WATERFRONT BUS SERVICE.

Auckland Star, Volume LXI, Issue 262, 5 November 1930, Page 8

WATERFRONT BUS SERVICE.

BOARD'S ACTION CRITICISED. TAMAKI RATEPAYERS. , The following statement was made to-day by Mr. R. E. Fawcett, representing the Tamaki Ratepayers' Association, in connection with the license the Transport Board granted yesterday for a private company to conduct a bus service on the waterfront road:*— "The decision of the Transport Board yesterday means that most of the residents in the hills at St. Helier's Bay, and Kohimarania must use the feeder services or walk a considerable distance to travel to the city via the waterfront road. 1 was instructed to ask that there be; no feeder services at all—not even that to Meadowbank Road, which the tramways manager estimated would cost about £3 "l°iuotS } fares per mile for other bus eervic*. but waAoWi that they were not relevant, seeing that L. J. Keys Ltd * was the only applicant foi the waterfTont service/ On that L J. Keys, Ltd*, proposed fares c have been twice as high, we could not have compared them with otheis. —d if he had any fibres from the Transport Board executive officers which were going before the board to be considered with this application He did not produce any until after I had put the case from our side and when he did quote portions he refused me an adjournment of ten minutes to consider them. He did not quote figures bv which a comparison could be made Keen L. J. Keys, Ltd*, then tares and his proposed fares although such were in the return. If I had had that opportunity I would have been able to point out the return he himself had produced showed that L. J. Keys, Ltd.e, then fares for the workers and concession tickets via Remuera Road wore 10 per cent and 11 per cent less than .he proposed to charge on the level waterfront road to St. Helier's Bay. Mr. Keys has made much of the severe hill work, but he makes no reduction for the cutting out of it on his new services. Aβ was also apparent from that return, L. J. Keys, Ltd.'s, fares varied from 8 per cent to 20 per cent above those of other, operators, some of whom were operating on roads with worse surfaces. " Mr. Allum stated that the public had no standing before the Transport Board regarding licensee. Only bus operators and local bodies had standing, and could demand to bo heard. I respectfully disagree with him, but if that is so, the sooner the Auckland Transport Act is amended the better."