SUBURBAN TRANSPORT.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19470, 28 October 1926, Page 10

SUBURBAN TRANSPORT.

TRAM AND BUS SERVICES. NEW SYSTEM IN OPERATION. CONTROL BY CITY COUNCIL. HANDLING ONEHUNGA TRAFFIC. The first step toward assuming control of all passenger transport within the tramway area was taHen by the Auckland City Council yesterday, when services formerly controlled by the Royal Motor Bus Company were administered by the Tramways Department. The largest of these services was that operating between tho city and Onehunga, and throughout yesterday ample accommodation was provided by an augmented tram service, assisted during tho, morning and afternoon rush periods by a number of buses. The. RoVal Company's services are. the largest the council will be called upon to take over and with these running smoothly the task next Monday, when the remaining bus services will be brought under the tramways organisation, will bo comparatively simple. The arrangements made by the running branch of tho tramways provided for a five minutes tram service to and from Onehunga, with extra bus trips morning and evening, a bus service between the city and Seaview Road, Remuera, and bus feeder-services from I'anmuro and Ellerslie to tho Great South Road tram terminus, from Royal Oak to tho intersection of Rawhiti and Tawa Roads, via Campbell Road, and from Onehunga to various points in Mangere. Bus Drivers Retained. Sixteen Royal motor-buses were operated by the Tramways Department. They were fitted with fare-receiving boxes similar to those on the council buses. The buses wore driven by former employees of the company, and while there had not been time to fit them out with uniforms they were provided with uniform caps. No detail of the new arrangements likely to assure strict adherence to the time-tables had been overlooked, but in the early morning inspectors were sent out to observe the operations of the services and to report any possible alterations or amendments calculated to improve the running Arrangements. In tho early morning Mr. A. Thompson, chairman of the Tramways Committee of the City Council, accompanied by Mr. W. St. J. Clark, acting-tramways manager, toured tho various tram and bus routes to note the effect of the revised system. Special attention was paid to the Onehunga line, on which the heaviest traffic was carried between 7.30 and 8.45 a.m. The oars on the five-minute service running strictly to time-table were coping with the traffic and an overcrowded car was rare. At no point along the route was there any considerable gathering of waiting passengers, and those who missed one car had but a few minutes to wait before the next came along. The extra buses put on to cope with any rush of traffic were not called upon to any great extent, although they played their part in lifting passengers as they arrived at the various stops. Less Congestion In Queen Street. A further inspection was made by the chairman and manager at the city end during the evening rush hour. At the foot of Queen Street there was a noticeable absence of congestion, as the cars were getting the people away without overcrowding. If anything, the position in Lower Queen Street was somewhat better than usual, as the withdrawal of at least 12 Royal buses removed that much traffic from tho busy centre. A tour along Queen Street and up Symonds Street, past Grafton Bridge to the junction with Khyber Pass Road also showed that the people were being carried away in orderly fashion from the several gathering points. The handling of the traffic by the feeder services appeared to be satisfactory. The buses- from Mangere discharged their loads at the Onehunga post office, where there were enough tramcars to convey the passengers to the city and points en route, tho passengers from the Campbell Road buses being picked up at Royal Oak. Similarly an augmented tram service on the Great South Road route proved adequate to deal with the traffic brought in by the feeder-bus service from Panmure, Ellerslie and way points. THE BUSES TO MANGERE, SATISFACTION WITH SERVICE. The new bus service arranged by tho Auckland City Council was discussed at a meeting of Mangere residents last evening. Satisfaction was expressed with the new service, but it was decided to approach the City Council with requests for several minor alterations in the timetable Protests were made against the increase in the price of a weekly ticket to Favona Road. It was - stated that tickets were sold by the Royal. Motor Bus Company for ss, but tho City Council intended to charge 8s 3d. TRANSPORT APPEAL BOARDS. ARRANGEMENTS COMPLETED. [BY TELEGRAPH. —OWN CORRESPONDENT. J WELLINGTON, Wednesday. Arrangements have been completed for the establishment of the transport appeal boards in connection with the motor bus regulations recently gazetted. The personnel of the boards wilt probably be Gazetted to-night.