LOWER TRAM FARES.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIII, Issue 137, 11 June 1932, Page 8

LOWER TRAM FARES.

The idea that increased fares and lower operating costs are the two basic factors in making our trame pay has been preached «o vociferously for some time that it has come to be considered almost axiomatic by the people of our city. The truth about the matter is that the public will not accept and^ sopport increased fares in a way that will make the trams pay. The tramway management knows, that lower operating costs arc a factor in obtaining profits, and, in a similar way, lower fares will encourage the public to ride and increase revenue. Charging twopence to send a letter is an example of a wrong step by the Post Office authorities, and now, instead of reducing the charge to three-halfpence, once again, we lla\e penny postage. I like to think of Dunedin with penny fares and fourteen rides for one shilling with a concession ticket. That city has my idea of what a tram ride should cost, and there they make their trams pay. Would it be possible to make a complete change and consider a set fare for any distance? This way works well in almost all Canadian cities. Tokens and transfers could be used similar to those ueed in Toronto or Vancouver, and I feel sure that a system without tickets and with a set fare for any distance would be well worth consideration. With a set fare people arc encouraged to live out in the suburbs, sections are done away and passengers can board trams at any stopping place. PERCY A. STANTON.