TRAM SERVICE

Dominion, Volume 34, Issue 119, 13 February 1941, Page 9

TRAM SERVICE

Means Of Overcoming Congestion

MAYOR’S STATEMENT Staff’s Co-operation To Be Invited The overcrowding of trams, specially during rush hours in the mornings and late afternoons, was the subject of discussion at fast night’s meeting of the Wellington City Council, when the mayor, Mr. Hislop, stated that tramway employees were being invited to cooperate in an endeavour to reach a solution by working extra shifts to enable extra trams to cope with the peak hours. Over 180 tramway employees, said the mayor, had in 1940 enlisted for military service, a fact that had aggravated the position. The only real solution to the problem, said Mr. Hislop, was to put more traincars into use. There were cars in the sheds ready for the road, but even so it bad not been possible to adhere to the pre-war programme of building additional cars, because of the difficulty of procuring essential materials from abroad. Staff Problems. Another difficulty was the getting of additional staff to run the cars, Mr. Hislop continued. Since 1940 the tramways department had lost more than ISO men through enlistments for war service. The department was endeavouring to get additional men into the tramway service, but it was very difficult to find men suitable for training. For that reason a number of cars in the sheds could not be put into service. An endeavour was being made, however, to get the services of the men to run extra trams by means of the “call forward” scheme, whereby the men would take turns to do extra morning duty from 7. to 9 o’clock, when the trams were particularly taxed. Under this scheme, no man would be called forward till he had completed his roster, which would mean that he would not go on duty from 7 to 9 a.m. till he had had a gap of at least 30 hours since he was last on duty. Mr. Hislop gave an assurance that men on broken shift work would not be adversely affected. The council fully realized the importance of running the most efficient service possible during peak periods, and Mr. Hislop said that he wanted the public to know that everything possible would be done to solve the problem. Long-Distance Tranis. Cr. P. M. Butler said he thought congestion on tramways was largely caused by the way in which the cars were run. Most trams to far-distant suburbs went through the main streets and filled up with short-distance passengers. As a result they were almost empty during the last portion of their journey, while passengers were waiting at Courtenay Place. More use, he considered, should be made of the lines on Jervois Quay for long-distance trams. i Referring to the type of men required in the service, he said that i peace-time standards could not be maintained in wartime. “If we talk of employing females, surely it is - good enough to employ youths,” he said. Mr. Hislop: And lose them when they go into camp! Cr. Butler: I have known boys of 16 who have done the job well in England and Australia. Cr. Butler said that most of the men 1 were definitely, opposed to the “call for- i ward” system and any attempt to impose it without consideration of other aspects would be asking for trouble. 1 Cr. A, Black said that workers gen- 1 erally were anxious to co-operate, but felt that some employers wanted to 1 take advantage of the present situation • to break down conditions that had been < fought for for many years. “I feel that • in this case, if the men know that it is i only for a war emergency, they will co- 1 operate,” he said. < Question of Training Youths. ’ Cr. R. A. Wright said that if youths j were engaged, the time and expense of , training them would be wasted if they ( were called up in the ballot, Cr. W. Appleton said that it was all ( very well in theory to send trams round T the back streets, but actually a great j number of lofig-distance passengers £ joined the trams on the main routes. He expressed the opinion that reintro- £ duction of the minimum fare, which “ was in operation years ago, might be z worth consideration. t In reply to a question, Mr. Hislop r said that the minimum fare system was T discontinued when concessions were introduced. Referring to congestion on Karori , trams, Cr. M. Fraser said that as many as 14 persons had ridden on the con- , ductor’s platform at one time. Cr. L. McKenzie said that special , trams put on at Courtenay Flace to go J to far-distant suburbs were sometimes .. hardly used. J” Mr. Hislop said that suggestions ‘ made in the course of the debate had „ been examined previously. “What is £ wanted now is more cars on the road,” , he said. ?'