HEAVY DEFICIT

Evening Post, Volume CXII, Issue 121, 18 November 1931, Page 10

HEAVY DEFICIT

IN TRAMWAY FINANCES

WHAT IS THE REMEDY?

LOSS ON LONG TRIPS

In his address to members .of th« Civic League at their annual meeting, the Mayor, Mr. T. C. A. Hislop, referred to the serious drop in tramway revenue and suggested that the city would be fortunate if tho current yeat ended with a loss of less than £20,000 on its transport services. Mr. Hislop has now elaborated that ' statement, and has pointed out the main .causes of the fall in revenue, the heavy loss by; carrying passengers over long distances for threepence, and the falling away in the number of short distance passengers.

"The latest returns showing th« operations of trams and buses for. tha thirty-two weeks ending 10th November, 1931, were before the Tramways Committee at its Jast meeting, and show that so far there is no improvement in the financial condition of thesa activities, consequently as the year is well advanced sorao more decided steps will have to bo taken .to diminish the debit balance before 31st March next," said Mr. Ilislop. "What these steps will bo is a matter to be discussed by the council at its meeting tg-morrow evening. Whether further reductions in working expenses or some slight increase in fares, or a combination of both is the proper way out of the difficulty is not yet clear. The committea recognised that a drastic curtailment of services will certainly reduce the 1 turnover, - and possibly make matters worse than before, but other activities in the way of improvements to rolling I stock and maintenance of plant can possibly be postponed. | '' Comparisons must be made ■ for i similar poriods of the year in order to be as reliable as possible, and a comparison with the same thirty-two week*, of 1930 makes interesting reading:— The total revenue for tramways and buses for 1930 period was £282,969, and for 1931 period £241,166, a drop of £41,803, or 14.77 per cent. Tha total working expenses (interest, sink* ing fund, and reserves and depreciation! funds charges omitted) were for, 1930 period £223,094, and for 1931 period £188,858. a drop of £34,236, or 15.3 per cent. .'' This shows that.. economies: havsj been mado by the department of con* siderablc extent, but as1 no reduction! could be made in capital charges tha economies have been insufficient to meeij the total drop in. revenue. TRAM AND BUS RETURNS. "Separating trams from buses, th« analysis shows:— - 1930 1931 period, period. Decrease, <i. d. d. Receipts per tram mile 24.27 21.93 2.34 Working expenses per tram mile ...... 18.58 16.GT ' 1.91 ' Receipts per. bus mile 12.21 11.89 ,33 Working expenses per • bus milo 16.29 16.02 .27 The. crux of the " whole matter^ however, is shown- by tho debit balance for the thirty-two weeks end* ing 10th November, 1930, which ii £6007 for trams and £7301. for; buses, a total of £13,308. If tho same rate of Joss continues,by 31st March next thedobit balancflj would amount Jo about £21,000. It is imperative therefore to arrest the falling away. "Wellington gives very good valuoi in the length of tram sections, and lias,I think, the longest average length ofl single section of any large tramwajj system in New Zealand, which is a point which must be remembered' hi making comparisons,, and in addition its fares per section will stand com» parison with any system of equal gizei in New Zealand. ' ■ DIFFICULTIES BOTH WAYS. "The universal 3d fare is, of course^ unparalleled in this country, and hag; enabled many citizens'to ,obtain cheaper, and healthier homes iii the distant suburbs," continued Mr. Hislop. "This1 has only been possible-by reason of tha. fact that the traveller on one section.' and two sections has been paying mor«j than his share, ,and now those travellers have so diminished in numbers,' that further increases in those fareq will cause a further diminution in numbers, an attempt to coax them back b# reduced fares would probably fail, art it did in Auckland. Figures show that for the rear end« ed 31st March, 1931, 34.2 per cent, of tho total expenditure on tramways; was for the benefit of the universal fare travellers, but these travellers' only 'contributed 23.8 per cent, oij the revenue from tickets. ? "The single section rider pays 144 per section, or 1.2 d per mile, but th« universal faro rider going from tbo' city to Miramar (6.3 miles) pays onl.fi •47d per mile, to Seatoun the rate is about the same, to Island Bay. (5.23 miles) he pays .57d per mile, to Karori Parked per mile. The actual cost of; these rides to tho department is about Id per mile.

"When a largo number of people re« sided, near, the centre of the city-there] were plenty of short distance travellers to carry the shortage caused by th« long distance universal fare; now. that so many have gone to live further oulj short distance, travellers have decrease ed and universal fare travellers hava increased', thus throwing the finances out of balance. The question at issu» is how the'balance is to be corrected?'?