THE RUSH FOR TRAMS.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 163, 10 July 1907, Page 8

THE RUSH FOR TRAMS.

(To the Editor.) Sir, —This question has now become a ; burning one, and our City Councillors are much perturbed over it, one city father going so far as to say, that by ttlis unseemly scramble we are becoming morally depraved. It is inconceivable to my mind why this rush for trams should continue, when a solution of the difficulty is so simple. At present the ' traffic is congested at the bottom of ', Queen-street, because it is the terminus, of every section of the tramway as at present run. When the tramway was constructed the engineers wisely planned two distinct circuits converging on Queen-street. I contend that the tramj. way company should give tbe circuit system a trial, say, on the Parnell-New-market-Symonds-street section. The inner circuit would proceed up Queeustreet and Symonds-street to Newmarket* going round tire curves purposely arranged for it in the widest part of Newmarket (avoiding those intricate crossings further on), going to town through Parnell. An equal number of cars would run on the outer circuit, the reverse way, and the arrangement would enable passengers to get to any point of the circuit without changing cars. The traffic would be mora widely distributed, thus preventing the congestion at one point and doing away with the present unseemly struggle for cars. Kingsland, Epsom, and Onehunga people would then be able to get their cars in comfort, as theirs would be the only cars on the wharf terminus. The same could be done on the western circuit, the management could put the change in operation in half an hour, and deal with the traffic successfully with their pre•sent number ■• of cars." We don't hear anything about the morning cars being rushed, because the traffic is more widely distributed, but let anyone observe a Kingsland, arrived full at Symonds-street shortly before eight a.m. A crowd gets in and makes everyone uncomfortable, especially the conductor, while closely behind a Newtr.larket car is only half full. With cars running in circuit, people would know there would be a car either way in a few minutes. The question of t fares could be easily adjusted. So that both the company and the public would benjefit, and this unseemly scramble would be at an end. How could a city like Manchester handle their traffic if run on the system in use here? The cars run fast enough, but they cannot cope with the traffic, in the rush hours. Though a layman and not wishing to presume, I venture to say that if the service was run on the circuits provided, this serious difficulty would largely disappear.—Yours, etc.,

W. TRLNEB.