A POLICY REDUCTION

Evening Post, Volume CIV, Issue 90, 13 October 1922, Page 6

A POLICY REDUCTION

The City Council, in considering tram fares last night, had a choice oE three courses: (1) To make a reduction in long-distance fares as r an encouragement to people to live in the distant suburbs; (8) to re» cluea i-ar-ea on the inner, sections,

and thus regain traffic which has been lost; and (3) to make no reduction at all. Apparently most members of the council regarded the third course as unnecessarily cautious. The Tramways Committee recommended (l) and some members favoured the adoption of (2) also. The Tramways Committee's recommendation was advanced as a policy proposal, and no business claim was made for it. That is to say, it was not argued that any substantial part of the estimated cost of the reduction would be recouped by increased traffic. Eventually, of course, the reduction would result in heavier traffic, but in the meantime the concession, costing with Technical College concessions £1500, would be a gift to the users of the trams, with nothing to balance it. The argument for a similar concession to travellers on. the inner sections was that it would increase traffic; but against this it must be remembered that a concession' was made in June to these travellers. That concession was justified by the discovery that the policy of requiring the, inner sections to . pay for the outer had been carried too far, and was killing -the inner section traffic. Having restored that traffic in a measure, and finding that the finances remained buoyant, the council decided to give slight relief to the suburban dwellers. The relief is not to be obtained at the risk of a further cut in inner section traffic, but can be given out of profits. Under these circumstances' it appears to be fully justified; but the council rightly declined to advance a step further until it could see where it was going.