THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 1934. ROAD TRANSPORT SERVICES

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22422, 17 November 1934, Page 12

THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 1934. ROAD TRANSPORT SERVICES

It was a reasonable contention which was advanced before the district Licensing Authority at its local sittings that the holders of licenses for bus services are entitled to something better in the way of security of tenure than they at present possess. Under the existing legislation the proprietors who operate these services are required to make application from year to year for renewals of their licenses. While the statement that in present circumstances they consider that they are at any time liable to find themselves ruined may no doubt be said to exaggerate the position, since there has been no apparent reluctance on their part to incur the risk, it is certainly not unreasonable that they should ask for' a security of tenure commensurate with the outlay which is necessarily involved in the equipment of their services and the arrangement of their organisation. The suggestion has been offered that the requirements of the case would be met if. licenses were granted for a term of five years. Were that course adopted, it would clearly be necessary, however, that a license operating for such a period should be subject to intermediate review by the Licensing Authority if circumstances appeared so to warrant. That would be called for in the public interest. Doubtless the fact that there is apparently no lack of firms ready to cater for the public on the roads tends to keep the holders of licenses up to the mark as regards the comfort and efficiency of the services which they provide. But if only for the very reason that increased security of tenure might have a tendency to encourage laxity the Licensing Authority must possess a supervisory status. Otherwise the case for a variation of the law in the direction suggested, so that the proprietor of a bus service may be relieved of much recurrent anxiety lest he should be turned off the road, is a strong one. That view, it is satisfactory to note, is concurred in by the members of the Licensing Authority which has been sitting in Dunedin, who, as the Chairman stated, are in sympathy with road service operators in their request for greater security. The contention that the Railways Board has adopted a policy of cutting fares in a drastic fashion with the object of driving motor bus competition off the roads cannot be regarded as really convincing. The Railways Board is not likely to admit that it has been actuated by any such motive, nor does there appear any particular reason why it should do so. The railway policy is more progressive in these days than formerly in the direction of catering for the public, and there was room for the improvement. The public has welcomed the encouragement that is being offered it to travel. There is little force in the suggestion that the running of numerous railway excursion trips at fares which attract the public should be discountenanced because it is not in the interests of bus service operators or of some of their patrons. Such trips pay the Railways Department, and the cessation of them would deprive the public of facilities which it appreciates. Of these special opportunities it is inevitable that people having ready access to the railways should have more advantage than others. Operators on the roads have their advantage over the railways in that their services meet the requirements of many people who reside along the arterial routes. The service buses can pick up or drop at their own doors passengers whose homes may not be near any railway station. It is carrying the argument altogether too far to suggest that, because people who live scattered along the highways are somewhat envious of the opportunities enjoyed by railway patrons from terminal points, an unfair position as regards transport has been created.