BUS SERVICES

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19718, 18 August 1927, Page 12

BUS SERVICES

Sir, —The vexed question of tramways v. buses will probably some day straighten itself out, perhaps even at the expense of a change of government. It is as impossible to keep the motor industry from coming to the fore, as it was to keep back the various industries of the past, such as weaving, pottery, etc. It is a case of natural evolution. The tramways serve their purpose in thickly-populated areas, such as a city, but for outside districts, where an expeditious service is necessary, the motorbus service is certainly the solution. The .City Council* perhaps has every right to dictate to city passengers, but why penalise the unfortunate suburbanites, who through the motor-bus service acting as a pioneer, were induced to go "further out" and built their homes handy to that service—in many cases miles from a railway station ? Not only did they build their homes, but they joined the great army of suburban ratepayers, and cheerfully paid increased rates when the concrete roads were put through. They paid, and do pay for the upkeep of these roads, not to just admire their smooth symmetry, or watch the passing motorists whirling merrily along them, but as a facility for getting to and from the city to earn their daily bread. Suburban Ratepayer.