AUCKLAND TRANSPORT.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19474, 2 November 1926, Page 12

AUCKLAND TRANSPORT.

FIRST DAY OF THE NEW ORDER. BUSY TIME FOR TRAMWAYS. REPLACING PRIVATE BUSES. SATISFACTORY INAUGURATION. Tho now arrangement- for control of city and suburban passenger transport brought'about by the passing of the Motor Omnibus Traffic Act was introduced smoothly yesterday, when the Act cause into force. The clause in tho Act requiring private bus companies competing with the city tramway undertaking to charge twopence more than the tramway fare in the case of passengers picked tip and sot down on a tramway route was deemed too much of a handicap, and most of the owners decided to go out of business. Motor-bus owners in substantial competition with the tramways were given the right to require the City Council, as owners of the trams, to take over their buses and services The first of the coinpanics to take advantage of this provision was the Royal Motor Bus Company, which ceased operations on October 25, its buses and services being taken over by the tram way s? J department from the following morning. Subsequently motor-bus proprietors running services to Point Chevalier, Richmond Road and to the districts beyond the Mount Eden Road and Dominion Road tram termini served similar notice on the council. All these' seirvices, with the exception of that running via Dominion Road, were taken over yesterday by the tramways department. Position in Mount Eden. Chief interest yesterday centred in the handling of traffic from the Mount Eden district. ■ The Mount Eden Motor Bus Company, with a fleet of li large buses, had been in active competition with tho trams, in addition to running into the Mount Roskill district. '■ To meet the position created by the withdrawal of these buses, the Mount Eden tram service was augmented, the residents being given a four-minute * service during the rush periods and, an /«ight-m'iau'to service for the remaining, traffic hours. There wajs .eyery indication that the needs of'th'e 'travelling public were being met, the-''frequency of tho cars at tho morning \and afternoon rush hours enabling the department to move the traffic without crowding or undue delay. The bus feeder 1 service from Mount Albert Road in the Mount Roskill district to ■ the Mount Eden-terminus provided the : residents of .that area with reasonable facilities. For th'e first 'time the municipal authorities had 'a' monopoly of thai traffic: to Point piev^i«r, I ,and nine buses were put on to Jdeai with the passengers offering. .There w,as»; however, /Sojne congestion on rthis routS in •'th'e morning rush period. i In most|!diatr}cts *the peak-loads .are distributed over, a period of about two i. hours from*7j.a.raj. to ; 9 ~ a.m.. but .at] Point ; Ch^van^^he;'' traffic has to be ! dealt with by 7.'isd a.m.'. flue to the fact that roost! of the residents .are people who have to reach their work in .the •fdty by eight o'clock. , Extra Buses Employed. The peak-loatdipg period at Point Chevalier occurs from 7.10, a.m. to 7.25 a.m. and it was found the buses provided were''barely, sufficient. It was found, possible to take all who were travelling bat some of the buses were overcrowded. This position J?jsj§o£ in the late after-i noon by Buses and homeward-boniid: residents were all catered for. The extra buses will bo running again to : day. The augmented f bus services to ParBell Park, Riclimond Road and Buckland Road and the regular bus communication established between tho Grey Lynn, and Herne Bay tram termini greatly 7 improved the transport facilities of these districts. •■■;;; , r' _ ;'. t The . additional bus services institut ed by the tramways department were run ■with the- council's own fleet and buses taken over from Motor Bus Company. The buses offered by the other companies Have not yet been taken over as the. work of valuation arid inspection has not yet- been completed. ' The' Evening Bush Period, The test of ! the hew arrangement came last eveninjjwhen the tiamway service was called upon to carry the city workers to their suburban homes. The morning load is distributed over a period of two hours when about 155 train cars are put. into service. The crowds of passengers brought in at t't»ia time, in addition to the many hundreds who come to town 'during the afternoon, have to bo carried out of the city in the comparatively short time between 4.30 o.m. and 5.15 p.m.,'and approximately 183 cars are required for the task, Tho scene at, tho foot' of Queen Street fct five o'clock, was orderly. There appeared to be plantyu.of cars to , handle the rush, and it noted that cats running in- : 'th6 Onehunga and Mount Eden services, which'are mostly affected "by the withdrawaT.of the buses, were rarely more thati comfortably filled. Excellent organisation on the part of the tramway officials was responsible for ! the smooth running: of the system and the des-> patch with which trams and buses were sent away was partly due to the control of street traffic instituted yesterday by 'the city traffic department. Another bus service to bo taken over ! to-day will be that formerly operated byprivate companies in Dominion Road. jtJnder the city's control the buses will cease to run along the tram route from 'the citv; but a bus-feeder sfih/ice will ( serve the western end of the Mount Koskill district, connecting with the trams at the Dominion Road terminus. HIGHER BUS FARES. I r NORTHERN SUBURBAN SERVICE. Fares on motor-buses running from the Se% to Avondale, New Lynn, Glen Eden And Blockhouse Bay were raised yesterday. The increase amounted to *9d on workers' weekly tickets and 2s on the 12-trip concession cards issued to residents. . The bus owners, the General Omnibus Company, announce that the increases thave been made to compensate for loss 'of revenue along tram routes and to provide for insurance as required by the regulations. Naturally there was a good deal of .grumbling at the*,higher tariff, but the company expects that generally the passengers will accept the inevitable (philosophically.