A MOTOR BUS FOR OPOHO.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 16142, 3 August 1914, Page 2

A MOTOR BUS FOR OPOHO.

10 THE UlVi'OU. tilK, —I hope .the ratepayers generally will not.cu unit "J_ie*tu \Yiuu" <uiU Cr iiayvvtu'U liiivt, between tuein, borne out ui> contention that tucir couoorn m opposing me councils intention to run a DOS to opoho j3 tnat tney tuink tho likelihood ot a trannine ever running through tile .t'eiichet liaj district will tnereby bo imperilled. Cr nay.vard snows now high he rates trie intelligence ol the Dunedui public when he ventures to write: •'Competent autlwnties state tnat the running ot motor buses auywiiero in New Zeaaand wiii always end in disastrous results." He ignores altogether the tact that motor motor 'buses arc already a success in parts of the dominion. Cr tiayward eays petrol alone costs Mornington £400 per annum. Ihis is, on the lace ot it, u ridiculous statement, for it stands to reason that ckuly oil consumption depends on the amount 01 running and nature of the roads. With modern, sell-starting gear, motors do not consume petrol when they are standing, and a light motor 'bus, suoh as would suit Opoho, 'would use two-thirds less oil than the Mornington 'bus does, or did. As regards cost of track, light 'buses do not necessitate a special track being constructed, and only a light vehicle is likely to be put on to serve Opoho. Any quantity of vehicular traffic heavier than the bus would be is already negotiating the roads of Opoho without, as far as I am aware, alarming Cr Hay ward. I am surprised that Cr Hay ward should appear in print with such a suggestion as that I should turn my attention to a tramcar service for Opoho, for he compels me to ask why ho did not help us two years ago, when we, of Opoho, strove in that direction ? Opoho sent a largo deputation to the council, but I don't remember seeing Cr (then Mr) Hayward there. The remark that Cr Hayward "ob.iects to any enterprise unless it can pay its own way" shows, I am afraid, that he is not a widc-a,wake, up-to-olate. councillor, for competent authorities—o.g., the town-planning lecturers—lay it down as an axiom that councils should open un tho suburbs regardless of direct financial" profit, remembering that it is their duty to discourage people from living in congested areas. Outside of that, however, I say--and I have gone into the auostion, under competent guidance—that a 'bus to Opoho will pay handsomely if the council procure ono of the type that is paying elsewhere.— I am, etc., ' 11. p. Habvey.