The Taranaki Herald. DAILY EVENING. MONDAY, DECEMBER 3, 1917. MOTOR BUS SERVICE.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LXV, Issue 145998, 3 December 1917, Page 2

The Taranaki Herald. DAILY EVENING. MONDAY, DECEMBER 3, 1917. MOTOR BUS SERVICE.

The, ratepayers arc to be given an opportunity next month to decide whether a loan of £IBOO shall he raised for the purpose of establishing a motor omnibus service to the suburbs of Yogeltown and Westown. It is a question which, as we said some days ago, the Borough Council might reasonably have taken upon itself to decide, especially as there are circumstances which make .a speedy decision advisable, hut it jhas decided to put the issue to the ratepayers, and that decision must he accepted. When discussing the question previously we expressed some doubt as to the efficiency of the storage battery bus proposed to he installed, hut since then we have been assured that the system is completely successful iu Christchurch, where a storage battery vehicle regularly climbs the Cashmere hill. In any case we assume that the Borough Council would obtain some sort of guarantee that a vehicle purchased would do the work it was intended for. Our present purpose is to point put to

the, ratepayers generally the -claim the Yogeltown, Westown, and Frankleigk Park people have upon the Borough. When the poll was taken in March, 1913, on a proposal to borrow ,£55,000 for installing the electric tramways the ratepayers of those suburbs were told that the idea was eventually to extend the tramways in their direction. The polling figures

were so striking as to warrant recalling. Out of 1172 valid votes polled throughout the. borough 985 were in favour of the loan and 187 against it. At Yogeltown 50 voted for and 5 against the proposal; ah Frauklcigh Park 34 for and 2 against ; and at Westown 25 for and '1 against. There was thus nearly twice as much opposition to the tramways loan in those parts of the borough which were to be directly benefited as in the three suburban areas which were likely to receive little or no advantage. The ratepayers of Yogeltown, Frankleigh Park, and Westown knew that the tramways would not serve them until extensions were carried out; they knew that in the event of a loss on the working they would have to pay their

share of the rate—as a matter of faet they I Kiel to pay u tramway rale last year—yet they voted solidly for the loan, relying upon the borough extending the trams when the proper time arrived. Nearly five years have passed and there is no prospect of the tramways being extended in any direction for a long time to come. Therefore the. ratepayers and residents of Vogeltown, Frankleigh Park, and Westown, in asking the -Borough Council to give them a motor bus service as a temporary convenience, have a legitimate claim upon the, rest of the borough for support. They accepted a liability of a tenpenny rate for the tramways. Now the borough as a whole is asked to accept u liability of a halfpenny rate in order that those suburbs may be provided with the convenience of a motor bus service. It is inconceivable That the rest of the borough will turn down the Yogeltown, Frankleigh Park, and Westown people and deny them that convenience, providing there is a reasonable prospect of the service being carried on without too heavy a loss. The tramways engineer, in bis report, estimates a loss of £364 in the first year, reducible to about £3OO after the first two years, but admittedly lie has framed his estimate conservatively. If a suitable time-table is arranged tbe service is likely to pay, or nearly pay, expenses. At any rate any deficiency that is likely to occur will he a trifle for the borough as a whole to meet. We believe, however, that the service contemplated will be of substantial indirect value, also that it will make a traffic for itself far in e.xccvss of the engineer’s estimate, so much in excess that an additional bus would soon be required. New Plymouth is becoming not only a groat holiday resort but also a favourite residential town, and we do not believe in any town in Now Zealand more charming residential suburbs exist than those on the southern side of New Plymouth. A quick and comfortable service up the Carrington lload and round Irauk--leigh Park and Westown, and vice versa, would open up a delightful little outing for the visitors who fill the town during the summer mouths and also lead to the election of a great number of suburban residences along the route, all bringing business to the towm. It is likely to be several years before the tramways can be extended far in those directions, but a good motor bus service would build up the suburbs and create a traffic for the trams when it is possible to extend them.