Maidstone Corporation fi rst began operating trams on 14 July 1904, in conjunction with the municipal electricity supply. Motor buses were introduced from 7 April 1924, and, to replace the trams which were being phased out through 1929 and 1930, trolleybuses were introduced on 1 May 1928. Towards the end of the 1960s, it was decided that the trolleybuses should be phased out themselves and the Corporation continued operating buses alone until it ceased to exist in 1974. Using offi cial pho...

This book records the vehicles and services operated by Maidstone Borough Council from its creation with the local government reorganisation in 1974, through coordination with Maidstone & District in 1981, to the rapid growth following bus deregulation in 1986 and to its demise in 1992. Buses are shown against the ever-changing urban background in Maidstone, rural locations from 1981 and later in south east and central London. Coaching operations are covered in places as far away as Burnle...

Indonesian Ferry Sinks. Peruvian Bus Plunges Off Cliff. African Train Attacked by Mobs.Whenever he picked up the newspaper, Carl Hoffman noticed those short news bulletins, which seemed about as far from the idea of tourism, travel as the pursuit of pleasure, as it was possible to get. So off he went, spending six months circumnavigating the globe on the world's worst conveyances: the statistically most dangerous airlines, the most crowded and dangerous ferries, th...

Strathclyde Buses can trace its roots back to the tram services provided by Glasgow Corporation, which started running buses in 1924 as a more cost-effective way of reaching the new, large council housing schemes on the outskirts of the city. Operating within the city of Glasgow and to locations such as East Kilbride, Cumbernauld, Balloch and Johnstone, the Strathclyde buses in their orange and black livery would become familiar to all Glaswegians. In this book, bus enthusiast David Devoy ...

In the late nineteenth century, as cities like Boston and New York grew more congested, the streets became clogged with plodding, horse-drawn carts. When the great blizzard of 1888 crippled the entire northeast, a solution had to be found. Two brothers from one of the nation's great families-Henry Melville Whitney of Boston and William Collins Whitney of New York-pursued the dream of his city digging America's first subway, and the great race was on. The competition between Boston and New ...

In Belfast Taxi the city’s taxi drivers – of all ages and from all backgrounds – tell their stories in their own words, covering everything from the beginnings of the public-hire and private-hire industries, to the dark days of the Troubles and the vital role taxis currently play in Belfast’s burgeoning tourist economy.Join Lee Henry as he tours the city in the company of the city’s drivers, including Charlie, who drove members of the press throughout the Troubles; Majella, one of ...

Looking back over the past 75 years, there is no doubt that public transportation has played a major role in the development and maturing of Toronto and its metropolitan area. Indeed , despite the fiscal challenges facing it, the TTC today remains a transit agency with an enviable reputation.The TTC Story:The First Seventy-five Years, by Mike Filey, features over one hundred magnificent black and white images selected to illustrate the principal "transit" event in each yea...

On a Saturday morning in December 1973, a section of New York's West Side Highway collapsed under the weight of a truck full of asphalt. The road was closed, seemingly for good, and the 80,000 cars that traveled it each day had to find a new way to their destinations. It ought to have produced traffic chaos, but it didn't. The cars simply vanished. It was a moment of revelation: the highway had induced the demand for car travel. It was a classic case of "build it and they will come," but f...

The Leeds Tramways Company was authorised to construct tramway lines in Leeds in 1871 under the Leeds Tramways Order, with the first route opening on 16 September of that year and running from Boar Lane to the Oak Inn at Headingley. The Tramways Company operated horse-drawn and steam-powered vehicles, full electrification coming in after the Company was bought out by Leeds Corporation in 1893. These trams then continued to operate until 7 November 1959, when the system was closed down, lea...

The Buses and Coaches of Bristol and Eastern Coach Works outlines the history of Bristol Commercial Vehicles and Eastern Coach Works (ECW), two manufacturers that together developed some of the most familiar buses and coaches of the twentieth century. The book covers the full production histories and specifications for the standard range of models produced from 1936 to 1983. The variety of engines used to power Bristol-ECW is outlined and a mechanical specification for each chassis is prov...

Travel is an essential part of everyday life and today most journeys are multimodal. It is the total travel experience that counts and integrated transport must reduce the inconvenience of transfers between modes. Most research and many publications on transport policy advocate sustainable transport, but the priority given to integration has been negligible. Yet integration is one of the most important means to advance sustainable transport and sustainability more generally.While i...

A fascinating journey into the past—and under the ground—that offers "an insightful look at the what-might-have-beens of urban mass transit" ( The New York Times).From the day it broke ground by City Hall in 1900, it took about four and half years to build New York's first subway line to West 145th Street in Harlem. Things rarely went that quickly ever again.The Routes Not Taken explores the often-dramatic stories behind unbuilt or unfinis...