The Daily News WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 1935. MUNICIPAL TRANSPORT

Taranaki Daily News, 4 September 1935, Page 4

The Daily News

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 1935. MUNICIPAL TRANSPORT

OFFICES: NEW PLYMOUTH. Cnrrio Strerf. STRATFORD, Broadway. HAWERA. High Street.

The tone of the further discussion on Monday by the New Plymouth Borough Council of a proposal to transform the existing tramways into trolley-bus transport services was thoroughly commendable. There is always something to be gained by investigation of new proposals, or even by a fresh inquiry into an old suggestion, and Councillor Grayling, who favours the gradual elimination of the borough’s tramway system, was quite justified in making what he considered was a progressive suggestion. Public opinion, however, is likely to agree with the chairman of the tramway committee, Councillor Stainton, that the proposals made by Councillor Grayling did'not constitute a sound policy, to say nothing of the financial costs and loss which seem to be inevitable if the alteration from trams to trolleybuses is made in the near future. There was considerable force in Cr. Stainton’s argument that the council should not be in a hurry to tie itself to any new form of municipal transport services. When the trams were installed they represented a progressive policy, and despite the criticism of such services, even despite the heavy initial cost involved, it is by no means certain that any better system for busy public transport services has yet been evolved. It has been assumed that the London Transport Authority has decided to abandon trams. At a recent discussion upon that question it was pointed out that although curtailment of tramway services had been decided upon, this applied to localities where the nature or density of the population had changed, or in others where congestion of traffic made tramway operations exceedingly difficult, but

the statement was made authoritatively that there was no intention of abolishing tramway services generally, as they still remained the most effective means of handling heavy and continuous passenger traffic. In New Plymouth the problem of heavy traffic has not yet arisen, but there are other factors, which support the decision to maintain the present system, to which Councillor Stainton referred. Chief among them is the fact that transport systems are in a state of flux, and no one can predict what will be the most effective and economic system obtainable in another ten years’ time. It may be, as Councillor Stainton said, that in the years to come there may be more economical and effective power available for transport services than municipally-supplied electric current, but in the meantime there seems no prudent cdurse available except to continue the present tramway system, supplemented by bus services in certain districts. Having arrived at this conclusion, however, it is to be hoped the council will not act as though the present arrangements are as perfect as they can be made with the resources available. The tram and bus authorities complain that the generosity of motor-car drivers in giving free lifts from the suburban areas has affected the revenue from the municipal services very seriously. Very little is being done to counteract this tendency. On the Avenue Road, Vogeltown and Veale Estate bus routes, for instance, the provision of shelter sheds for potential bus passengers is conspicuous by its absence. For Avenue Road and Vogeltown one shelter exists, at the Vogeltown terminus, evidently of little service to the rest of the districts. There is nothing attractive in waiting in the exposed streets for a bus that is the-more likely to be behind time because the weather is wet and stormy, so there is little to wonder at when the kind offices of a motorist are availed of, while the municipality loses revenue. The provision of shelter and an improvement in the timetables might do a good d,eal towards stimulating the use of the bus services. Such provision should not entail any large expenditure, and as bus routes are now fairly well established there seems no reason to fear .that any shelter ' provided would soon be found to have been given in the wrong locality. Im-, proved comfort in the vehicles chosen is another factor that should assist in attracting traffic, and while ratepayers agree that expenditure upon rolling-stock or other equipment must be prudent, and even cautious, there is such a thing as parsimony that defeats its own design. Probably the competition between the municipal service and the free hospitality of the private motorist can never be eliminated. It is all the more necessary therefore to meet it as far as is practicable.