CORRESPONDENCE

Evening Post, Volume CXXVIII, Issue 104, 30 October 1939, Page 6

CORRESPONDENCE

TRAM FARES

THE RECENT INCREASE

(To the Editor.)

■ Suv—As-a,-patron of ..the;trams six days of the week and, as a* ratepayer, a part-proprietor of the tramways, I desire to express an emphatic protest against the present proposals and increase in fares because I feel that every other alternative has not been adequately considered. I think the. last balance-sheet -of the tramwaylsys: tern should be' published showing amount of reserves invested. I understand there is an annual loss of £5000 oh the Sunday trams, £100 every. Sun-, day, and the '. trams to my district. Island Bay, run more than half empty the greater part of Sunday. I consider v workers' concession tickets should be abolished. I fail to understand why the 8 o'clock worker should have -a concession Jtha,t is riot granted to the' 9 o'clock worker. It is more than probable that the 8 o'clock worker ( on the average, has a better income than the average 9 o'clock worker. I feel that if adequate consideration were given to the reserves invested, the curtailment of the tram service on Sundays, and the abolition of the workers' tickets it should be possible Jo issue , a 12-ride universal, or 5-section ticket at 3s 9d or 4s. •*..•• i I maintain that the proposed threesection ticket is not a helpful suggestion/ There would be a general exodus from the trams at Courtenay Place and Lambton Quay. I trust that the matter will be further considered on the lines that I, haye 1 suggested.—l am, etc., H. M. PALMER. (To the Editor.) Sir, —Once again the long-distance tram passenger has been victimised. Several years ago we paid 3s for 12 rides, now 3s for 8 rides—a 50 per cent, increase added. Many families in distant suburbs lured there a few years ago by reasonable tram fares will resent xhis increase. They will remember Councillor Butler who resisted the imposition. Any increase deemed necessary should have been supplied universally and not upon the harassed family man alone, who has been driven out of the city to seek cheaper rents in the outlying parts.—l am, etc., ONE OF THE MUQS. (To the Editor.) Sir, —Your leader in today's issue is very fair and covers many sides of the question1 of suburban transport. What have been called the outer suburbs, have for a long time had the advantage of cheaper fares, and I believe it was the considered policy of the council to provide cheap transport to enable citizens to make homes away' from the centre of the city. I do not wish to enlarge on that particular point, and I admit an increase in longdistance fares may be justified. | But, Sir, Councillor Appleton is* reported to have remarked, whilst- seconding the motion to increase fares, "that the committee had discussed the increases from the point of view of equity." My dictionary gives the meaning of "equity"- as ,"just'and fair," "equal in regard to the rights of persons," "giving each his just due." With all humbleness may I ask where the equity is in the increase in bus fares? I ■ particularly, mention* the Brc-oklyn-Mornington bus service. This service is an extension of the Brooklyn tram service, and. carries .citizens about one mile from Brooklyn to Mornington. The Brooklyn tram sections are short ones, and with the bus section make a three-section run on the council's transport system. Under the new tariff the fare for three sections (tram) is, by concession ticket, 3id per trip. By taking a trip to Mornington—two sections tram and one section by bus, total three sections —the fare by concession cards (two required at an outlay of 4s 6d) is 5d per trip. If this can be explained by any process of reasoning under the heading of equity, I will require a new dictionary. The question of a suitable and satisfactory service to Mornington has been under discussion for years, and the residents here have always been put off by all' sorts of specious arguments. This last injustice will no doubt assist the tramways committee to make a greater loss on the bus service. The people in this district "want only equity (old style) and care not whether the transport is provided by means of tram or bus. We have been asking for a through service for years, and if the tram can be run at a reduction in the fare for three sections of lid per trip, well let us have the tram and immediately.-I am, etc.,