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Show DEVELOPMENT OF MOTOR BUS RONS Vehicles Are Now Comfort able, Easy Riding and Quite Convenient "It Is estimated that there are 40,000 motor busses In the United States, Including In-cluding those operated by rural schools." This extract from a recent report of the National Automobile Chamber of Commerce tells briefly the history of one of the most remarkable Industrial developments of recent years. The original motor bus was a cheaply constructed affair with hard cushions, cold In winter, and dusty In summer. Now we have comfortable and easy riding cars, offering convenient conveni-ent and quick transportation on the strictest of schedules. In the early days of the bus It was looked upon with fear by other utilities. utili-ties. Street car, Interurban, and railroad rail-road lines thought It an unfair competitor. com-petitor. But now CO electric lines ope- a. 7 ,3??:s tram-. h,m : I Where Motor Busses Are Popular. rate bus runs of their own, and they are being used in Increasing numbers by the railroads. Traction Lines Own Busses. Of the traction lines which have established es-tablished their own bus units, one in Ohio holds the Middle West record with an average monthly passenger business busi-ness of 135,000 fares. The high mark for the nation Is held by a Maryland line which carries 251,000 every month. The bus has been recognized as an essential es-sential and Integral part of our transportation trans-portation system, and with the spread of the gospel of hard-surfaced highways, high-ways, It Is growing annually In Importance. Impor-tance. There Is no doubt thnt motor bus lines as auxiliary transportation units are an established part of our national business life. The steady development of this means of travel from the old Jitney das to the present luxury of rubber-tired "parlor cars" Is conclusive conclus-ive proof of this assertion. Of greater Importance, however, Is the fact that merchnnts have found that their trade expansion has been greater along the route of motor transportation trans-portation lines following the course of well-made, hard-surfaced highways, than In any other sections. After a city has become well established In a business way, local stores soon reach a point of saturation with regard to expansion In selling. The only method of overcoming this threatened stagnation stagna-tion Is to reach new trade channels. One striking factor must obtain, how-ever, how-ever, If this ideal situation Is to be developed to Its true value. There must be roads that will stand up under un-der the heavy traffic and be In shape every day in the year. Bus lines cannot can-not oerate on schedule and cannot operate at a fair profit unless the public pub-lic road, which is their road-bed, la of enduring construction. The automobile auto-mobile was In a lurge sense the pioneer pio-neer which led tTIe way and established the necessity for paved roads. In bus transportation, however, the road still Is the first consideration. The roads must withstand the gruelling gruel-ling pace of heavy traffic almost without with-out let-up, and they must be available for rapid, safe and comfortable motor travel every day. Permanence and low maintenance cost must be the deciding de-ciding factors In this Important consideration con-sideration In successful operation of motor bus lines from the standpoint f dvU prosperity. |