PASSENGERS ON TRAMS

Press, Volume LXIX, Issue 20937, 18 August 1933, Page 8

PASSENGERS ON TRAMS

——* . i DUNEDIN CLAIM CRITICISED COMMENT ON STATISTICS A statement correcting that made by the Dunedin City Council when comparing the passenger traffic on trams in Christchurch and Dunedin, and adding comment explaining its significance, was issued by the chairman of the Christchurch Tramway Board, Mr G. T. Booth, yesterday, "In "The Press' this morning is given a comparison of tram passengers carried on the Christchurch and Dunedin trams which was submitted to the Dunedin City Council," the statement reads. "The report stated that for the year ended March 31, 1932, with a population of 119,500 to draw on, the Christchurch trams carried 16,913,075 passengers, while in Dunedin, with a population of 85,000, the total pasi senger traffic for the same period ihad been 22,539,502. | Figures Questioned.

"This comparison was incorrect—actually passengers carried on Christchurch trams numbered 19,879,360. Also, to be fair to Christchurch, some reference should be made to the fact that Christchurch is flat, which renders competition by bicycles a serious matter. It is estimated that there are nearly 50,000 bicycles ini Christchurch suburbs. "In Dunedin the main thoroughfares are through valleys, and the population is in a large measure forced to use the trams. The population served by Christchurch is spread over a large area, and there is therefore not the congestion which is to be found in Dunedin. The density of population in Dunedin is nearly double-that of Christchurch.

"A very large proportion of the population which it is stated could be drawn on by Christchurch trams could reach their places of business without recourse to trams, by crosscountry travelling," concludes the statement.