The Auckland Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News and The Echo. TUESDAY, MAY IS, 1920. TRAMWAY FARES.

Auckland Star, Volume LI, Issue 118, 18 May 1920, Page 4

The Auckland Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News and The Echo.

TUESDAY, MAY IS, 1920. TRAMWAY FARES.

For the cause thert Uksl;» (Utittanct, For the toning that needs rtuiaUmce, For the future in the distance, AtniL the good that ice caa. d~-

Tho new scale of tram fares agreed upon by the City Council and all but two of the local bodies concerned is a considerable improvement on the original proposals of the Council. It will not please everybody, hut we should say it -would strike most people as an equitable and businesslike solution of a difficult problem. It should be noted that whereas the original proposals were made .by the Council to the local bodies, and in a manner that suggested that the Council thought they would be speedily accepted, the scale finally adopted represents the ideas of the local bodies, which the Mayor and Council have wisely accepted. To our mind thie strengthens the argument for full participation of the outer districts in ownership and management of the tramway system. We may also note that accountants who examined the Council's original proposals, on the instructions of the local bodies, estimated that the yield of the new farce would be coni siderably higher than the figures furnished by the tramway management, J thus supporting criticism of the proposals which this paper put forward at the time.

The proposals of the Council have .been improved in two important respects. The idea of a penny increase all round in cash fares has been retained, but concessions have been granted on all sections at a uniform rate of 25 per cent. Sunday fares have been raised by an additional penny all round, with no concessions. The greatest weakness in the original scale was that it confined concession to the twopenny tickets, and therefore favoured travellers in. the inner ring at the expense of those going to the outer districts. Moreover, as we pointed out at the time, it should be the endeavour of the management to encourage payment by ticket as much as possible. The new scale is a recognition of the sound principle that a resident in a district should pay less than the casual traveller. If it is found that concession tickets are abused, a regulation might be introduced similar to the one just adopted in Christchurch, by which cards are available for only one person on each journey. Another improvement in the new scale is the uniformity of farce it eecuree. Similar sections on all lines carry similar fares, both cash and concession, and the old set oi dissimilar concessions on different lines, which was the result of bargaining by individual local bodies with the company, are rightly swept away. Newmarket is holding out for preferential treatment; whereas other districts will have to pay 2/3 a dozen for threepenny tickets, Newmarket demands them for two shillings. The Newmarket Council will surely realise before the dispute comes to a deadlock that its position is untenable. The Council and the local bodies cannot treat one district differently from another. Onehunga has deferred giving its consent pending the receipt of further information, and no doubt it will soon come -into line. The increase in Sunday fares is aleo justified. Most Sunday travelling is a luxury, and it should be paid at luxury rates. The argument that since the men are paid extra on Sundays travellers should pay higher fares, is unanswerable.

We have criticised both the matter of the City Council's proposals and the manner in which they were presented, but we think a word of praise is due to the Mayor for the way in which he has handled the difficult business of conferring with the local bodies. Mr. Gunson has shown ability, patience and tact in negotiations where many conflicting interests were involved; he has been both firm and conciliatory. We hope that the amicable relations between the Council and the local bodies established in these conferences will endure. At the same time it must be noted that the new arrangement is subject to review in less than two years' time. In March, 1022. the whole question of fares will be reopened, and the Council, as the owners of the system, may again have to face the difficult task of satisfying a number of local bodies which, while they are deeply interested in the tramway system, have no liability towards it and no share in its management. Before that time, however, it should become clear to all the bodies concerned that the present system of ownership and control is open to the grave objection that while the service benefits and is supported by the whole community it is vested in only a portion of it. The aim of all concerned should be to transfer the service to the control aD(j management of a body representing the whole of Greater Auckland.