Omnibusiness

When, following the War, the first few scattered bus lines strung short networks along rural roads, trolley cars, interurban electric lines and railroads had already pre-empted the best U. S. transportation routes. Slim indeed seemed the prospects of the infant bus industry. Last year the onetime infant had driven trolleys entirely out of 434 cities, had $690,000,000 worth of equipment, operated 1,389.000 miles of route, carried over 3,000,000,000 passengers, and its 4,780 bus companies had an aggregate income of $467,000,000. Of the 124,000 busses in service, 46,750 run on scheduled lines, about 75,000 carry children to and from school, 2,250 are used for sightseeing, chartered trips and by private concerns such as hotels. Pleased as punch at this record were some 500 members of the National Association of Motor Bus Operators who met last week at Chicago's Congress Hotel.

Most significant news of the meeting was the Diesel engine. Though Diesels were patented by Germany's Dr. Rudolf Diesel in 1892 only about 40 have been installed, in U. S, busses and those for scarcely more than a year. Because Diesel engines burn fuel oil instead of gasoline, because the oil is ignited not by electric sparks but by high compression (around 500 Ib. per sq. in.) which raises the temperature of air in the cylinder to about 1,000DEG F., they are: 1) cheap to operate. 2) heavy in order to withstand high pressure, 3) expensive to construct.

Their initial cost is some 50% more than that of conventional gasoline engines. Newest types do not work directly on the transmission but generate electric power that propels a vehicle without clutch or gear shift. Last year New Jersey's Public Service Coordinated Transport bought 27 Diesel-electrics from Yellow Truck & Coach Manufacturing Co. for $12,000 each and at once put them into passenger service. Since then the New Jersey fleet has rolled up 1.000,000 carefully tabulated, experimental miles and the company's enthusiastic report of Diesel results put new bees in many a busman's bonnet.

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