CABLE CARS OR BUSES

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23718, 27 January 1939, Page 5

CABLE CARS OR BUSES

ro THE EDITOH Sir, —I refer to your correspondent “ Hill Resident’s ” letter in your issue of 25th. inst. It is good to know that we have in our midst a resident with experience abroad who can enlighten us stodgy stay-at-homes. Will he please tell us how the ’Frisco cable car vehicles compare with those on the Roslyn line? Are they designed for and capable of carrying more or fewer passengers? Do the passengers all travel under cover from weather conditions? What does each vehicle cost? How often have they to be replaced? Have they run for over 35 years without improvement in design? He says h. knows the Roslyn route. Is there any part of the ’Frisco routes in a state of desolation like the portions between Arthur and Lawson streets and Highgate and the Valley? Perhaps he would like to mention the capital cost of a Diesel bus, and how often it nas to be replaced! Could the Roslyn line be put into modern condition for the cost of two buses? Could new vehicles for the same line be obtained for the cost of a further two? Could such work be done with material locally manufactured? We thirst for facts. We approach the problem with open minds. “ Hill Resident’s ” exoerience seems to be heaven-sent. Finally, is he correct in his statement of ’Frisco gradients? We know the answer to that one He is not.

In to-day’s issue another correspondent, “ Plain Facts,” deals with falling revenues and the possibility of a further burden on 'atenayers as long as the cable cars continue Answers to the above questions may give him a hint of capital costs of buses, capital costs of replacement of buses at five-yearly intervals or less. In the meanti-' what it costs to run the buses is n deep and dark secret. — I am. etc.. Gripper. Dunedin, January 26.