TRAMWAY FARES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19601, 1 April 1927, Page 10

TRAMWAY FARES.

The increase in tramway fares for the longer distances, which the City Council has authorised, simply marks the discontinuance of a temporary arrangement designed to meet exceptional conditions. Nothing has been done toward a general review of the charges, an undertaking which would require consultation with the suburban local authorities. That larger aspect of the subject has been raised by Mr. Eady's proposals and the report upon them by the manager. They were designed to restore the penny fare (by concession card) by an adjustment of sections t.o a uniform length of one mile. The manager's report cannot be described as an exhaustive examination of the proposal. He has pointed to some of the difficulties, but has not men tioned any of tho favourable considerations. Concession fares for three-section or longer journeys are lower than pre-war cash fares, and it is "only on the first and second see tions" that the rates are higher, by one-third on the first section and by one-twelfth on the second.. Yet those are by far,the most important, since about half the year's passen gers travel only one section and o?ie and two section rides together 'constitute more than three-fourths of

the traffic. '■ \ Mr. Eady's proposals imply recdgnitiori of" tlie' financial difficulties of restoring the penny fare under the existing arrangement, for fchey were based upon a prece dent revision of section-lengths, I There is now no pretence of unijH formity. The first section on the ] Herns Bay route is 64 chains,; on the Parneil route 79 chains: that to Pitt Street 107 chains and that to * Symonds Street 133 chains. Similar anomalies prevail throughout the system: the College Hill second sec tion is 54 chains ; the Valley Road section 86 chains ; the Khyber Pass section 88 chains; and the Ponsonby second section U4 chains. There are,' of course, physical difficulties in the way of uniformity, especially where alternative routes exist —one route to Newmarket is half a mile longer than the other, and the difference between the two approaches to the Three Lamps is as much as 104 chains. Yet an improvement toward uniformity does not seem im possible. There is no logical reason why the Symonds Street section should be the longest of all, shortening all the second sections to which it leads, and still less reason for the disparity of 79 and 101 chains on thp two Parneil sections. Some of these anomalies might be corrected with out increasing the cost of long jour neys,, while the introduction of penny fares for one-section trips would clearly be welcome in the suburbs as well as in the city. The council's request for "a comprehensive survey of the sections" will ensure further consideration of the matter.