Public Transport-1 Christchurch Factors Not Faced Elsewhere

Press, Volume XCVI, Issue 28324, 9 July 1957, Page 11

Public Transport-1 Christchurch Factors Not Faced Elsewhere

[By a Staff Reporter of “The Press”)

Three factors which are not common to other transport authorities in New Zealand operate against the Christchurch Transport Board. They greatly magnify the problem of trying to build a profitable undertaking.

They are: the low population density, the flat nature of the area and the ease of travel by bicycle.

Four other factors common to the other cities in varying degrees are: the introduction of poweroperated bicycles, the decentralisation of shopping and office areas, the outward growth, and the increase in motor-car registrations.

Faced with declining revenue and rising costs, the board recently increased its fares by Id for every section beyond the second. The increases are estimated to produce an extra £20,000 toward the total expenditure of £708,000. As with any increases, in the cost of any commodity, the public becomes mildly resentful when the price of its travel is raised. Transport experts admit that travel costs can be rightly considered a cost-of-living item for family budget purposes, because a large proportion of the population depend upon public transport. While one and two section riders in Christchurch buses are paying no more than they did on June 23, other users travelling to and from work are paying an extra 2d a day. The one and two sectioners and the long distancetravellers are the fortunate ones. The fare for one section was 2d at least 20 years ago, when money values were altogether different and it is now only 3d. The proposal in Dunedin is to raise the one-section fare from 3d to 6d; in Auckland it is already 6d. In some American cities, the cost of riding on a tram or bus one block is equivalent to Is Bd. Loaded Cost Structure

The comparison of 20 years ago between expenditure and revenue cannot be applied today, mainly because of the staff wages increase. More than £250,000 is spent on traffic operation wages, while buses cost 300 per cent, more than in 1939. The price of tyres, fuel, paint and other commodities has increased in recent years, which has added to the cost structure.

The board’s wage increase from 1939 to 1956 was 157 per cent., the percentage of wages to revenue now being 67 per cent. From 1939 to 1951, wages rose by 143 per cent, and the percentage of wages to revenue was then 77. The improvement in the ratio is one of the brighter items in the analysis of the board’s revenue and expenditure ac n junts.

More than £140,000 has been earmarked this year for interest and sinking fund. About £45.000 is an antecedent debt which the bus system has to pay. The loans on the scrapped tramways will not be liquidated until 1962.

But whether after 1962 the Transport Board will have a happier task in framing its budget is problematical. New Zealand is no more fortunate than other countries in rising costs. Passengers fall a. ay when fares are increased and, financially, experiments in the Dominion, England and the United States of reducing fares to attract customers have proved a failure. American Experiments

Seattle, with a population of 500,000 cut its fares in half some years ago, and obtained 13 per cent more passengers. The scheme did not wof: out. It was disastrous financially and before long the old fares were restored. In Cleveland, with a population of 1,000.000, many years ago an experiment was made of reducing the fare on one of the principal heavy traffic routes from eight cents to two cents. More than three times the number of passengers was carried, less revenue was taken, operating expenses increased, more vehicles had to be provided to carry the increased traffic. The scheme broke down.

The financial problem in Christchurch would not have been lessened by the continuation of the tramways system. The old system was derelict. The rehabilitation of the system would have cost four times as much as the change to buses, and today’s traffic would be bearing interest charges 400 per cent above that

for the buses, but the sinking fund provision annually would not have increased by the same amount, because of the longer life of the trams. Trend Against Trams In any case, the world trend is against trams. In Australia, only Melbourne and Brisbane have decided to retain them and Toronto, in Canada, has converted its tram system to a form of light railway, run in a subway. Buses have a mobility and flexibility which trolley-buses do not possess. The capital cost of a trolley-bus system is greater, because of overhead lines and sub-stations. In the United States, some transport bodies converted from trams to trolley-buses because they, could not break their long-term > power contracts. The American i trend is towards diesel buses and away from trams and trolley-buses, a fixed form of transport which cannot operate away from their routes. With the changing of habits, an increasing number of the population is getting away from the city and its environs at week-ends and holidays. The motor car has. speeded the change. The people re-1 quire mobile transport. This means! a higher utilisation factor of the| buses, which helps to boost [ revenue and pay the costs. .Charter; work has been good business for: the Christchurch board, and it is growing. Extreme Competition The Christchurch public transport system is beset with problems of extreme competition from bicycles, power bicycles and motor cars; and the spread nature of the housing settlement accentuates its operational costs. All the problems peculiar to Christchurch mean fewer bus passengers, especially in the off-peak times.

With the spread of the area served by the board from Cashmere Hills to Papanui and Marshland in the north and from Sumner out to Templeton, the bus system covers many miles, i Few realise that, in the settled j districts, the bus routes are no further than half a mile distant from any point. To reach some of the terminals, such as Sumner, the buses run long distances over which no passengers are picked up and dropped. It is nonrevenue mileage, all adding to the costs of operation. (To Be Concluded