BUS AND BOAT

Evening Post, Volume CXI, Issue 126, 30 May 1931, Page 7

BUS AND BOAT

EASTBOURNE AFFAIRS

The Eastbourne Borough Council met oe Thursday. The Mayor (Mr. S. F. Fisher) presided, and there were also present Councillors J. F. Koekstrow, B. N. Battersby, Margaret Magill, A. Varney, W. F. Hornig, A. Walker, C. A. Bendle, and E. W. Wise. The Wellington City and Suburban Water Supply Board gave notice that Eastbourne's contribution for the present year^would be £1G Os 2d. Councillor Walker was appointed to represent the council at the_ proposed conference regarding tho lighting of the Pipe Bridge. The opinion was expressed by councillors that attention should be drawn to the desirability of placing the footways outside the prosent bridge to widen the roadway, and make the bridge safer for pedestrians. Tho Mayor was appointed to represent the borough on tho City and Suburban Water Supply Board, the City and Suburban Highways Board, and the Wellington Free Ambulance. It was resolved that the Mayor's honorarium should be, as in the past, £100 per annum. Traffic returns for April, with figures for April, 1930,' in parentheses, were presented as follows: —T.S.S. Muritai: Number of round trips, 12 (35); distance steamed, 195 miles (525); oil fuel used, 12 tons (28.5); passengers carried, 4580 (17,835). S.S. Cobar: Number of round trips, 97 (180); distance steamed, 1462 miles (2700); coal used, 47 tons (74); passengers carried, 17,938 (15,927). During the month the buses ran 632 trips, including the replacement of boat trips, and covered 22,688 (21,638) miles, using 2450 (2188) gallons of benzine. The Town Clerk (Mr. C. L. Bishop'j, in his report, stated:—"Traffic in the Bus Department showed a falling off of £150 for tho month, while expenditure is the same as the corresponding month last year. A general decline in passenger traffic has been shown during the past three months, and this decline is not by any means restricted to our services. I think possibly 90 per cent, of the transport concerns at the present timo are faced with decreased revenue. While running the same timetables as in the past it is a difficult matter to reduce expenditure, but every endeavour is being made, and will be made in the future, to reduce it. Added to the present economic position ■ prevailing throughput the country wo have been faced with most unfavourable weather conditions, and we look forward to being treated more kindly in this respect next summer."