LISTER’S MOTORS.

Star (Christchurch), Volume XLIV, Issue 301, 19 December 1931, Page 32 (Supplement)

LISTER’S MOTORS.

A Romance of Modern Travel in N.Z. MEETING A NEED. The romance of the road is not dead. The widely held impression that it ceased when stage coaches went out of date ignores the very obvious facts of to-day. Romance may have marked time while steam traction held its brief exclusive reign, but when the motor made its inevitable conquest and restored the road once more to its pristine importance, romance got busy maybe; it has dropped the guise of tragedian with its roadside uncertainties and perils and problematical schedules for something that is much more attractive to the person who wants to go to a particular place and is concerned solely with the business of getting there. The romance of the road to-day is/the romance of modern progress, the romance that clings always to enterprise trourageously undertaken and capably prosecuted. That is the romance which surrounds Lister’s motor services. A service that started about twelve years ago with a single Ford trijck, and that last year was responsible for covering nearly half a million miles with a fleet of up-to-date motor vehicles gives the mind of even the most prosaic man something to conjure with. The growth of the service has been as remarkable as it has been steady. Year by year its scope has been widened, till to-day it covers the whole of South Canterbury. Four Trips Daily.

Lister’s Motors to-day provide a service to Timaru from Christchurch four times daily, with corresponding return trips from the southern town. The Christchurch times of departure are 8.30 a m., 2.30 p.m., 2.45 p.m. and 4 pm., and the Timaru departure times are 8 a.m., 9.45 a.m., 2 pm. and 5.30 p.m. The journey occupies three and a half hours, and the service is so reliable that the schedule is maintained to a matter of a few minutes. Besides the Christ-chuTch-Timaru service there are trips from Timaru to Fairlie, Geraldine, Temuka and Waimate. An idea of the extent to which these services have grown is afforded by the following mileages for the past year: Christchurch, 312,000; Fairlie, 540,000; Geraldine, 20,800; Temuka, 24,960; and Waimate, 24.960: school bus, 4800, specials, 74,000; taxi fleet, 48,000; giving a total of 503,520 miles,, over half a million miles a year. Small Beginnings.

Mr H. W. Lister, who is the controlling force behind this rapidly expanding enterprise, went to Timaru in 1920. The Ford truck with which he started his modest transport service proved to be too small, and he soon acquired a larger vehicle. This served him for two years, when his business was converted into a partnership and a start was made in catering to tourists and general transport needs. The firm started the first motor observation trips in the South Island. In 1924 the first omnibus service between Timaru and Temuka was started. In the following year two more buses were built, and they were operated in Dunedin during the exhibition. Approximately 24,000 miles were covered in tours and observation trips round Dunedin, and about 150,000 people were carried.

Later the Timaru-Fairlie and TimaruGeraldine services were started, followed by the Timaru-Waimate service. In 1927 there was a dissolution of partnership, Mr Lister taking over the passenger service section of the business while his partner took the lorry transport section. It was then that Mr Lister commenced the Timaru-Christ-church service, starting with one service daily with seven-seater cars. Soon afterwards a second trip daily was added, and the two-trip schedule was maintained till the “ Star ” bus was added. This third daily trip, added primarily to take the “ Star ” south immediately after publication, was soon justified by the volume of the passenger traffic, which continued to grow till, to-day there are four trips. Convenience of Passengers.

The Christchurch departure point for Lister’s Motors—the garage in Durham Street, near the Bridge of Remembrance—has become in the last year or so almost as well known as the railway station. The frequency and reliability of the service is, of course, its great asset. But it possesses another great advantage, and that is that it is very convenient for people who live along the route and whose homes are either some distance from a railway station or near a small station where express trains do not stop. The convenience of these people has always been studied, and there has always been room for them in the Lister motors. If a car, on leaving Timaru is fairly well filled with passengers, a second car is always dispatched behind it in order to pick up the people along the road. Often a car which arrives in Christchurch with a full complement was practically empty when it left Timaru. That is evidence of the extent to which people along the road make use of the service. Cheap Travel The service is not costly. The single fare is only 12s 6d, and the return trip £l. The cars are among the most modern on the roads in New Zealand to-day, the parlour car with its “ armchair ” seats being typical of the enterprise which is displayed in keeping time with the latest developments in comfortable travel. The service is operated in conjunction with the White Star tourist services, and bookings can be made to any part of New Zealand. For the purely local requirements of Timaru the Red Band taxi service has been established, and is a successful adjunct to this still growing business. The romance of the Lister Motor Services is the romance of changing tunes, and the romance of a remarkably successful business enterprise. Of Special Interest To Firms and Commercial Travellers. Leaving Christchurch by our 8.15 am. you can break your journey at Ashburton, have approximately six hours to transact business, connect again with our 4.15 pm., proceed to Geraldine or Temuka, have one hour at your disposal, connect again with the last car from Christchurch, arriving Timaru 7.45 pm. On the return journey you have the choice of the 8 am., 9.45 am. or the 2 p.m., the latter allowing 3i hours’ stay in any of the towns and connecting again with the 5.30 p.m. from Timaru, arriving in Christchurch 9 p.m.. Timaru people can transact business in Christchurch and return to Timaru same day when travelling by Lister’s Motors. .1