MOTOR-BUS CONTROL.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19236, 27 January 1926, Page 12

MOTOR-BUS CONTROL.

THE PROPOSED REGULATIONS.

VIEWS OF SUBURBAN BODIES. OBJECTION' ON MANY POINTS. CONFERENCE IN WELLINGTON. . i. ,*: : .. /' * .' • Strong opposition to certain features of the proposed motor-bus regulations was expressed at a conference of suburban local bodies at the Chamber, of Commerce yesterday afternoon. Mr. E. H. Potter was elected chairman and the bodies represented were.Mount Eden, Takapuna, Devonport, Newmarket, Avondale ■ and Onehunga , boroughs, Manukau County Council,."New Lynn,, Manurewa, ..Tuakau, Henderson and Glen, Eden Town Boards, and the One. Tree Hill, Mount Roskill and Tamaki Boad Boards. The chairman said the conference had been called in response to a request from various local bodies. Notification had been .received from the Public Works Department to the. effect that the conference to discuss the proposed regulations would, be held in Wellington on February 9, the Auckland suburban local authorities being invited to send two delegates-. Although road boards were not included in the. authorities mentioned by the department, the road boards in t.he area had been invited to , send representatives to the present meeting and were asked to take .part in. the discussion as they had an equal interest in the regulations with other - bodies. Validity Questioned, In reviewing the' regulations the chairman said the first point of notice was that they were made under the Board of Trado Act, 1919, a purely war .measure, which it' was proposed to use for a purpose for which it was never intended, and' it was extremely, doubtful if they would bo held valid if tested in a Court of law. The next point was that tho legislation was to be carried out by Order in Council. Surely so vital a question as the transport daily of thousands of peoplo should be laid before a House that had just come back from tho constituencies. Another point was that the previous regulations were made cn March 25, 1925, and had therefore not been in operation 12 months before they were to be superseded. The regulations provided that buses and lorries should contribute to the cost of roads, and thereby be put on a similar footing to trams, which ere supposed to maintain the centre of the tracks.

j : The existing regulations had not so far been shown to be faulty, and it was a > matter of importance that they should not. be. changed at short intervals. While regulation was ■ necessary, suppression' 'was not wanted, and there was a possibility that this might take place if , bus-owners had to apply to their .competitors for the conditions under which they were, to-run, and-the fares they were to charge. .* Constitution of Appeal Board.' : The. constitution, of the, Appeal Board also was likely to lead to question, added Mr. Potter. The Government proposed to appoint a chairman/ to; appoint, a member to. represent. themselves, to appoint another member to represent local bodies, and to appoint a fourth member to repre- ;■ Sent the bases. : The fifth and last rnem,|)er of tho board was the tramway representative. The Mount Eden Borough Council, had suggested that a traffic board should takei the place of the Appeal Board, and the meeting might consider 'this-suggestion; .'The proposal that buses not charge less than trams was a direct Restraint of trade/ and was a matter for consideration. ' ' ' ■ < After the' chairman had read the proposed regulations as, circulated by the Minister of Public Works, Mr. C. F. Gardner (New Lynn), .moved that, the conference considers the basis of the regulations to be wrong in principle as' it placed, one' form of transport under tho control of a competitor. There, was some discussion on this motion, which did not meet with unanimous approval. Many of the speakers were at cross purposes, and it was explained that copies of the regulations had not even been seen by some of the delegates. No progress was being made and it was then decided to take the clauses of the regulations seriatim. Suggested Representation.

Mr. J. E. Green (Onehunga) moved that the clauses authorising the Minister to appoint any local auth6rity to license buses be objected to, and an addition was made proposing the setting up of a traffic control board •to function as a licensing authority, the board to be popularly elected and not appointed by the Minister as suggested in the regulations. The representation suggested in the motion was: Auckland City Council, one member, combined counties, combined boroughs, combined town boards and combined road boards, one each,' while the tramways and combined bus-owners were also to have one, each. There would bo right of appeal "to the Supreme Court, thus doing away with the'appeal board proposed- in the ' regulations. This comprehensive, motion « was arrived'; at as the result of. much . discussion.

Mr: G. E. Tansley (Mount Roskill) suggested that the City Council, with its large - interests, vfculd not be satisfied with one representative, but the chairman said that with the tramway member ■the city would have two. Mr. P. Rjchardson (Avondale) said the Government, would not accept a proposal that the-'city should have onlv three representatives as against four for tho small outside bodies, but the chairman said it would be found that the population outside _ the city was about equal to that within it.

After some further discussion the motion as amended was carried. Buses on Tram Routes.

• c^ nso ™ le regulations providing that in cases where buses are running along tram routes, tha maximum tram fare shall be the minimum bus fare,- was debated at length. Mr. W. G.' Lange {Mount Eden) moved that the clause bo deleted and' the question of fares decided by free competition. The motion was finally amended to read that the fixing of fares be left, to the traffic control board to decide and in this form was carried. further motion that all reference in the regulations to the .Transport Appeal Board be deleted was carried, as was another resolution that buses owned bv a corporation be brought within the scope of the regulations. It was generally agreed that the amount' 01 insurance to be carried by bus-owners, as provided in the regulations, was too large. It was finally decided to recommend that the amount of insurance to be carried be left to the licensing authority to decide.

■ The resolutions are. to be submitted to the conference to be held in Wellington and Messrs. E. H. Potter and C. F. Gardner were elected to represent the local authorities. The Auckland suburban authorities had been asked to send two delegates, but this was considered to be less than they were entitled to, and it was decided to ask the Minister to allow Messrs. R. G. Clark (Road Boards) and F. M. Waters (Counties), to attend, Mr. J. D. Morison, Mayor of Takapuna, said his-borough was in a different- position from; others, in that it had a tram service and would like special representation. It was therefore decided to ask the Minister to allow Mr. Morison to attend.