CABLEL TRAMS OR BUSES?

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23688, 21 December 1938, Page 10

CABLEL TRAMS OR BUSES?

The residents on the hills of Dunedin who [are opposed to the replacement of jtbe cable trams by a bus service i,ave chosen an effective manner jbf making their protest. Such meetings as that which was held at Bqslyn on Monday evening serve to Indicate that a considerable body of pjiblic opinion remains loyal to the cattle trams. It was suggested at this meeting that the City Council has acted somewhat arbitrarily in its expert nents with a substitute bus service ip place of the trams. The experiment may be of some service in helping the Council to form a decision jon the question whether trams oT buses can most economically and* satisfactorily provide an adequate;, transport system for the hill suburbs. That is a question, however,} upon which the judgment of experts in transport problems is of most tfalue. Against expert conclusions tihe opinions and prejudices of those rji embers of the public—and, perhaps, jof the City Council —who are advocating the use of trams or of buses cannot be allowed too muqh weight. The cable trams hai/e a splendid record in Dunedin [over many years. They have proved safe in operation, and by no means extravagant in upkeep. In; llhe matter of providing comfort for users, they have admittedly lagged behind more recentlyintroduced' forms of transport. Duses, on ihe other hand, have still, >n this city; at least, to prove their absolute (.merits. Their field of operation 1) as been largely restricted to unprofi‘4 able routes, so that an economic (.testing of comparative maintenance costs is required. Their oerformande on the steep gradients in the districts served in the past by cable trams may present a source of danger in Ifcad weather conditions. Here again«information is required. It is a reasonable proposal which emanated from the Roslyn meeting that the position should receive further investigation, preferably by independent tpaffic experts, before the City Council commits itself definitely to a (policy of replacing the established fl-able tram service. Possibly that lis not far from the present intention of the Council itself. Whichever way a decision L made,* ijt is obvious that a large capital cost must be incurred either in thq purchase of buses or in improvements to the cable trams and permanent way. In the circumstances, it is (desirable that the City Council shoujd treat the matter as a major queqtion of policy, which should not be without mature consideration.!