TRAMWAY SERVICES

Evening Post, Volume CVII, Issue 131, 4 June 1924, Page 9

TRAMWAY SERVICES

EFFECT OF REGULATIONS

BIG CAPITAL EXPENDITURE,

"The gazetting of the proposed tramway regulations would have involved tho council? • and tramway boards of New Zealand in a capital expenditure of £330,000 and an annual charge of £104,000,": said Councillor J. Brown st the meeting of the New Plymouth Borough Council on Monday night when reporting verbally on the-tramways' conference held in Wellington last week. He and Mr. G. J. Wyatt (tramways manager) had been interested in the proposals from the point of view of New Plymouth, and while they had not been prepared for all the matter that was put before them, they had arrived at the conclusion that.the proposals, if gazetted, Would mean for New Plymouth the expenditure on capital account of £25,000 and an-annual, charge of £3500. Councillor Brown said that the whole of the tramway controlling authorities of New Zealand, with the exception of Gisborne, had been represented at the conference, and they were unanimous that' they_ did not want the regulations. The tramwaymen had said straight out that they did not wish to hamper the small services, and that they did not desire to bring them under the proposed regulations. • .

"One thing we found out was that New Plymouth was the only one of the smaller services to-, make a profit last year," Councillor Brown added. All the others had made losses, Napier being down £1200. They had not known definitely what Gisborne had. lost) but the Minister had said that the service there was in a bad way. . . . Concerning the overcrowding of cars, Councillor Brown closed by saying. that he did contend that overcrowding could not be avoided, but the tramwaymen had made pointed reference to Auckland, where apparently they had educated the people into observing the regulations. As far as he could gather, the New Plymouth men had not complained on ,this score; rather, they had sometimes assisted in getting more passengers on to the cars. . . .

To give effect to proposed regulations regarding the speed limit, Councillor Brown said, duplication of the tracks and the provision of extra cars .would he necessary. He had raised the point that if these and the other regulations were adopted they would have to go to the ratepayers for authority to raise a -loan. What would happen if the rate; payers declined to give authority, he had asked, but without eliciting any information. . .