PASSENGER TRANSPORT.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19447, 1 October 1926, Page 12

PASSENGER TRANSPORT.

The loss of £50,000 on the operation of bus services by the Melbourne Tramways Board is further evidence pointing to the conclusion that tho motor vehicle must charge more than tram fares to pay its way. In Melbourne, during the last financial year, the earnings of the buses fell short by £17,000 of operating expenses, the balance of the loss representing provision for depreciation, renewals, etc. Municipal bus services in Auckland and Wellington have produced exactly similar results, while the mischievous effects of unrestricted competition with tramways have also been illustrated in New South Wales, where tho Government systems show a deficit for the last year of £278,400, more than double the previous year's loss. To tho mounting total of losses suffered by publicly-owned tramways, through the competition of buses and their own unprofitable experiments with motor transport, must be added the undisclosed losses of the private concerns. That the latter have failed to realise the hopes of their promoters and the expectations of those who thoughtlessly welcomed the competition has been abundantly demonstrated. Yet, the attempt to establish the rival form of transport has been made under exceptional advantages. Tho controversy which has divided public opinion during the last two or three years created a body of stalwart supporters for the bus services, who hi their enthusiasm have overlooked much that would have been unsparingly condemned in a municipal monopoly. Moreover, bus promoters have not yet been required to comply with such a strict specification of design, construction and efficiency of the vehicles as tramways have long been required to observe, and even looal regulations dealing with these matters have not been strictly enforced. In spite of these advantages, the motorbus has failed to pay its way in competition with tramways; few would now pretend that fleets of buses should supersede tramways. There is, no doubt, a useful field of service for the motor vehicle :n districts too sparsely populated to warrant the frequent service or to provide the volume of traffic required to justify the heavy capital outlay of a tramway system, but it is unlikely that bus services in such areas can be profitably operated at tramway fares. Very much higher rates are charged by existing bus services

where there is no competition. The fundamental error into which many have fallen in discussing the vexed question of transport in urban areas is the presumption that services capable of carrying a given volume of traffic can be indefinitely increased by competitive enterprise without cost to the individual passenger. He may argue that the more vehicles, the more quickly he can reach his destination, but his fallacy is the presumption that ho can have the option of taking a tram or a bus and pay the same fare as if there were only one on the road. If it were possible to multiply public passenger services without regard to the volume of traffic, everyone might ride in a taxi-cab at penny fares.