become one of cost and quality of service under one management rather than one of separate companies competing with each other. At the present time, the street-cars are carrying slightly more than half of all the passengers carried in urban and suburban transit service. Motor-buses are carrying approximately 27%; subway and elevated lines, approximately 18%; and other vehicles, 3%. Indications are that substitution of buses in place of street-cars will continue, although the competitive position of the two ve hicles has been somewhat altered by recent improvements in street-car design.

New Type Street-Car.

Recognizing the need for a better type of street-car a group of leading operators got together in 1930 and formed the Electric Railway Presidents' Conference Committee. Five years of effort and approximately $750,000 were spent in a program of research. Upon this has been based the de sign of a car with performance characteristics far surpassing those of any previous street-car. Using rubber extensively in the construction of trucks and wheels, a vehicle has been developed which operates with almost no noise or vibration. To give the new car faster acceleration and retardation, new types of control, motors and brakes were developed. More than 1,000 cars of this type have been purchased in recent years by the street railway companies in Chicago, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Brooklyn, Balti more, Washington, Toronto, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, San Fran cisco, St. Louis and San Diego. Wherever these cars have been introduced revenues have increased and operating expenses have been reduced. While it is not anticipated that these improved

vehicles will restore the street railway to the position it occupied in the local transportation field 20 years ago, many experienced operators feel that the new type of car represents such an effec tive combination of efficient performance and passenger appeal that it has no superior among transit vehicles where heavy loads are to be carried.

Trackless Trolleys.

In recent years, an entirely new type ve hicle has entered the transit field to a notable extent in the United States and England and to some extent in a number of other countries. This is the so-called "trackless trolley" or "trolley bus," which is, in effect, a vehicle midway between the electric street-car and the motor-bus, operating on rubber tires but utiliz ing electrical energy from overhead wires as its source of power.

As far back as 1882 experiments were being made with a two wire overhead electric system for omnibuses.. Between 190o and 1914 a number of systems of this kind were established in the United States and England. While their theoretical advantages were clearly seen, the practical aspects of design had not been satisfactorily mastered. Following the World War these experi ments were continued. It was not until 1928, however, that suc cessful results were achieved. By that time many advances had been made in the design of automotive vehicles so that it was possible to build a trolley-bus of far more efficient and commodi ous design than the earlier vehicles. Salt Lake City was the first city in the United States to install a trolley-bus system with ve hicles of the new type. Compared with the older street-cars, the new trolley-bus had the advantages of being quieter in operation and more modern in appearance, as well as being cheaper to oper ate. Compared with the gasoline motor-bus, it had the advantage of being able to draw upon an unlimited supply of electric power.

From 1929 to 1939, this type of transportation made great strides. There are more than 2,000 of these vehicles in operation over r,soorni. of route in the United States. Even greater popu larity has been achieved by this vehicle in England, where some 2,600 are in operation. Elsewhere throughout the world, there are about 1,300 others. More than 6o cities of over 25,000 popu lation in the United States are now served wholly or in part by trolley-buses. Since this type of service utilizes a power supply and distribution system similar to those of the electric railway, it is natural to find that all trolley-bus operations are conducted by electric railway companies.