THE TRANSPORT PROBLEM.

Auckland Star, Volume LIX, Issue 69, 22 March 1928, Page 6

THE TRANSPORT PROBLEM.

PRESENT POLICY DEFENDED.

(To the Editor.)

In reply to "Anti-Monopoly's" letter I would like to point out to him that public ownership of passenger transport is portion of the Labour party's platform and it could not consistently oppose the bus regulations when they wei* brought down by the Government for the proper control of traffic. All over the world the move is towards co-ordination of transport to obviate ruthless competition and overlapping of services, which in the finish can only result in chaos, a case in point being Birkenhead. This district had a very fine bus service, hut a line of taxis started running at bus fares and converted a profit into a loss to the but company and it had to relinquish the service, and now Birkenhead is left with a few tjirfr to handle the transport. A similar position would have arisen in Auckland for the trams, which have to maintain the centre of the road out of the revenue in all the districts where * they run, thereby saving the ratepayers the large expenditure on the centre of tha road. This applies to all districts where the trams run, Onehunga included. Moreover, the tramways are obliged to keep a big spare list to handle the peak load at five o'clock, which none of the bus companies did. "AntiMonopoly's" statement that there are empty houses and depreciated property in Onehunga as a result of the bus regulations is ridiculous when the town has a fast and frequent service of trams at fares below anything charged on bus company routes. Whatever slump there is in property is being caused by the prevailing depression, which is world-wide. Finally, the solution of the whole transport difficulty so far as it affects districts not served by tram or train is in the creation of a Greater Auckland. All districts will then have an interest in the administration of transport, and the various forms of transport can then be co-or« dinated. It is hardly likely that the workers will cut off their noses to spite their faces because of the bus regulations, and I think that Manukau and Eden will be retained for Labour. SANE TRANSPORT.