CIRCULAR SERVICES,

Auckland Star, Volume LII, Issue 279, 23 November 1921, Page 4

CIRCULAR SERVICES,

"Per ardua ad astra' , may charitably be suggested to the City Council as its tramway service motto. The council is learning from criticism and through experience. Every second man one met during the last few months wondered why on earth the Council did not make more use of its track facilities to develop a system of circular services. With the much-criticised change involving the handling of traffic at the bottom of Queen Street —a change ■which ihiia iperhaips caused more discontent than anything else has ever done in connection witli the trams—more use was made of circular routes, and now a development is announced by which six services will be circular at rush hours, and a proportion of full cars that have loaded up u.t the bottom of Queen Street will be diverted via Customs Street East and Hobson Street. The change ie a sensible one. The delay in changing round at the bottom of Queen .Street and the concentration of co many intending passengers in the main street of the city have long been the most serioua blote on the handling of tram traffic, and with the opening of the Ajizac ' Avenue route there was no excuse for a continuance of the old system. The truth is the traffic (jot out of hand; the needs of the public outdistanced both the equipment and the organising powers of the officials. Experience may show that the circular system is capable of considerably more development. We notice, for example, th-at on two of the services on which traffic is particularly heavy. <ars are to continue to enter and leave by Queen Street. The council m advertising for a traffic manager, aud whoever is ap- ! pointed may be a'ul-e to introduce ; further improvements, especially if he ■ comes With experience gained in larger cities. In the. meantime we would underline the Mayor's remarks about the co-operation of the public. It is certain that some of the discontent and confusion produced by ihe recent changes was caused by people not taking the trouble lo malje themselves acquainted with the new arrangements, and the authorities are entitled to point out that there are two parties to the success of the new policy.