TRAFFIC STATISTICS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20441, 18 December 1929, Page 15

TRAFFIC STATISTICS.

AUCKLAND BOARD'S RETURNS

OBJECTION TO A LEITER.

MR. E. H. POTTER CENSURED.

In connection with the decision o? til<! Transport Board at its meeting yesterday to decline thft request for an independent investigation uf its finances, the chairman, Mr. J. A." C. Allum. directed attention to a " letter written by Mr. E. H. Potter, a member of thehoard, published- in the Herald last Saturday, in which the claim was made that sets of figures furnished by the board's officials were inconsistent. This letter was so misleading and unfair that he had instructed the manager; Mr. A. E. Ford, to prepare a report setting out the actual facts. The report contained the following extracts:—

Mr. Ford's Comments. "The three sets of figures to which Mr. Potter refers are (1) a circular signed by the secretary, dated October 1, 1929, giving the number of passengers as 53,38b.750. This communication was' issued in connection with the flat-rate fare proposal and was intended to give the number of tram way passengers who would be affected by the proposed alteration. It intentionally excluded children, scholars, workers, race and special traffic fares, all of which were unaffected by that proposal. I have to remind you that you yourself informed Mr. Potter of this and you pointed out that the inclusion of these riders would cause confusion.

*'(2) The annual statement issued by the board which is said to give the number of passengers as 61.C00.U0G. The annual statement is published"'and the-fig-ures on page 21 are: Tramway. passengers, 59.358,469; omnibus passengers, 5,268,405: total, 64.626.874. The' figures in the annual statement accord exactly with the figures in the memorandum of October 1, when the two statements, ar# carefully considered and properly understood. '"(3) A report furnished to the hoard of the number of passengers carried, by trams from April 1, 1929, to August 23, 1929. This return covered a period of 146 days in 1928 and 145 days in 15)29, and. obviously could not be compared with, and is quite different from, the boird r s annual statement, which is a comprehensive one and covers all its operations for a complete year. . "

Allocation of Receipts. "It is perhaps unfortunate that the distinctions between the different sets of figures which I have pointed out have not always been appreciated by those who have quoted from tbem and who have * sought to suggest that the board's figures are unreliable and inconsistent. Referring to Mr. Potter's reference to the criticism of the Transport Commission of the allocation of receipts between trams and buses. I should like to point out that that criticism affected only the proceeds of concession tickets. The allocation of cash, receipts, which., of course, constituted about two-thirds of the revenue, ' was admitted to be accurate* and with, regard to concession tickets, the Transport Commission pointed out that tha matter of correct apportionment' was not an easy one. this being principally due to the issue of tickets which.- were available on buses and trams, or partly an one vehicle and partly on the other on tha same route. This system has in almost every case now been abolished 'and with it tiie most fruitful source of possible confusion has disappeared. The abolition or t&e joint bus-tramway ticket, in order to arrive at a strictly accurate aHocsiticui, has caused some inconvenience to travellers, and the comparison of the returns by both the present and the previous method shows; that the former method was substantially correct." .. - After the report- had been received tha following resolution was carried; "The board places on record, its strong disapproval of the action of Mr, Potter inLpub- • lishing a letter containing misleading statements relating to the board's affairs.:. It deplores his reference to the chairman and places on record that the chairman, has on all occasions assisted members in obtaining all information they hare required."