REPLY TO CRITICISM.

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

REPLY TO CRITICISM.

CITY COUNCIL'S INTENTIONS. THE ALL-NIGHT SERVICE. QUESTION FOR CONSIDERATION. It is not the intention of the tramway department, for the present at any rate, to run the all-night bns service between the city and Onehunga. An hourly (Service of this nature has been maintained by the Royal Motor Bus Company for some months and has proved of considerable convenience to late workers and others whose private or business interests keep them in the city after midnight. When the matter was mentioned yesterday to Mr. A. Thompson, chairman of the Tramways Committee of the Auckland City Council, he stated the inauguration of late services to all districts had yet to bo considered by the council, for it was obvious that all districts in the tramway* area would expect to receive similar treatment. Hie patronage available is not sufficient to make these services pay their way," said Mr. /Thompson, "and I am given to understand on the authority of officers of the Royal Motor Bus Company that the all-night service to Onehunga was never a payable proposition. The company, T understand, collected a minimum fare from a few, passengers who travelled short distances out of the city, but beyond Epsom the average load appears to have been about nine passengers per bus between midnight and 1 a.m., but considerably less than that in the earlier hours of the morning." Midnight Tram to Onehunga. At the earnest request of residents, the council had decided to run an early bus from Onehunga leaving the borough at 5 a.m., but yesterday morning the bus carried only six passengers. It had been decided that the tram which now left the city' at 11.50 p.m. for Royal Oak would not depart from the city until midnight, and would run right through to Onehunga, thence returning to the Epsom depot. By this arrangement Onehunga would havo a service from the city half-an-hour later than that to any other tram terminus. Complaint was made by a correspondent in the Herald yesterday that the City Council, in arranging the bus services had deprived the people living at the bottom of Victoria Avenue of their service. It was mentioned that the Royal Motor Bus Company had provided a half-hourly bus service between Arney Road and the city with occasional trips to the foot of Victoria Avenue. The new time-table being run by the tramways department provides a service from the city to the foot of Seaview Road only, the trips being half-hourly in the busy periods and practically hourly for the remainder of the day. "Rightly Tram Customers." When this complaint was referred to Mr. A. Thompson, he said the residents of "Victoria Avenue and the district round the foot of that street were catered for by the Victoria Avenue tram service. Formerly it was in the interests of the Royal Company to run occasional trips to the foot of Victoria Avenue where they were able to load up with passengers who were rightly tram customers. The decision to run the buses to Seaview Road instead of to Arney Road as before was made because there was little room for buses to turn with safety at Arney Road, whereas at Seaview Road, only a short distance nearer the city, there was a space in which the vehicles could turn with ease. There were practically no passengers to be picked up between Arney Read and Burwood Crescent and the residents of the latter locality were within easy reach of the Victoria Avenue cars—very much nearer to the cars, in fact, than thousands of residents in other parts of the city and suburbs. The Panmure Bus Service. Reference was made in the Herald yesterday to the decision of the City. Council to run a bus service to and from Panmnre, connecting with the trams at the Great South Road terminus. It was inferred that the run was unprofitable and the suggestion was made that the city was under no obligation to incur losses on a service so far beyond the tramway boundaries. "That is not the position at all," said Mr. Thompson. . "We promised the Parliamentary Select Committee that we would look after districts which lost the private bus services as the direct result of the new regulations under the Act and the Panrnure-Ellerslie run is one of these. Moreover, the service which we. are running is not likely to show a loss as the people of the district have undertaken to support the busses and are "paying an economic fare. Another point is that by bringing these people by bus to the Great South Road terminus we conserve this patronage for the trams, and by this means so augment the revenue that we are able to maintain a more frequent tram service for the people living alohg this tram route."