THE TRANSPORT PROBLEM

Auckland Star, Volume LIX, Issue 306, 27 December 1928, Page 6

THE TRANSPORT PROBLEM

A SUBURBAN VIEW;

(To the Editor.) - ** ■ < The address given l>y Mr. Allum on occasion of his election as chairman of tnj Transport Board shows how widely men maffidiffer in their points of view, fee states ths|p, the bus services are still losing money, m that by extending trams and purchasing betterbuses these losses can be reduced. What the public cannot understand is why the City;Council ran buses at all. They could not raaG|; them pay and private firms could make thenv pay, and are doing so where they have been*, permitted to run. Mr. Allum says that theycould have gained temporary popularity b«granting licenses, but would have been demned when the result was fully rcalisedl. What are we to understand? That the buses, would have injured tramways revenue? .■£. penal fare of twopence was imposed by laWj, and should have been sufficient to protect the trams. If it is not sufficient the tramways system must be a very inferior method transport, and neither Mr. Allum nor tKe Transport Board is justified in trying toy saddle Auckland with an inferior system. Mi. Allum admits that a section of the travelling* public has been put to some inconvenience which is a ludicrous under - statement of thf* case. Be claim 8, however, that the City Conn* cil had no right to prejudice their ratepayers by losing money on services outside the That is quite true, but it is also true that thejff had no right to inflict serious losses on pro* perty owners outside the city area. Them was, in fact, no reason why either side should*, have snffered if the city had not made up its. mind against private enterprise. It is useless to discuss the past. What line does Mr. Allunu propose to take in the future? Are the side areas to be left without transport "Topwill the board try, as the city has done, id run buses, which it cannot do satisfactory service can be provided by private* enterprise, and that is what the board ist i expected to grant. A continuation of the stone-c [wall policy will only mean a continuation i the agitation, which will merely embitter botffc sides. There is nothing to be ashamed of £ | changing one's mind over transport. That 8 in fact what four-fifths of the people of AuelS | land have done in the past two years. Mr„ | Allum should not be the last man to see the> light. ' " .'ST. SUBURBAN'. I _ _ Li " *