DUNEDIN CITY TRAMS.

Otago Witness, Issue 3035, 15 May 1912, Page 3

DUNEDIN CITY TRAMS.

The town clerk of Dunedin, in his annual report, concludes his reference to the city electrio trams as follows: I There are severa.l factors that should not be overlooked in any attempt to forecast the, result of the coining year's operations. One of these is that the fares now in operation did not take effect until tho Ist May, J 19.11, and consequently affect the receipts during only 11 months of the financ«al year; another is that the new award with tho men ' dates back only three months of tho period under notice The total additional amount required to satisfy the new conditions of labour is estimated to be £3200 for tho year, made up as follows: — I Increase due to tho award £2BOO Increased wages due to 6d per day rise to men at 8s per day • ••• 190 Increased,wages to members of traffic staff outside award ... - 114 Increased salaries "to officials 80 To this is to be added an additional sum to cover interest and renewal charges ->n the capital spent in extensions during 1912, together with a proportionate amount for similar charges for the current year. These have been calculated at £I7OO. As a set-off against there increases it is, of course, reasonable to look for additional revenue from the anticipated increase in tho passenger traffic, and I havo, therefore, taken what I thmk must be aereed is a moat optimistic estimate under this heading. It has been shown that, for the three years ended March 31, 1911, the average yearly increase in tho passengers carried amounted to 429,000, but having regard to the abnormally high increase for 1912, duo to the concessions in fares, it is- improbable that the previous average increase under like conditions rekepecting weather would be maintained. | Having regard, however, to the, unsatisfactory weather conditions that have prevailed ! during the year, I have taken ihe probable increase during the coming year, for the purpose of this forecast, as 500,000, a figure which, as already explained, should appear to be on tho liberal side. Such a number '■ on tho basis of last year's receipts from traffic should increase our revenue bv about £2650, against which sum would, of necessity, bo a certain increase in the ordinary working expanses Forecasting this latter increase from the figures for tho immediate past years it is found that, even on tho most favourable assumption, the ordinary workj ing expenses would show an inoreaae of , about £2OOO. Collecting these data we have the following as the probable position at the 31sfc March, 1913, as compared with the final results at the corresponding-date of 1912: — Credit. Net surplus at March 31, 1012 £ 119 Estimated increased revenue from 500,000 more passengers « 2650 £2769 Debit, i Increased working expenses due to advance in wages and salaries £2500 Increased amount for interest and depreciation duo to additional expenditure on capital account, etc J7OO j Increased ordinary working expenses due to additional number of passengers carried ... £2OOO £6200 This converta our slender net surplus of

£ll9 at March 31. igi2. into a deficiency at a corresponding dato next year of £3451, which I estimate to bo the loss w e may expect to be faced with at that period, assuming tho. prevailing condition? respecting the schedule of fares to bo maintained. A glance at these figures should indicate that whilst tho estimated credit of £2650 from 500,000 estimated additional passenger* is certainly open to attack as erring on tho trS e ' * ne ma J° T portion of the total cf estimated increased working expenses ia a stern reality can be calculated with reasonable exactness. • From a careful consideration of these data I am impelled to endorse the view expressed by ihe tramways manager, and by the city treasurer, that the financial position of the Tramways Department is such that if th« undertaking is to be conducted on sound economic lines, the schedule of fares now in force demands a careful, review with tho object of increasing the margin between working expensca and revenue.