One-Man Trams.

Star (Christchurch), Volume XLIV, Issue 490, 27 June 1932, Page 6

One-Man Trams.

To the Editor. Dear Sir, —Christchurch is ever ready to rush in where angels fear to tread. The latest example of her folly is the Tramway Board’s intention to introduce one-man trams. In San Francisco, these trams have proved to be a failure from the economic aspect. It was found that under this arrangement accidents were an all too frequent occurrence. Passengers crowded at the one entrance and exit, and the motor-man-conductor could not see whether passengers were clear of the tram before it started. Public feeling was aroused at the growing toll of accidents, and the authorities found that they had to put another man on the rear platform of the car, whose duty it was to give the start and stop signal to the motorman. Then and only then did accidents become a rare thing on the one-man trams. I believe that this same trouble was experienced with oneman trams in Toronto, and the same remedy was found to cure the evil. Two or three years ago, when I was in Invercargill, I noticed that on the one-man trams in that city it was found expedient to have two men on the cars during rush hours. The accident problem is not the only one that will arise from the use of oneman trams. The crowding of passengers entering and leaving the car; the inconvenience caused to passengers through delay in changing money, for example, to say nothing of those people who go to the rear end of the tram and try to get in there. These disadvantages would be accentuated in rainy weather. If the Christchurch Tramway Board thinks to save money by the introduction of oneman trams, I fear that what has been the case in other cities will be the case here, too.—l am, etc., SAN FRANCISCAN.