WORKING TOGETHER
Having studied city transport in England and- America, Mr. J. A. G. Allinn, chairman of the Auckland Transport Board, has returned to New Zealand convinced that "we are doing the right thing here in our efforts to solve transport problems." Unfortunately Mr. Allum does not state more specifically who is doing the right thing;—the Auckland Transport • Board in the control of the transport area under its jurisdiction, the Government in proposing an area 3ystem of licensing, or the municipalities in hindering the introduction of such a system: "Co-ordination between trams and buses is the latest development in the transport situation in the cities of England and America," states Mr. Allum; but coordination may take various forms. As practised now by the tramwayowning municipalities of New Zealand it ranges oh monopoly, since the tramway-owner is often ' the licensing authority. This has undoubtedly resulted in many parts in a slackening of enterprise in the use of the motor-bus. The former wasteful competition has been checked, but there has been a check also on the incentive to progress. Co-ordina-
Lion is certainly the cure for wasteful duplication, but care must be exercised lo guard against the creation of a deadening monopoly. The danger of tins was. pointed out recently by a writer on roads and railways in the special British Motor Number of "The Times." He urged Parliament to express itself, very definitely about the freedom bf the roads for public service development "by insisting that the licensing authorities shall not unreasonably withhold a licence from competitive private enterprises."
Cheap and efficient' transport in this country is not only essential to public convenience but vital to industrial prosperity, and it will be fatal to both if the competitive element is deliberately eradicated by bureaucratic control.
Here we have ample experience of the ill-effects of unrestricted competition, but in seeking a remedy we' must not enthrone-King Log in place of King Stork. -
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Bibliographic details
Evening Post, Volume CIX, Issue 117, 20 May 1930, Page 8
Word Count
320WORKING TOGETHER Evening Post, Volume CIX, Issue 117, 20 May 1930, Page 8
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