Shoppers’ Bus To End

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30630, 22 December 1964, Page 1

Shoppers’ Bus To End

The Christchurch Transport Board yesterday decided to stop running its shoppers’ bus service.

The service had had a reasonable trial, and the patronage had shown no real improvement, said the board’s works and traffic committee. The committee felt there was no alternative bit to withdraw the service.

It recommended that the service stop from the end of the time-table on December 24.

The service was ill-con-ceived and should never have been introduced, Mr R. H. Stillwell said.

He supported the motion to end the service, he said, with a great deal of pleasure.

Mr Stillwell had never helped the service to be a success, Mr H. E. Denton said. When he said he was glad to support the motion he was really pushing his chest out and saying under his breath,

“I told you it wouldn’t pay." “1 was not going to bring this up, but you asked for it,” he said to Mr Stillwell. There would come a time, Mr Denton said, when Mr Stillwell would eat his words. The public would clamour for a shoppers’ bus when parking restrictions became more hectic, and when streets were made one-way. Mr Stillwell interjected. Mr Denton: I did not interfere when you were talking, b -. When Mr Stillwell again made a sotto voce comment, Mr Denton said, “I have the floor. Would you like another go?’ The chairman (Mr J. R. Smith) told Mr Stillwell he was not being fair to Mr Denton. “You have done nothing but interject when Mr Denton speaks.” Mr Denton said there would be quite a lot of other persons who would be very, very sorry that the shoppers’ bus had been taken off.

“I only hope that in a few years we can reintroduce a shoppers’ bus. with the assistance of the shopkeepers.”

The deputy-chairman (Mr E. J. Bradshaw) said that the cost of the service had been very light, and any suggestion that the board had lost heavily on it was quite untrue. It was an experiment, and unfortunately it failed. “But this service will be j needed in Christchurch, and , the board should be ready to introduce it when necessary,” he said. Mr Smith said that Mr Still- • well had been “all for it” , when the shoppers’ bus had been suggested. “You ridiculed the members of the board ,by calling it a ‘wedding : cake,’ ” he said to Mr Stillwell, commenting that this was after the latter had asked for more “decoration.” Mr Stillwell said that what ■ he had asked for was larger • signs. Mr Smith said that Mr Stillwell had ridiculed the board and taken the matter to the • newspapers at a very inopportune time. ; Mr Stillwell was about to continue the discussion when

Mr P. D. Dunbar suggested that the board could more profitably move to further business. This was then done.