The Auckland Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News, The Echo and The sun. MONDAY, JULY 24, 1933. ROAD VERSUS RAIL.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIV, Issue 172, 24 July 1933, Page 6

The Auckland Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News, The Echo and The sun.

MONDAY, JULY 24, 1933. ROAD VERSUS RAIL.

For the cause that iaefcs assistance, For the wrong that needs resistance For the future in the distance, And the good chat we can do.

An important judgment defining the place of the motor vehicle in road versus rail competition was given to-day by the Transport Appeal Board. The case which has provided the Board with an opportunity to state tlis broad principles of the law on the subject concerns the Wanganui-New Plymouth run, where train and motor compete over a distance of a hundred miles. It became necessary for the Board to decide whether the road service should be curtailed and the time-table amended in favour of the railways. In making up its mind on the question the Board was faced with the need of setting out what principles should guide it in all cases of this kind, and with letting licensing authorities know where they stand. Although there is a minority finding attached to the judgment, the members of the Board have been in general agreement on questions of transport licensing policy. The problem is to restore order where competition has been allowed to get out of hand. It is not in the interests of the public or the operators that the Dominion should be over-supplied with means of transport; indeed, it is a heavy toll upon the annual income of the country. Four years ago it was estimated that land transport costs absorbed £36 out of every £100 of national production; two years later the figure had grown to £45, and there has been probably a further increase since. It is not surprising that competition in this country has developed mainly on routes parallel to the railways, for it is there that motor operators have had their best opportunity. To expect anything else in the circumstances would be to imagine that motor operators could act in direct opposition to the ordinary dictates of private enterprise. Had they chosen routes not served by rail the problems which exist to-day, of course, would never have arisen, and New Zealand, perhaps, would not have had a Railways Board. The rise of the motor put fresh life into the railways, and the public owe it to road services that the backbone of the Dominion's transport system lias been put on a betterfooting.

The spur having been applied, it must be to some extent withdrawn. Train and motor vehicle must be made to share the work. They are both needed, but they cannot be left to fight it out under unrestricted conditions. Unregulated competition must be stopped, but that does not imply suppression of private enterprise. On the contrary, the judgment makes it clear that the Act is not intended to bolster up a State or other monopoly by killing competition; the aim is to control passenger transport in the public interest and to require all branches of the system, whether railways, tramways or motor vehicles, to be maintained in an efficient condition and to be run on schedules which will best serve the public. The Appeal Board holds that the primary function of the motor is to serve areas outside the rail limits, or to feed or supplement the railways; and licensing authorities are told that there is to be no granting of new licenses if the needs of users are already met. This is explicit and definite. It assures private owners, within their sphere, of adequate protection, but reminds them at the same time that a license, once given, is not sacrosanct, but may be varied, modified or cancelled when it comes up for annual renewal. Therein should be an effective buffer against monopoly. Where, as on the WanganuiNew Plymouth run, both train and fnotor are required, it is not easy to determine what is a fair balance between the two, and it is on this point that the Board has not been unanimous. In the minority report it is contended that the intermediate traffic is exceptionally heavy in relation to the through traffic, and is likely to increase as conditions improve. The reports, taken together, are of wide interest, and will be a guide to transport development throughout New Zealand.