Automobile, Bus and Truck

The very rapid development of technical know-how in the automobile and highway industries initiated a transportation cycle unequal in the history of mankind.

As the automobile was improved, people demanded better roads and as the roads became better more people bought automobiles. The cycle started after World War I and is still whirling. It spelled doom for the railroads because it held in favorable position the four factors that make a method of transportation work. The automobile and its derivatives, the bus and truck, were economical, comfortable and fast but most important of all they had flexibility of destination - they would go anywhere.

The development of the bus coincided with the passing of the Interurban and railroad passenger service. Central New York was served with a network of bus routes comparaable with that of the railroad. The earliest busses were large open touring cars which seldom made more than one or two trips daily between important passenger stations. By the 19S0's the larger enclosed bus was becoming progressively more common. It is reported that at one time Greyhound buses stopped at Weedsport "every hour, on the hour" from 6:00 A.M. to midnight. But that has changed. The inter-city bus business has largely succumbed to the privately owned automobile. Efforts to encourage people to ride busses and leave their cars home has not been generally successful.

Another phenomenon in transportation was the development of the truck which was encouraged by the fine system of highways of which the New York State Thruway, Interstate 90, is an excellent example. The cost per ton of trucked freight is higher than the railroad would charge but many Cargoes never need handling from the time they are loaded until they reach their ultimate destination. The service is fast and damage somewhat less than could be expected for freight handled by railroads. Short distance hauls are very much faster and more convenient than before trucking came of age.

It appears now that the auto-bus-truck era will be with us for some time, very likely until the gravity neutralizer gets invented and a whole new cycle of transportation takes over.