HIGH RATIO OF MOTOR VEHICLES IN DOMINION.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 18576, 26 September 1928, Page 14

HIGH RATIO OF MOTOR VEHICLES IN DOMINION.

COMMERCIAL USERS NE£CT TO AMERICA ON PER CENTAGE BASIS. An interesting summary of the position in the Dominion in regard to motor transport is given by the Minof Public Works (the Hon K. S. Williams) in his Annual Statement was presented to the House of Representatives last night. The Minister states that the number of motor vehicles in New Zealand has risen at a phenomenal rate, so that there is now only one country in the world which per head of population has more motor vehicles, this being the United States, Canada and New Zealand are practically on the same footing when vehicles are compared with population, but when we come to commercial motors in particular we find that Canada has only one to every ninety-eight of population, while New Zealand has one to sixty-two. No other country approaches New Zealand’s ratio any closer, and highly in dustrialised countries like Germany and Italy have only one to 700 and one to 794 respectively-—in other words, less than one-tenth of New Zealand’s proportion. “The result of thie exceptional numfoer of commercial motor vehicles.” the Minister adds, “is a very keen competition between the owners, resulting in extremely low freights—low from the point of view of motor transport—being charged. Frequently the rate charged is unrexnunerative. and it is well known that on this account many owners have been forced to go out of business. “An analysis of all the figures obtainable not only in this country, but abroad, shows that the average price per ton for transport by motor vehicles is very much more than the lowest prices which are charged by any considerable motor organisation operating in New Zealand. The result of the cheap freights quoted in some cases has been to create an impression in the minds of the public that motor transport is more economical than railway transport. This, however, is an entire fallacy. A return of 3d a tonmile on the average on the goods hauled on the railways would enable them to make a handsome profit, but the average figures over one thousand vehicles operating in New Zealand seem to show that Is 6d a ton-mile is nearer their cost, and even in the most favourable cases, where long hauls with full loads are operated, it is in the region of 6d per ton-mile or over. FREIGHT COSTS. “When considering the economy or otherwise of motor transport, the individual consignor is very prone to look only at his freight bill, and to think only of the convenience of having the motor vehicles calling at his door; but if he pauses to think of what motor transport viewed as a whole is costing New Zealand this would probably change his ideas. Hast year the cost of upkeep of the roads of New Zealand approached the £3,000,000 mark, an enormous increase on what was necessary before the motor became a serious user of the roads. Towards this the motor vehicle contributed less than £1,000,000, and when converted into cost per motor vehicle per year, the maintenance expenditure amounts to £lB, without making any allowance for the interest and fixed charges on capital expenditure, and the above average cost is obtained by regarding the motorbicycles (numbering nearly thirty-four thousand) as motor vehicles. If the latter were ignored, and only the motorcars and commercial vehicles taken into account, the figure would be in the vicinity of £23. In 1914 the gross annual expenditure on roads, capital expenditure included, was just under two and a half millions; in 1927 it was considerably over five and a half millions. Viewed in another way, in the past > eleven years there has been spent in maintaining the roads £255 per motor vehicle, during which time there has been received £24 in taxation per motor vehicle. The amount of money found in the way of rates by the rural portions of New Zealand has trebled since 1911. “When'’factors like the foregoing are taken in conjunction with the higher rate per ton-mile charged by the motor vehicles it becomes a question for very serious inquiry as to whether we are not paying too high a price for the convenience of having the long-distance motor carrier calling at our doors. The total expenditure on motor transport is estimated to be nearly three times J that spent on railway transport, being about eight and a half millions for railways and over twenty-nine millions for road transport. POSITION OF THE RAILWAYS. “ Another matter which warrants very serious consideration from those utilising commercial road transport where the State railways are available is that by depriving the railways of the high-class freight they leave the Railway Department in a position that it is unable to operate except at a loss, unless the rates on the cheaper and more bulky classes of goods, which provide the greater part of the tonnage to be hauled, are raised. As frequently the margin on which these goods are carried is so narrow that an increase even of a fraction of a penny per ton will divert or kill the ♦raffle altogether, the inevitable result is a deficit on the operation of the railway system. This deficit must be made good by the general taxpayer, and thus many people, while congratulating themselves on obtaining a convenience and imagining even an economy by using road transport, are actually being involved in a loss; and even if no individual can show’ from his own books that he is suffering a loss, nevertheless the coutltry as a whole is undoubtedly doing so. The motor-transport bill for every man. •woman, and child in New Zealand is £3O per head per year. “It is not possible to ascertain definitely how many more tons of goods there are to haul about the line of communication of New Zealand than there were, say, in 1914, before which the was not a dominating factor, but if' we take the tonnage of overseas vessels entered and cleared we find that between 1914 and 1927 there has been an increase of less than half a million tons. “It is well known that the shipping which trades here is not fully utilised. For instance, the tonnage of ships cleared in 1922 was 1,782,987, but the actual cargo outwards was only 701,560 tons. Similarly, for 1927 the tonnage of vessels cleared was 2,200,763, while the cargo was only 804,619. The contrast between the increase of exportable goods and the bill for motor transport is startling. A HUGE EXPENDITURE. “ Between 1914 and 1927 over sixty millions of money was sent out of New Zealand for the purchase of motorvehicles, tyres, spares, and petrol When to this sum is added the road expenditure during the same period, we arrive at the stupendous figure of 1106,965,577. If the figures up to

March 31 of this year were available they would undoubtedly swell the previous total by well over twelve millions, and from this we see that there has been spent in providing for motor transport in New Zealand since 1914, when it may be fairly considered that the motor began to be an important factor of the life in the Dominion. in round figures the sum of {£ 119,000.000. It should be noted that the immediately preceding figures are not the whole cost of motor transport, but only what is spent on the roads, plus what actually goes out of New Zealand for the purchase of motors and their fuel from overseas. “ This is not the whole story either, because during the same period—from 1914 to 1927—the loan indebtedness of the harbour authorities in New Zealand increased by two and threequarter millions, over one and a half millions of which was spent on the minor harbours, the goods from and to which could quite well have been carried on the railways. The fixed charges on this extra indebtedness and all the working-expenses connected with the new facilities are a still further charge on the increased tonnage referred to above. ROAD VERSUS RAIL. * "It is estimated that all the goods and passengers carried by motor transport on routes where railways are available could have been carried on the railways With almost no additional expense, while the estimated revenue from this business—some £630,000 per annum—would have made the railways practically self-support-ing. The significance of this fact from a community point of view cannot be overlooked. Looking at the matter broadly from the point of view of the country as a whole, it is undoubtedly uneconomical to transport goods by road which can be transported by railway, unless the circumstances are exceptional. "If the railways are placed in the position that as a result of their highertariffed goods being carried by another agency they are unable to be self-supporting, then, naturally, the Dominion cannot expect the overseas investors to supply loan-money for any further railway development, either in the way of extensions, improvement of present lines, electrification, or other works to increase and cheapen facilities. “ There is no doubt that there is a legitimate field for the mo tor-vehicle, particularly the commercial motorvehicle, but the foregoing facts are simply put forward to impress on the public that in this matter there is something more to be considered than jtist the price at which seme lorryowner will agree to carry goods from the warehouse to a customer up the country. Increased expenditure on roads with the advent of mechanical traction was inevitable, but the reading bill, not only from a maintenance point of view but more especially from the point of view of capital expenditure, has been immensely increased by the necessity for providing for the relatively few heavy vehicles.” 1