TRAMWAY BOARD.

Press, Volume LXIV, Issue 13131, 2 June 1908, Page 5

TRAMWAY BOARD.

THE MEN'S GRIEVANCES

report considered in committee.

THE QUESTION OF FARES.

I Tlie Tramway Board met veerterday. t'resent: —Messrs A. W. Beave-n (chairman), G. T. Booth. C. M. Gray, M~.l\, W. Roece, $. A. Staples, D. Sykcs, J. Richardson,, J. A. Flesh er, and H. lVane. CHAIRMAN'S STATEMENT. The Chairnian said : - 'Juring the last fortnight, the Board haa received an exceptional amount of newspaper criticietii. It appears to mc that we must, in the future, explain at greater length to the pub'-ic the reason for, and the character of. any cliangcs we may make. THE QUESTION OF FA..ES. Leaving out those letters written by men who have eomethiiTg to' say e-i every public topic, and who were realiV affected by the change of tickets, nearly one-half of the writers appealed to* be under the mistaken idea that the Board had on-i-y provided for monthly tickets and full-fare riders. The fact was lot sijiht of that- the now trip tickets gave a concession as I great as is given by a-ny othnr tira-m----way management in Australasia, and ! that the further increased concession given to monthly ticket holders was really 25 per cent, more than is ppvein any other service in Australasia. Tlie Board considered that it was giving a very considerable concession in order to encourage men? persons to ride regularly. If fiftv-foirr trips per month is too rigid, there is no reason why the period' should rot be lengthened as indicated in motions before the Board, or made mere ebstie in some other direction. With the monthly limit made more elastic m favour of the regular rider, the increased concession should considerably add to the number cf our regular riders; and in forty families out of fifty, the lessened cost to those who travel daily will amount to three times the amount of the increased cost to those members who travel casually. I wonjd suggest to the Board that-, m future, full information as to alteration- -a.nd saving to be effected by the Board's new tickets whenever issued, shoidd be distributed in tho shape of leaflets m cars. Thf» members of the Beard have rest considerable time during the last fortnieht in making explanations' which fuller ofßoial informatian have THE TIME-TABLE. I must say a few words on the criticism in last Saturday's issue of "The Press in respect to time-table mat- i

-tors, which exhibits want of grasp of certain facts which our Traffic Department lias had to keep very much in mind. With a time-table providing for orer 800 trips daily on nine different lines, largely single track, involving 47 cresting pieces, and making ever 1200 connections in tho centre of tho system, the opportunities for criticism a.re not wan tine if ono sits down deKherateJy to make thorn. The communication to '"The Pros*-" doc-, not j mention t-hat the IC3 trips, betweau St an more road and the »Square aro made by three different lines, and that the paescngers coming from the three termini nil require to- be delivered in i Chri-st-hurca at the some time: hencL* tho three different cars due to arrive a.? near 8.30 a.m. and 1 p.m. as pessible. Theoretical Tegular intervals between individual cars are no doubt desirable, but, unfortunately, at 12 noon, 1. 5, end 6 p.m. tho .Addington, Sydenham, and Waltbajii pn r senge.rs ail require tc get away sharp at the one time, and rightly the cars -ire all thoro to receive them. Pa-senj/ers also require to arrive at their sh'-v-, offices o- work rooms nt certain definite times of the day from tiie three termini over the Colombo street track, and would •r-T-rn l*t the traffic rr.'auagcr know if ho brcuj-h. any of the cars ten minute, too -or-n. Bunching is not ideal tramway traffic, but at certain hours of the doy, on traflcs where cars for three different routes run, it cannot be avoided, and these trips largely control the rest of the tirne-tablc. ALLEGED FAILURE OF CONNECTIONS. With 1200 connections it is not singular if some do not connect; these mentioned in '"Tha Press" ac being at the minute do connect, the conductors lie ing instructed to sco the other car is jn before leaving. '"Cross-overs" from one car to another are not very frequent in Christchurch. If, to mako a connection involves starting a oar, say, five minutes earlier from New Brighton 350 days in the year, thereby .lightly inconveniencing 20 to 30 oaasenge™. in order that one person a week may make tho desired connection, that connection ought not to be made. In all instances the train trams are faJTiy well provided for. I do not say there is not room for improvement in- the time-table. The Board has thought so and appointed a Time-table Committee, and, judging from my own experience, each member has joined it determined to make the tiarae-taiM© appear moro regular, but rite irregular requirements of the Christehu-rch traffio have defeated many of out endeavours. Tho i critici*—i in respect to variable time taken on tho Sumner line is easily answered. The reduced time represents the e-qM-ess trips, which have a largo numtber of stoppages cut out, and where at certain times of the dfty tho traffic is aH in one direction only, the traffic manager rightly runs the empty ear-as quickly as.the GOTer_mei-t.r»-_*-u-

latione allow. The Board hopes to increase the express trips and initiate thorn on other lines as traffic justifies it. The difference in th© intervals is that between, the usual hourly sorruM* and tho convenient half-hourly service j put on to provide tho extra passengers coming up in the morn ins ond back i- 3 die evening. The Time-table Committee intend to increase th© l.aif-bourly trips to the sea-sid© when compiling th© Sumner time-table. .SUGGESTED CONTINUOUS RUNNING. The''no-time-table," "constantly-run-ninf-;'" idea is easily arranged for traffic entirely city, but in Chri.tchurch we have little of this. Our revenue depends mainly on bringing in people from tiie suburbs and taking them homo again. Tiie 10. 20, 30. and GO minutes' intervals established by the Board originally have been decreased on the Sydenham ami Addington lines from 20 to lo ininute-v intervals. The ''no-time-table.'" "constant-running ' programme advocated by "The Press" ocrresnontlents cojild easily bo initiated if citizens would vote in "favour of a rate. PeiTonally I cannot see the justice of tbe ratepayers of either of the centre blocks in tho city (say that lying immediately to the "north of the Cathedral) paying anything toward the cost of a more frequent" service of trams or .reduced cost" of tickets for any of the suburbs (say Opawa). as would probably bo tho case if a rat© was struck. REPORTS OF COMMITTEES. The Finance Committee reported having considered' tho avocation of capita! expenditure over the various lines, particularly its application to tho Riccarton line, and recommended that the allocntion of the cost of this lino be referred to private arbitration, in view of the amount of interests involved. Mr Recce, in moving the adoption ol the report, en id thot the difficult question was not in regard to the first expenditure en the actual construction of tho Riccarton line, but was in re- , nurd to the proportion of cost of th© power-house and similar works for which Riccarton. with the other district*, was rcs-por.s'ible. Th© arbitrator, in addition to making the allocation indicated, would also lay down th© principle on which similar additions to tho Hoard's buildings and plant should bo allocated. Tho report was adopted. TRAMWAY MEN'S GRIEVANCES. Mr Pearce, chairmoji of the Staff Committee, in moving- th© adootion of tho report of that committee, said that, as the Board was aware, there had been some dissatisfaction amongst the Board's employees, and th© commit to© had thought it desirable that the report should b© forwarded to th© men before it was published. Tho Chairman said that the idea was that th© men who were most nearly concerned should see th© report before . it appeared in the newspapers. Mr Richardson seconded tho motion, which was agreed to. Mr Pea re©, moved :—"That tho report of the Staff Committee be considered in committee in. order that it may be submitted to th© men concerned before it is published." Mr Booth seconded tho motion. In reply to Mr Gray, the Chairman said that the report would be ultimately published as .amended by the Board. Mr Gray pointed out ono difficulty: If the report was published before it was discussed by th© Board somo members, who might dissent from expressions of opinion contained in it, would not have an opportunity of discussing them. The Chairman said that tho report would not bo handed to the Press before members had an opportunity of discussing it. Mr Gray said that h© wished to have the opportunity of discussing one or two points. Ho understood that the position was that if tHo committee's report were it would be published with tho men's rgport, and that, in tho event of an amicable settlement, there would be, probably, no necessity to publish the Committee's report or anything connected with it. The Chairman said that was th© position i Tho motion was agreed to, but the Board disposed of the other business on tho order paper before going into committee. VARIOUS MATTERS. Mr J. Cowan's suggestion, that the 11.6 p.m. tram from town should run on to Burwood on Thursdays at least, was referred to tbe Traffic Superintendent for a report. .Tho accountant of the Church Property Trustees wrote, stating that the Board could obtain a title for its section in Richmond, leased from the trustees. It was decided to purchase the section. Mr G. W*. Jenner. hen. sec. of tho Soutji Island Band Association, wrote, asking if tho Board would grant any concessions on the takings of the trams if tho Marching Competition was held on tho Addington Show grounds on January Ist next. On the motion of Mr Gray, seconded by Ivlr Staples. Hie letter was referred to tho Traffic Superintendent to report as to what could be dono in tho matter. THE QUESTION OF FARES. MrC. J. Mai-shall and about oOother residents of New Brighton petitioned the Board aud asked it to issue annual ticket-; to heads of families and other regular travellers, for, say, £3 each, giving the holders the right to travel by tram at any time; each petitioner undertook to purchase an annual ticket. It was decided: —"That th© quesI tion of annual tickets on all lines be referred to the Fares Committee." The Chairman ruled out of order the notices of motion standing in., the names of Messrs Pearce. Fresher, a*nd Svkes, as tfhoy dealt with a resolution before th'" Board. Mr Fkaher moved :—"Thai the conmderation of these notices of rootion b© taken now." Mr Sykes seconded the- met ion. ilr Stape> moved as an amendment: — -That the whole question of fares be referred back to the Fares Committee.'' . Mr Booth seconded the amendment, and said that it w;*s distinctly the right thine; for the Board to do. If the notices and motion referred to were discu-ss'-d by the Board, the Board at tho con el ;i si on of it? discussion would be no fun her forward; the matter wss one for the Fares Committee to deal wi*h. and he was a little surprised that the members who had given notices of motion had adopted that method of brin<.'.'!!-• the hnsineap. oefore tho Board —it was a little undignified. The Chairman quite endorsed what Mr Booth had said. Ultimately a motion was unanimously agreed to suspending th© Standing Order which prevented the discussion of the motions. Th© rant ions were agreed to with tho addition, in each case, of the words: —"That the whole matter b© refe-rred to the Fares Committee for -reconsideration." Tli© motions wero as follows : — Moved by Mr Pearce:—"That the resolution at last, meetin-s: adopting tile report of tho Fares Committee be rescinded, with a view to considering th© question of makinc trip tickets tra-iefc-rabl©; to exte-nd the as©'of the •jaw fifty-four rid© tickets to two months; ond th© extension of the lencth of th© sections.'' Moved by Mr Flesher: —"That »_e fifty-four-t-rip tickets be non-transfer-able and avnifobk* du/iw" the mon.'ih of issue, and also the calendar month succeed .nr- that in 'which the tickets are i"*siied; that other tsrip tickets be available for us© by any person." Moved by Mr Sykes:—"That trip -tickets be issued available for p _*-_-©_- gen* travelling with same:—ld section, 14■■rid-*,for .Is; ,2cb-sectionj 7 rides for Jla ajad .lu_for.'_&'i'.i&l--a«<--t*m--ft--*«-.--'.-' l '*------

Id section, 4 for Is and 9 for 2s; 5d •section, 3 for Is and 11 for 3s; 6d section, 3 for Is." TRAM AND TRAIN'CONNECTIONS, Mr Fiedler, ,in accordance with notice previously given, .moved:—"That tho Trafßc_ Committee so arrange .the time-table that the cars on the various sections connect with each other." Ho said that the matter ■***■__• the biggest one that the Board had to face; a study of the time-table would show how reuc-i.it was wanting in a great many directions. As an instance, he referred to the trams leaving the Square to connect.with the."forth train at Papanui. With the exception of the Cashmere Hills tram, which arrived in the Square at 6.55 and which involved a wait of fifteen minutes, there were no other trams tliat connected; as regards the 3.40 tram to connect with the North train, tho trams from other parts arrived in the Square from ten to sixteen*■ninutes before it left, or from ono to four miniites after it left. Regard,inr> tho midday trams to connect with the North train, they would find that the Riccarton car arrived seventeen minutes beforo the connecting tram left. Mid the New Brighton car arrived thirty-eight minute-"! before it left. He cited other instances in Connection with tho trams running to the Christchurch railway station to connect with the outward oxDresses for the South. One striking thing about tho time-tab 1 ? was th3t if one wanted to catch an 11 p.m. train one found that with, ho thought, oneexception, the cars fitted in pretty well; what could be done in regard to -late) trains at night could be done during the daytime. He alleged that there were more complaints as" to the non-connection of trams with trains than there were in connection with fares. If the Board had no officer who could deal with the matter of the time-table, then it should call in some ox-pert. He admitted that until they had double lines laid within a radius of 2J to 3 miles from the Post-office the Beard would not be able to run a successful time-table. Ho thought it would be unfair to ask the Time-table Committee or any committee to undertake the work of revising tho time-table, owino* to the largeness of the niatter. Mr SyEes seconded the motion, pro -* orma - 1 3' -U i. *, The Chairman remarked that it would be irirpossibl© to have a regular time-table and trams leaving * particular point and connecting with any specified trains; on the other hand, he recognised that the timetable M-as not perfect. Air Pearce thought that a etep towards tho solution of tho difficulty raised by Air Flesher would l.c to carry cut the suggestion of their ox--orjairn*_n (Mr Recce), that the -tiocarton cars should run through to Samnar, the Addington ones to New Brighton, and so on. , I Mr Gray said that he was not pro- i pared to 'accept Mr Flesher- sr-a.be-mente as to want of connections without investigation. He thought that the matter should be referred to __c Time-table Committee, and moved an amendment in that direction. Mr Richardson seconded the amendment, which was agreed to. A TAGES QUESTION. Mr Gray asked if it was true that the wages of car cleaners had been rcduoed to 7s per day. •■■•*.'••.'■ ( The Chairman said that when the Board was making other reductions and economies it was decided to stop tho-payment for half an hour «__ywed tho cleaners for a meal. Mr Gray: Are they paid less than one shilling per hour? The Cltair-uan: They are paid the rates agreed to by an ii-d_strial agreement. The Board then wont into commi-tteo to consider the Staff Ca-nmitteer's report, and after having done so, the i Board -rose. Take Tonkins _ Linseed Emulsion for