PRINCIPLES OF MOTORBUS DESIGN AND OPERATION

In the paper an attempt is made to answer the broader phases of the questions: What constitutes a bus? and In what respects does a bus differ from other classes of automotive equipment? by establishing the principles on which the design and operation of motorbuses should be based. The treatment of the subject is in the main impersonal, although specific references to the practice of the Fifth Avenue Coach Co. and illustrations of its equipment are made to emphasize the points brought out. The questions of the unwisdom of overloading, rates of fare and the service requirements are discussed briefly as a preface to the paper proper.

The factors controlling bus design are stated to be (a) safety, (b) comfort and convenience of the public and (c) minimum operating cost. The various subdivisions of each are commented on in some detail, and numerous illustrations and tabular data supplement the text. The conclusions reached are that trucks or automobiles, either modified or unmodified, are absolutely incapable of rendering satisfactory and economical service as buses; such failures of buses as have occurred were due to the combination of extemporized equipment, indiscriminate operation, overloading and lack of experience; and, if the Society would concentrate its standardization work on the motorbus, much good could be accomplished.