SERVICE CAR FARES DOWN

Taranaki Daily News, 26 August 1931, Page 16

SERVICE CAR FARES DOWN

NEW PLYMOUTH—AUCKLAND

THROUGH FARE £1 UNECONOMIC-

TEN PASSENGERS JUST MET COST

An agreement having been reached between°the four competing firms, the through fare from New Plymouth to Auckland by service car was yesterday raised from £1 to £2, appropriate readjustments being made in the rates to intermediate towns. cheaper fare had operated for nearly four months. The distance by road between New Plymouth and Auckland is 250 miles, so that the fare of £1 lately current worked out at less than a penny a mile, and was probably the cheapest scale operating anywhere in the Dominion. Two years ago the fare was £3 ss, but, as competition became more intense, there were successive reductions to £2 15s,'to £2 10s, to £2 ss, and eventually to £1 15s. Then, toward the end of April one organisation announced a sensational reduction to £l, and, to retain their share of the patronage, the other concerns were forced to

follow suit. Under the scale now superseded an anomalous feature was that the fare between New Plymouth and Te Kuiti, the approximate half-way point to Auckland, remained at £l, so that, in effect, the passenger from New Plymouth north could travel free from Te Kuiti to Auckland. Under the new agreement the,, fare from New Plymouth to Te Kuiti will remain at £l, but an extra 10s will be charged if the journey is continued to Hamilton, and £2 will be the through rate from New Plymouth to Auckland. Speaking to a Daily News reporter yesterday” the proprietor of one of the service organisations subject to the new agreement said that though the £1 fare caused an increase in traffic, it was thoroughly uneconomic? It would have been impossible to maintain an efficient service at those charges, he said. In order just to clear expenses it was necessary'to carry from New Plymouth to Auckland not less than ten through passengers at £1 each. Even then there was nothing left over as a reserve for contingencies. Unless there were ten passengers the- service was run at a direct loss. The recent reduction in the price of petrol by a penny a’gallon did little to reduce the running expenses. The cars used from 15 to 18 gallons on the through trip, so, at the most,, the saving a,mounted only to Is 6d a ti ip.