NO TROLLEY BUSES

Taranaki Daily News, 3 September 1935, Page 9

NO TROLLEY BUSES

NEW PLYMOUTH DECIDES PROPOSITION REJECTED . REPORT BY CR. GRAYLING CR. STAINTON CRITICAL Despite a further lengthy report favthe installation of a trolley bus System of. transport at New Plymouth ar ( d the use of available funds on the construction of permanently high grade main roads within the borough, the New Plymouth Borough Council last night on a majority vote rejected a motion by Cr. F. S.‘Grayling to begin immediately a gradual change over to the new system. “I have too much regard for Cr. Grayling’s judgment to think that he is serious in this proposition,” declared Cr. P. E. Stainton' in a 40 minutes’ reply to the substance of Cr. Grayling’s report and supplementary remarks. Tile report’s estimates varied widely from those incorporated in the report of the electric light and tramway committee when the proposal was first brought before the council. Cr. Grayling also suggested the utilisation of the tramway depreciation fund as a means of financing the change-over and was challenged on grounds of the legality of such a proposal. While Cr. Stainton admitted that the present system of borough transport was by no means ideal, he characterised Cr. Grayling’s financial proposals as utterly unsound and stated that the problem of transport must be met on an economic basis. The council could act only within the limits of the finance available to it and must do the best it could with its present commitments and with the money available. Supplementing his report, tabled at the council meeting, Cr. Grayling read « newspaper article in which it was stated that there was a general tendency to change over to trolley buses in Australian cities on grounds of economy, health and convenience. RECONDITIONING DEVON STREET. Dealing more directly with the immediate proposal of the council to spend £7OOO on the partial reconditioning of Devon Street, Cr. Grayling forcibly expressed the opinion that such a policy was short-sighted in that the work would last only ten years and then the problem would have to be faced by the council in no better a financial condition than it was at the present time. He was of the opinion that the reading problem then could be met only by a large loan and that it was economically a better proposition to face up to the problem now and go ahead with the construction in sections of a class of road that might last anywhere between 30 and 40 years. “The condition of Devon Street at the present time is very much interwoven with this trolley bus proposal,” he said. “The £7OOO that the council proposes to spend on Devon Street now will last about seven years—and the tram rails will be untouched. It would require an additional £2OOO expenditure to treat the whole of the road surface. Even so this work would not involve the correcting of the present unsatisfactory camber of the road. Further, any improvement made over the area of ground between the rails and for' a distance of about three feet from them would be bound to be affected by the vibration of tne trams t and the expense of-upkeep would remain high as at the present time.” Councillor Grayling asked if the coun-

cil intended to make a start on an inevitable change-over at the present time or allow the problem to become more ' acute for 10 years and then face up ..-to the position of raising a £lOO,OOO loan. Such a sum, he estimated, was the minimum amount that would be required to treat the length of road from the Breakwater to Fittroy. Posterity -would have its own expensive problems to meet, not least of wnich would be the damage at present being done at Woolcombe Terrace by erosion. PERMANENT ROAD WANTED. “I am definitely of the opinion,” said Cr. Grayling, “that it would be far better for this council to expend the £7OOO ■ it has available on forming a mile of permanent road than spending that sum merely on top-patching of the road. Whetfter one agrees with the installation of a trolley bus system that fact remains.” He suggested that the tram rails could be taken up as the work progressed and the system gradually contracted until it had ceased to exist. “You have got to start this work from the Breakwater end,” he explained, “because the tramway sheds and workshops are at Fitzroy. In any case, I cannot see the force of spending money on the extension of the tram rails to the harbour board office as is at present proposed. I don’t want to see the trams scrapped out , of hand because it is true, there is still life in them—but that is not the Whole position. We must face up to other problems.” He then formally moved that the council should agree to effect the change over to the trolley bus system and that the first work be done on the portion of the present tramway system between the Breakwater and the railway station. Cr. R. S. S. Richardson seconded the motion. Eventually, Cr. Grayling explained, the system would be extended to Fitzroy and then'the short Westown route couk 1 be completed. Councillor Stainton then asked Cr. Grayling a number of questions regarding points of his proposal and his first questidfr was, “If the method of finance as •Suggested by you in this report is not available, how do you propose to finance • the scheme?” Councillor Grayling: I had not given k that very careful consideration. If Councillor Stainton has had information • that the money would not be available -definite information—he should have said so. -The tramways depreciation fund has been built up over a number of years. 1 would also point out that at the present time no less than £lOOO is being spent on the maintenance of electric cars. T|ie partial change-over as I suggest would cost in the vicinity of £17,000. Cr. Stainton: Can you substantiate that? COST OF TROLLEY BUS SCHEME. Councillor Grayling said that he had obtained the information from Christchurch that the latest trolley bus body built there cost about £750. In the estimate he had put them down at £lOOO and the chassis at £l5OO. Councillor Stainton: And as far as the finance is concerned—if Cr. Grayling wanted any information about the tramways depreciation fund I would remind the council that the tramways committee had neither the privilege nor courtesy of an inquiry from Cr. Grayling. The committee exists only to carry out the will of the ratepayers in the administration of this department of the borough’s activities. If this money is not available. Cr. Grayling should tell us what means of finance he proposed to use. That is a point that must be clarified. Councillor Grayling: I based my estimate on certain figures of the depreciation fund. Councillor Stainton: Would you be in

favour of raising a loan for the conversion of the system if necessary? Councillor Grayling: I never suggested any loan. If I had been in favour of a loan I would have dealt with that possibility in my report.

Councillor Stainton: If we are going to spend between £26,000 and £27,000 on something we must have a means of finance. • If finance is not assured there is no use going ahead. Councillor Grayling, Cr. Stainton said, was obviously actuated by the highest motives in bringing the matter forward but it was obviously necessary to treat the whole matter from the economic aspect. If the borough possessed no trams it was obvious that they would not go in for them now—some other means of transport would be found. All agreed that it was the duty of the council to spend as much money as possible on permanent works. No one would prefer to see a lasting job more than ne would but in this particular problem there were a number of aspects to be considered. The £7OOO proposed to'--be used by Cr. Grayling as a start could- not be used on the breakwater end of the system because the breakwater road was not a main highway and the money, was available from a main highways fund. However desirable it might be to spend the money there St. Aubyn Street was inevitably left out. BUILDING UP FUND. It must then be considered that between £6OO and £7OO a year was being spent on Devon Street at the present time to maintain it in passable condition. If the £7OOO on top treatment were spent it would include ordinary maintenance charges for the next ten years. Thus a certain amount of funds could be earmarked to provide the nucleus for a fund to do the permanent job when it became essential and thus minimise the necessity for raising a large loan for the work. “We have gone carefully into the question of costs for the conversion of the breakwater-railway section,” said Cr. Stainton, “and put down the cost approximately at £26,650. The estimate of the tramway ■ department was £31,181. There is no good bolstering up a scheme by cutting down prices. One must allow a certain liberality in estimate to meet unforeseen charges.”

The tramway committee, despite that, drew up its estimate on conservative lines. The only fair basis for drawing up that estimate seemed to be on the figures supplied by Christchurch where the system has actually been Installed. Another point to be made against the proposal by Cr. Grayling was that in 10 years’ time the whole principle of motor transport might have changed completely. No one could say at. the present time what would happen in the province of heavy transport. It was entirely erroneous to think that the council must confine itself to the use of electric current to provide transport power. As a matter of fact it was an absolutely uneconomic proposition to do so. At the present time the tramways department was returning to the electric light department a profit of .5d per unit on power used. ■ The average public consumer was returning a profit of 2.sd—just five times as much. It was estimated that within 10 years the demand by the public for power would be four or five times as great as at the present time. OUTSIDE BUSINESS PAYABLE. In this respect it was a far better proposition to go after outside business. The council at present also had seven years of contract to the Government to run by which a certain amount of power was supplied by tne Public Works Department. After that contract had expired the borough hoped to support itself. “We can do far better business than use the electrical energy for running trolley buses,” Councillor Stainton emphasised. “We can sell power and give greater service to our consumer when the time comes to scrap the trams. This is one of the most important factors that Cr. Grayling has failed to take into consideration. "Looking over the financal propositions of Cr. Grayling,” continued Cr. Stainton, “I am frankly amazed at his suggestions. They would do -credit to a get-rich-quick Wallingford! Their foundation is • absolutely unsound and would not be entertained seriously for a minute. If the money could be made available as easily as Cr. Grayling has suggested it would be our bouhden duty to put his proposals into operation.” Councillor Grayling had assessed the value of the disused tram rails at a certain figure, planning to sell them for use as electric cable standards and completely overlooking the fact' that the greatest length for the purpose was 25 feet, which would necessitate the wastage of 15 feet from every rail. Furthermore there were miles of rails to be disposed of in this fashion, whereas over the last few years inquiries for rails to the tramways department had varied from 60 to nil.

The value/of sleepers in Cr. Grayling’s estimate was assessed at 3s each. Competent timber dealers have said that they would be doubtful about taking the sleepers if offered at Is each. New posts—certainly not of hardwood • but of very good native wood —could be obtained for 2s each.

Councillor Stainton declared that the Auditor-General would never permit an illegal transfer of money from the tramways depreciation acocunt to a fund for the purposes of the conversion of the system. It would require special legislation to alow it to be done, and it was almost certain the Auditor-General would never consent to such a step being taken. He asked Mr. Bellringer’s confirmation. TRANSFER NOT LEGAL. The town clerk replied that the transfer without special legislation would certainly be illegal, but he had no idea of what would be the attitude of the Audi-tor-General to a proposal for special legislation. The further suggestion that the council should borrow from the waterworks account to provide additional money was also unsound, declared Cr. Stainton. The fund had been weakened by the withdrawal of £lO,OOO for water service improvements and there was further necessity of another £lO,OOO expense within five or 10 years. The council was under bond to the Health Department to provide filters for the supply when called on to do so. This would involve a heavy outlay and it had been considered wise in the past to endeavour to build up the fund to £20,000. It was absolutely essential that the council should reserve funds to meet its possible commitments. In reply, Cr. Grayling said that the tramways department was getting its fuel for practically nothing and yet still running at a loss. It was the ratepayer who was meeting the difference. Councillor Stainton: Cr. Grayling opened up this proposal by saying that we had power running to waste! Councillor Grayling continued by criticising the suggestion that heavy transport might be revolutionised by the introduction of Diesel engines by stating that every country should be as far as possible self-supporting in its requirements for -power for transport. There was no guarantee that there would be an uninterrupted supply of fuel oil to New Zealand.

As far as Cr. Stainton’s remarks about the over-valuation of rails and sleepers were concerned it should be remembered that there were other sources of sale outside the tramway department. In regard to the suggestion that filters might have to be supplied at the waterworks, it was an object of the present

expenditure of £lO,OOO that the whole of the town supply should be drawn from the reservoir where the water was already filtered. FILTERS AT RESERVOIR. Councillor Stainton; That is no objection. We can be required to put in the filters when we are called on to do so. The filters at the reservoir are very old and perhaps not fully efficient. The Mayor, Mr. E. R. C. Gilmour, then intervened to put the motion, remarking that he personally was convinced that the time was not ripe to institute Mr. Grayling’s proposal and that in any case the finances of the council would not allow the scheme to be undertaken at this stage. He concluded by thanking Cr. Grayling for the compilation of information that would probably be of considerable use to future councils; The motion when put to the council was lost on the voices. The text of Mr. Grayling’s report and the details of his proposals in reply to the unfavourable recommendations of the electric light and tramways committee are given below: — “As I raised the question of a changeover from the present" tramway system to the trolley-bus system, I feel it incumbent on me to put my views before the council,” said Cr. Grayling. I have read with interest the report of the tramway committee, but can see in it nothing to warrant me changing the opinion that I had already formed, that it will be in the interests of the borough to scrap the trams by stages and replace them with trolley-buses. TROLLEY-BUSES IMPROVED. “So far as the trolley-bus is concerned, it must be admitted that this vehicle has been wonderfully improved since its first introduction. It is undoubtedly one of the transport vehicles of the future. That this is so is borne out by the number of municipalities that are changing over. I may say that this report deals only with the trolley-bus and the tramcar for the reason that in my opinion this borough would be ill advised to adopt either the petrol bus or- the C.I. engined bus. The borough has as one of its assets a good hydro-electrical scheme capable of producing at a cheap rate the power necessary to propel the trolleybus, and it would seem unwise to adopt any scheme of transport which involved the purchase of fuel imported from abroad. “The trolley-bus has the advantages set out in the tramway committee’s report, with, I think, the following additions: (1) It has no rails to maintain. (2) It avoids the expense of road maintenance between and adjacent- to "the rails as used by the tram. Municipalities all over the world have found it almost impossible to keep a good road surface near tram rails. (3) It considerably relieves traffic congestion, in that it draws into the kerb to pick up or set down passengers. (4) The tram rails which are a source of danger to vehicular traffic are removed. “The ‘cons’ are as set out in the tramway committee’s report, with ,the following qualifications: (1) The trolley-bus will, I think, be able to handle any voltune of ' traffic that New Plymouth is likely to see for very many years. Furthermore, when the world’s greatest qity, London, considers .that part of its traffic can be handled with the trolley-bus, that should be a sufficient answer to any suggestion that it is not capable of handling heavy traffic. (2) As to its economic life, the transport authorities of England say that a trolley-bus must be written off in 10 years, but it must be rememberer, that the passengers carried per bus in England and in our own town would be two totally different things. There would appear to be no reason why its economic life in this town should not be much more than 10 years.” INCREASE IN REVENUE. After quoting the operation of trolleybuses in many parts of the world Cr. Grayling continued: “So far as our own revenue is concerned, we may assume that in the event of a change-over it will not be less than it is now. Some transport system is, of course, essential to the borough. In view also of the experience of other municipalities, I confidently expect an increase in revenue from the trolley-bus, and a decrease in running expenses. “The report of the tramway committee states that a partial system of trol-ley-buses ‘would be entirely unsatisfactory from both a transport and an economic standpoint’ and that there would be an inconvenience to passengers in ‘changing-over.’ In the first place by far the greater number of passengers travel from the suburbs to the town; so that the ‘change-overk would not affect a great percentage of passengers. Furthermore, it is sufficient to say that passengers travelling from Westown to Moturoa or from Vogeltown, Avenue Road or Frankleigh Park to any other suburb (and for a number of years from Westown to Fitzroy and vice versa) have for years put up with this inconvenience, and no member of this council has seen fit to suggest that it should be altered, or that it amounts to an inconvenience which has 'a detrimental effect on the revenue.’ “I have no doubt, that, even if the council decides not to change over at the present time, it will do so before many years, and I entertain no doubt but that the change will be in favour of the trolley-bus. “There is, however, one matter which to my mind makes an almost immediate change desirable, and that is the condition of the main road from the Fitzroy bridge to the Breakwater following the tram rails. It must be obvious to members of the council that it is impossible to make a good and workmanlike job of this road so long as the tram rails remain. In most places the camber is far too great, while over practically its whole length the road is wavy and unsatisfactory for traffic. The modern road requires very little camber, and is practically flat from kerb to kerb. EXPENDITURE ON ROADS. “As the council knows, the works committee has available for the main road a sum of about £BOOO, of which it is proposed to spend about £7lOO on resurfacing the section from Sackville Street to Queen Street. It is, I think, the desire of the council to expend this money in the best possible way, and to my mind the best way is to spend it on some permanent work—work that wlil last for years, and so obviate the necessity of considering it again for a long period. “I would remind councillors that the sum of money before mentioned as being sufficient to resurface the portion of road in question is not sufficient, and does not make provision for. resurfacing between the tram rails, or for- a distance of 18 inches outside each rail. The extra cost of resurfacing this area is estimated by the engineer at £2000; so that the total cost of resurfacing is about £9OOO. With such treatment it is estimated that the length of road in question will, with reasonable maintenance, give a good surface for approximately 10 years, that is to say, for an approximate annual maintenance charge of £9OO, the length of road in question can be made to last 10 years. “It will be remembered that the tramway engineer estimates the life of the present rails at from 10 to 15 years. Broadly speaking, therefore, we may say that with the expenditure of the beforementioned sum of £9OOO the road can be made to last about tire same length of time as the tram rails. In that period it must be remembered also that certain moneys will have to be expended in keeping the rails in repair. What does this mean? It means that in a period of from 10 to 15 years the council must

face either the scrapping of the trams or tHe renewal of the rails, together with the relaying of the road on the whole of the tram route. It is impossible, at this stage, to suggest with accuracy what the cost of relaying the road and tram rails will be then, but the cost of the road alone (Fitzroy to Breakwater only, bitumen hot-mix) will be, on present prices, about £52,000, while a complete change-over to the trolley-bus would, on the figures given by the tramways committee, amount to £61,000, thus making the grand total of £113,000. If, on the other hapd, the trams be retained and the rails replaced by new ones, then the costs may be even more. “What of the ability of the borough to meet the position now or in 10 to 15 years’ time? Firstly, what will the position be in 10 to 15 years’ time? The greater, part of the borough loan indebtedness of (now) £737,000 is on the amortisation scheme, the exception being £205,000 domiciled abroad. The loans expire as follows: £230,000 debentures issued expire April 1, 1953; £121,490 debentures, half-yearly repayments, last debenture expires April 1, 1959; £227,560 debentures, half-yearly repayments, last debenture expires June 1, 1959; £125,500 debentures, half-yearly repayments, last debenture expires October 1, 1962; £20,298 balance State Advances loans expire years 1947 to 1961; £12,247 inscribed loans (Treasury) extinguish themselves by payment of interest and principal over a fixed term of years. The tramway loan does not expire until 1959.

NO BETTER POSITION.

“It is clear, therefore, that, in com? mon with the borough’s other loans the tramway loan will not be repaid by the tune the renewal or replacement of the trams comes up for consideration again, even though it be not for,a period of 10 to 15 years. The borough, it will be seen, will therefore be in no better position to face the issue in 10 to 15 years’ time than it is now. True, its capital indebtedness will, unless further loans are raisedin the meantime, be less, but that will not assist the ratepayers, the reason being, of course, that the loan? have certain fixed half-yearly payments, which completely liquidate the debt at the end of a term of years, and, until the end of the term, the half-yearly payments must be made.

“What is the position now? The tramway committee estimates the cost of a partial conversion at £26,250, made up as follows: Removal of tram rails and sleepers and resurfacing of road, £3500; conversion of overhead lines and providing turning places at railway station and Moturoa and returning wires to depot, £7000; five trolley-buses at an average of £3OOO, £15,000; cost of altering power and telegraph wires and cables, £750; total, £26,250. “It must be pointed out, however, that the figures given above include, so far as the overhead lines are concerned, the' total length from the Breakwater to the depot at Fitzroy, leaving, when a final change is made, only the Westown section and the small section from the depot to the Waiwakaiho bridge. The item of £3500 first mentioned, for removal of rails and sleepers and resurfacing road, can, I think, be deleted for the following reasons: (1) I do not suggest that in the event of a change over, it is immediately necessary to take up the whole of the rails and sleepers. My suggestion is that they should only be taken up as the road work progresses, and this will be as and when money is available. (2) The old rails, sleepers and trams will, I consider, have some value. VALUE OF TRAMS. “The value of the trams is too difficult to estimate. The borough engineer’s estimate for the removal of the rails and sleepers and resurfacing the road is £l3 16s 9d per chain; so that we have towards that cost the sum of £8 17s mentioned above (realisation on disused gear), thus reducing to £4 19s 9d per chain the cost of putting a first-class piece of road in the place now occupied by the tram rails. In some cases local bodies have not bothered to take up the old tram rails, but this would appear to be necessary at New Plymouth. “If, therefore, ,we deduct the sum of £3500 first above-mentioned, we find ourselves in the position of having to find (on the committee’s figures) a sum of £22,750 to effect a partial conversion. My inquiries lead me to believe, however, that a partial change-over can be effected at considerably less than that sum. To my mind the amount allowed for conversion of overhead lines is excessive, and I believe the buses can be obtained at a sum of not more than £2500 each, thus effecting a saving on buses of £2500. Where is this money to come from? I suggest the council should use the following moneys: Tramway depreciation fund, £17,000; saving on line alterations at Breakwater for which provision has already been made, say, £1000; borrow from waterworks account, £5000; total, £23,000. “I have always appreciated that there may be some difficulty in using the £17,000 above-mentioned, as this has been set aside as a depreciation fund, but the difficulty, although it may mean legislation, should not be insuperable. The rolling stock has always been maintained in good order and, as the depreciation fund is increased each year, it will gradually build up again. Furthermore, a portion of the overhead wires has only recently been renewed, and so should be good for many years.”