£9,000 PROFIT

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 507, 9 November 1928, Page 1

£9,000 PROFIT

TRAMS PAY WELL BUSES STILL A BURDEN j BETTER TIMES IN SIGHT A profit of £59,000 from the city trams this year is anticipated. Tna losses on buses, howsvsr, may be £50.000. Still, a surplus of £9,000 is the pleasant prospect of the administration. The silence which has shrouded the ! doings of the Auckland City Tramways j waa lifted last evening, when the City I Council was informed that the tramj way and bus undertaking was again 1 paying its way after black reports extending over three or four years. The statement was without detail. ' When the town clerk informed the i council that the result of the Transi port Board poll was being gazetted i yesterday, and that it would be necessary for the council to fix a special meeting to elect its representatives. Or. J. A. C. Allum. chairman of the Tramways Committee, said a proper and detailed account of the financial position of the undertaking would be presented as soon as the council was about to hand over the control to the Transport Board. He then said tho undertaking had again been brought to the profit-earning stage. BUSES LOSING

The Sun sought further information this morning. Mr. Allum said the undertaking was working out according to the estimates prepared at the beginning of the financial year, and announced in August. In other words the trams were paying their way as and the year should end with a credit in the vicinity of £58,000 or £ 59,000. The buses had been estimated to lose about £50,000 and this figure was also borne out by the figures for the first six months. Thus, the trams continue to carry the buses, and are expected to do so until the various tram extensions are working. Mr. Allum pointed out that the City Council had been unable to put into operation the policy it had decided on early in the year. It had not been allowed to replace bus services by tram extensions, to replace obsolete buses with modern buses more suitable to local conditions, or to rearrange services or fares, all of which are considered necessary if bus losses are to be reduced to a reasonable figure. Mr. Allum is of opinion that the bus losses could be made negiior * ven wiped out altogether tice hlS policy could *>e put into pracIt must be realised that the present committee took over the management of the trams at the period of maximum difficulty, 18 months ago. Panic legislation, with whjph the majority of the committee 6id not agree, caused huge losses, and private owners were calling on the council to take over their fleets of buses. For 18 months the committee has been endeavouring by rearrangement and the strictest economy to secure a profit-earning position. UNPOPULAR ACTIONS “We have been forced to do things that we kr sw were unpopular,” remarked Mr. Allum, “also certain sections have been put to inconvenience; but I think they will realise that the best was done in difficult circumstances. When |«.e tramway extensions are effected and the bus services revised there will be no inconvenience, and the position will be sound.” Mr. Allum said the estimated saving of about £ 8,000 in power was being confirmed, the amount of power and the price both being lower. The council was now negotiating for a definite basis of computing the charge by the Power Board suitable to both parties. The saving on bus mileage if the tramways extensions are carried out is estimated at 40 per cent, or 750,000 miles annually.