FARE TO GO UP

Evening Post, Volume CXII, Issue 140, 10 December 1931, Page 11

FARE TO GO UP

TRAMWAY FINANCE

LONG-DISTANCE LOSSES

INCREASE OF SIXPENCE

"'• At'tcr a two-hour debate, the City Council yesterday afternoon, by a majority of one vole, decided to in- . crease the price of tho twelve.trip long-distance concession ticket to ;>s 6d. The present indications aro ithat thero will bo a heavy deficit ,' on tramway and bus operations this year, and though an increase in the universal fare will not make "up the full amount, the situation ■vvillbe substantially improved. The increase of 6d per card, it is estimated, will bring in another ~£12,000 per year. ■ Even so, the matter ism the air, as notice .of intention to move a rescinding 'motion lias been given by Coun- "' c'ilior Appleton.

V . The: Mayor(Mr. T. C.A. Hislop) said vtb'afc the question was the.most im> '.',.. Jftrtftiit that had come before the coun-' . :cil,for some considerable time. It was; .'■, in the"interests of the city that they •' should keep the'1 ..'council's finances on a ...sound, basis/.'.At-the present time the tramway revenue was showing a mark- „'.- od decrease—rthe decrease was growing . to! au alarming amount—and while there ..'"wight be a hope of meeting the deficit, this year, they had to look to tho future, 6n the present estimate the deficit for the.year would be £20,000. .Some of the deficit was no doubt due. to tho abnormal times, but they had 1o take the'position in hand and see. ' what they could do, They could not carry a loss of £3,500 per mouth without attempting to stem tho tide, They : might bo able to/stem the .deficit this year by' putting a little less to the bus depreciation fund and a little less to. th,e,.accident, fund, but unless they* iriadosprj.'e considerable alteration next year the tramway finances would be in '&, deplorable .condition, ■ MUST: STAND ALQNE.

AH'tvatiing departments should pay for themselves. Any recourse to the jates to finable the trading departments to' carry oit would be contrary to the of:sound administration. .. • (Hear, hear.) . lie therefore moved as ' [ -.a .preliminary resolution;-— ,-■,. That this council, affirms the '. . . principle that the tramway eevviecs, ■' " in common "with other trading depart-. ' "lne'nts, should be conducted on the . principle that each pay for itself ana. ■•. not become a charge on the rates. '-"■'. .Councillor j..:?f. Wallace said that trading department should carry, ■"* its own burdw and its. own burden only. Ho had' opposed the unconditional transfer of £10,000 from tho Eieetrie- .-. raty Department early this financial year "jQ'r* unemployment, purposes, as he had considered the- profits shouW be used ■ i'or reducing, the charges to the conr .' ''anmcr. They-all agreed that a help, to restoration ..of business would be a,TOductiqn in rates, and anything tending to an'increase in rates would bo Va^: additional bar to general financial -i • *'ecovory in Wellington. No one wanted to" increase tram fares, but the tim.o '-bad arrived when another halfpenny, per ride* must bo charged on long-dis-tance hauls, and he felt that was a mptUat" charge .to partly meet _ the £45,000 Joss now incurred in giving , citizens tram service. : . ■ •vOouncillor-:, T, ■ Forsyth seconded tho ' Brinjehsle, wljich, ho said, was absolute■•'"'•3y"«Mna,,a,iiL4,were ,-the council to con., otlfer-pplicy' .citizens '' • hiive'mucli 'to say^Jtv proteat: '~ ? ; .; • COUNCIL INCONSISTENT. ': • Councillor!?. M'Keen asked whether 1 the Mayor was willing to add to that resolution a provision that no funds should bo -taken from trading departments for other" purposes. In the last S'^ years about £05,000 had been '-■"■":iikeii frthi the'Electucity Department •-?■>■. Uitfot.. borrowed, 'but .taken, -"abso- " ' Jutely" p&ched"—attd where was the consistency of a policy which said that :no. .rates should .be taken for .the pur- ':.. pose or meeting a deficit-in. a'trading department? ~ .. , Councillor H'Keen objected to the 'ihanher in "which the resolution had .■■■been -put, for; he said, it tied tho . V hands .of cduiifiillors to only ono moans ■ ■■■ of. xbnaidefing a Avay of mooting the position. . i .. , Councillor : W. Appleton agreed with that view. . In Councillpi' Semple's ■ opinion the council should, have been supplied, with, all the available information before the , discussion; opened. He also pro* tested against "dipping into the Electricity Department lucky box." If the council voted, for tho resolution before it, it was obvious that the department had some proposal up its sleeve, either, to raise the far? or dismiss men. Subur. '■'' ban'residents'had been given to nn- '•: dcrstand that.the threepenny fare-was pormanent, and it was not a fair thing •■ . that the. tramway deficit should be ' ' * 3na.de up by asoction of the people: if,':would bo fairer-for all citizens to bear, their share. The council should know what the proposals were bofore ■' 'they voted upon the .motion before '.'- th'ein. ' ■ :"' ■' ' ' . ■ " ,MAK|! IT UP FROM THE BATES. ' , . Councillor W", Appleton said that he -.'" 'w'asnot going to be stampeded into any -■■.- decision: lie. fully agreed with Couneil- --'.' lor Somplo that;the whole facts should r- ' 'be given the council before any decis- ,■ ion was;.madei- "I would aoouer sco something extra put on to the rates ■ '.-■.■'.ithan. break faith with the people who -■ ; i 'have gone to the suburbs to make theiv :•'■ •:■ It is in the interests of tho ■"• city to encourage peopleto go out into ■ • the • sunshine, and fresh air, and it would be sound policy to call upon the . ■ ■• rates, temporarily—for this is not go";sng to be permanent —to relieve the -slum areas and. to encourage our people ;■■ to live in healthy surroundings." • r There was a moral obligation to •;-. "maintainthe .'threepenny fare, continU- ,; -'; cd.Councillor Appleton, and to increase |that fare, he believed, would defeat its • aim in bringing about a drop in the .-/■:•• number of passongcrs, so that revenue would fall; He was not sure, in any case, that it would be necessary to go I -to, tho rates, fqr there would be a deflI «'.iency in the accounts, whether faros .'.' were increased or not, and would havo io.bo made up froa depreciation and • gcnoral. accounts, and if the- council ......Was.-io-.go to those-accounts for apart, ; .V. :*>yftl as we'll..obtain tho wholo.. '" those who benefit should ■-"•.■ • .-' ■•'■ :■■•; pay. • ■ Councillor W-. H.- Deunctt said that •he was totally opposed to the .last speaker: every trading department must stand ".on. its '.own bottom. Let the ' people who got'tramway benefits pay for them.. I.t would be entirely wrong to boost up any trading department by -'•'recourse-to', the.,rates: suburban resi- ' '-. "doiits 'had other advantages ■ besides fresh air and sunshine: they had cheap land and low rates, and those should I . .compensate them for a slight increase '■■ in fares. .';. " Tho Mayor's resolution was carried Tjy 9 Votes to- 6V J., /: OF POSITION. >' •■• Mr. Hislop said that the present de- " iieit was £13,000, and the indications were that it would be £20,000 by tho .■ ; end of'the year. Ad a rule traffic mi- ' ■ "pfsved: at this' timo of the year, but '■■"■'-'there were "no such indications this yearr' Many suggestions had boon considered, and the position, had been

brought down to two main considerations; cither that the non-paying universal faro should bo increased or thorp should be further curtailment of service and the dismissal of men.

"It is patent that the universal fare has never paid," said Mr. Hislop, "it costs about a penny a mile to carry a person, and the universal f.aro works out at about a half-penny per mile: so that it nioans that wo are selling at a loss. Tho universal faro has been carried in the past by the first and second section fares, but they have fallen off and can no longer bear the drain that is put upon the service." The Mayor said that if! they curtailed the services they Would create ineflicioney and men would havo to bo dismissed.

Councillor Semple: "What guarantee have you that the increased fares will bring in increased revenue? That did not work out in regard to the Hutt buses."

STILL CHEAPEST IN NEW ZEALAND.

The Mayor said that an inefficient sorvico would create tho walking habit and accontuate the problem. He therefore moved that the price oi' the universal lave concession ticket be increased from 3a to 35.6 d. This would still make the fare tho cheapest in New Zealand. The small increase would not inflict any injustice on anybody, and it was a far better proposition to make a small 'increase rather than reduce tho service, £PhQ increased rates would bring in auothci" £12,000 in revenue. The argument that an increase in the. fare would result in a loss .was a question of degree, and no one could say that the small increase involved in the motion would drive anybody away. The extra charge would place the universal fares on a sound basis. It had been suggested .that the increasing of the universal «. fare was breaking faith with tho people in the suburbs, but if tho tramway costs were to fall iby 50 per cent., tho suburban residents would not.feol. obliged to pay 3s -\vheH they could get a cheaper fare. They had to be governed by the economic conditions. A Councillor: "What about our election pledges?" The Mayor said that he thought that the 'only pledge that was given was that'the universal'fare should bo preserved, They had. to safeguard tho welfare of the people as a whole, and it was their duty to' face the position, in spite of criticism. Ho believed that ■the council was in duty bound to accept the recommendations of the Tramway Committco and make the small increase that was necessary for the welfare of tho service. He asked for the full support of the council because tho Mayor was always looked' to by the people as being the mail' responsible for'the financial position of the council, EFFECT ON DEVELOPMENT. It had been stated that the universal fare had resulted in a big increase in building in tho suburbs, but the building permits did not support this contention: Tho universal faro had conio into operation in 1925, and the building .permits .iri Miramar for instance showed an increase, but this ■ could rightly be attributed to the phenomenal building activity that was going on all over the Dominion, irrespective of transport charges.' Thoro had been no universal iare to the Hutt, yet iri the Hutt there had been a bigger boom .thftHl' in;'; any.-: Wellington suburbs. RAILWAY EXPERIENCE. Councillor Semple said that the burden of making up the tramway deficit should Jjc a liability on tho. peoplo aa a whole, and not bo placed on one section of the community. Iri boom timea every section of the city benefited from tho prosperity of the tramway service, but once there was a deficit a section of the; people had to meet the position. The principle was. altogether wrong.' .The Minister of Railw£iys!had increased the Tail\vay?ffti-eßj;arid';|)rdpliesj6d ftff increased' revenue, :<His prophecy- htfd been unfouuded.iind the first thing the Railways .Board had to do was to reduce the fares. Tho Hutt buses had also lost revenue as tho result of increased faros, and there was no doubt that increased tramway fares would doveloptho walking habit. Many people wore, unable-,to meet the present fare, and any increase would add to the hardships of a large, .number, of people who were already suffering. Ho was certain that tho estimate of £12,000 would not ■be realised. Tho whole question boiled down to what was the wisest course to pursue, and he considered that the Mayor's proposals1 were unsound, '.. The Mayor: "Our fares mil still be cheaper than 'Auckland ov Christ' church." •.•'..:■■ ~ ■' Mn gemplo: "I don't care what they pay in .Auckland, Christchurch, or Timbucto'o. Wo are concerned with.1 a problem in our own city." BEVENUE WOULD NOT IMPBOVE, The very fact that there had been a'decrenso;. of, £15,000 on universal fares in 32 weeks was an answer to the argument that' increased-fares would bring .in more revonuo, sajd Councillor Appleton. Moreover,. 26 per cent, of tramway passengers wore long-distance travellers, and it was not fair that only 26 per cent,- of passengers should bo called upon to mako up the general tramway deficit. lie did not believe that £12,000 extra revenue would bo obtained by increasing the fare at a time like tho present, when so many people had nothing to spare. If the larger ratepayers had to pay a little more for the time.being they would more. than make it up in business which would not reach the city if the fares were increased. '..- In Councillor, Forsyth 'a opinion a halfpenny per ride would not seriously affect tramway travellers. Tho only solution was that suggosted by 'the Mayor, If the council was supplying a pennyworth for a halfpenny it was obvious that that policy had to Be quitted, and the public asked to pay thr.eefafthings, anyway. , CUT OUT THE BUSES, Councillor S. Holm opposed the Mayor's proposal, for, he said, it was not fair to put an increased cost on the suburban householder. Bus running had resulted in a loss of £7300; what had been done to reduce that loss? "Cut out the bus operations and let private enterprise run them," said Councillor Holm. Mr. Hislop: "Are you aware that not a single bus proprietor will touch them? . . . I havo asked the bus proprietors and they will not consider tih'em." Councillor Holm said that the Hataitai tunnel had been one factor in bringing about the drop in revoiiuc; the tunnel was carried upon tho rates, and to give people in a limited area the benefit of that; tunnel reaidenta of outer areas wore to be asked to pay higher fares. Mr. Hislop: "You make no suggestions." Councillor Holm: "I have suggested cutting out the buses." GUARANTEES? Councillor JJ. M'Kecn uaid that to increase the fares aud dismiss the men was -the '' simplest and laziest mothod" of meeting the position. ' Mr, Hislop: "Did you say increase the fare and dismiss tho men?" Councillor M'Keen: "Yen. Will you guarantee that if the farqs do not go up there will bo dismissals?" : Mr. Hislop: "I will givo a guarantee that in one case the dismissals will be trifling aud in the other they will not be trifling." Councillor M'Komi: "That is a bludgeon you are holding over us." Transfer tickets mid over-lapping stations would be ' improvements upon the present system, continued Mr. M'lveen. jVo other transport system

had increased its faros, rail, buses, taxis; the people simply did not have the money' to pay higher fares. It would bo a much fairer way if tho do-1 flcit this year were taken from, the rates.' There was no doubt that bus deficit, in tho past had largely been responsible for tho present position, The department had at least three-quar-ters of a million of; reserves. Mr., Hislop said that that could not be touched under the law, nor could tho council Withhold tho annual percentage payments (2 per cent to renewal and reserve), PIRST SECTION TABES. An amendment'was moved by Councillor W. Duncan that the throo shilling ticket should bo raised to 3a 3d, and tho Is 6d ticket to Is Bd. That would, meet the position and would spread the burden more equitably. He maintained that the Tramway Department did not avail itself of opportunities to carry "additional traffic, as on election, day, and that ordinary fares on Sundays would bring in. more revenue. . '■■ This proposal was supported by Councillor J. M'Donald, who said that until fairly recently tho one- section card liad been Is 9d. Tho idoa had been discussed with the management, said the Mayor, but tho Is 6d ticket paid well, and first section travellers had carried the burden all along, ,and in those circumstances he did not think that it should be increased. The position was really more serious than a fiist reading indicated, said Councillor J. Burns, for not only was there a falling off of £13,000, but savings amounting to £34,000 had been made, so that the figures were really' £47,000 behind those of last year. He thought the question should be referred back to the Tramway Department for further consideration. Ho would prefer an increase in fare to a decrease in staff. ONLY ONE SOLUTION. The Mayor stated that no reasonable alternative had been offered to the Tramway! Committee's proposals. They could not get away from tho fact that the universal fares were not profitable and the more they were availed of tho groater was the decline in revenue, It was therofove tho duty of. tho council to put them on a sounder basis. Tho comparison with tho Hutt busos was no valid reason, as the increase in the caso of the buses was a large one and allowed the taxis to como in. No taxis would be able to compete with the universal trams, . Councillor Burns moved that the whole matter be referred back to the Tramways Committee, but on tho Mayor assuring him that the committee had explored every possible alternative, he- withdrew his amendment. Councillor Duncan's amendment met with little support, and when the motion was put the voting was aa follows: Ayes: The Mayor, Councillors Bennett, Burns," Forsyth, Gaudin, Huggins, Meadowcroft, and "Wallace. Noes: Councillors Appleton, Duncan, Holm, M' Donald, M'Koon, M'Eldowney, and Semplo. Councillor C. 11. Chapman was not presort At o.nco Councillor Appleton gave notice of a. motion to rescind the decision, and a. special meeting -will bo held next week.