TRAMWAY FARES.

Auckland Star, Volume L, Issue 53, 3 March 1919, Page 4

TRAMWAY FARES.

It is reported that the City Council, as a way out of the difficulty caused by the raising of the tramway men's wages and the inability of the company to increase its fares, proposes to institute a uniform twopenny fare over the whole service. This is a revolutionary proposal, altering the whole basis of the tram fare system, and wo feel it our duty to draw attention to it co that an opportunity of public protest be afforded before the decision comes before the City Council in open meeting for ratification. So important a change should not 'be made without giving the people of the city the fullest opportunity for considering it in all its bearings. The proposed change would do away with the penny fare, which is paid daily by so many thousands of people in the city proper, and also with the suburban fares of threepence and over. It is reported that the Council estimates that the change will produce an increa&e in the company's revenue by something approaching £50,000, and that in consequence the Council's share of the profits will be in the vicinity of £40,000. If this last consideration has influenced the committee, the Council is working on the wrong lines. There is no justification for changing the whole fare system, and raising the usual fare of a great number of people by 100 per cent., in order that the Council may obtain a larger income; from the trams. The policy of the | municipality should be to cheapen transit' within its borders. There is absolutely) no reaeon why the increase in the com- j pany'e revenue should be any greater; than the amount required to satisfy the legitimate demands of the men. In Wellington the increased wages for the men was provided for simply by raising the Sunday fare, and a similar policy would have gone a long way towards meeting the present position in Auck-j land. What the Council proposes will I make tramway fares in Auckland higher than in any city in Australaeia, and the imposts will fall especially heavy upon \ men whose work compels them to live , : in the city. Public opinion will strongly j disapprove of a rearrangement of the| whole fare system which greatly bene- i fit* the suburban resident, heavily' penalises the city traveller, and puts far more additional money into the com- > pany's till than is required to meet the "increases in pay planted to its employees. In point of fact, tne increased faro represents a sum equivalent to a shilling extra rate levied upon the people livinnr within city boundaries. Moreover, the change will completely revolutionise , existing conditions. Tho penny section between Pitt Street and Three Lamps, Ponsonby, is very largely used, and its abolition will seriously affect the shopping in Karangahape ;

Road. The same may be said of other penny sections in relation to shopping centres which have been established at various termini. In Ponsonby the halfpenny section from the Three Lamps to the tram barn will be quadrupled. It is also reported that the Council, as part of the new order of things, relieves the company of all responsibility for future disputes between the company and the men employed in its service. We are astonished that any such arrangement could have received the approval of any ! large section of the municipal authority. ] This reported decision raises again the question ef the Council considering i taking over the tramway service. We believe that if this proposal is to stand, ; most people will say that if that is the i best the Council can do, the Tramway Company had better be bought out. . There is* the question of extensions. Will ■ i the twopenny uniform rate apply to ! future extensions as well as to existing j lines? And now that wo have menI tioned extensions, it is worth while i noting that at the last annual meeting of the company the chairman said that the concession from the Council expired lin ]D3'2, "and with the shadow of imj pending purchase over us we shall find very little inducement, even under favourable financial circumst;i|nces, "to raise capital for expenditure on extensions which may not for some time be remunerative, and with the prospect of but a limited period in which to reap the benefit of the expenditure." That is to say, Auckland, though it is spreading rapidly, ma-y have to do without further tramway extensione for another thirteen years. We hope that this aspect of the question has been fully considered by the City Council. It strikes us as being a strong argument for the consideration of more or lees immediate purchase by the Council.