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1943 NEW ZEALAND

TRANSPORT DEPARTMENT (ANNUAL REPORT OF)

• • Presented to both Houses of the General Assembly by Leave

The Hon. J. O'Brien, Minister of Transport, Wellington. Sir, — Transport Department, 28th April, 1943. Herewith I have the honour to submit the annual report of the Transport Department for the year ended 31st March, 1943. I have, &c., G. L. Laurenson, Commissioner of Transport.

REPORT

1. Introduction.—The following are salient points recorded in this report : — (a) The number of all classes of motor-vehicles licensed dropped from 300,773 in 1941 to 286,809 in 1942. (b) Long-distance civilian motor-vehicle traffic has largely disappeared from the roads. (c) Road accidents dropped from 2,851 in 1941 to 1,939 in 1942. (d) In 1942, 167 lives were lost in road accidents, compared with 175 in 1941. (e) In 1942, 2,387 people were injured in road accidents, compared with 3,555 in 1941. (/) There were fewer prosecutions for traffic breaches, more warnings, and fewer serious traffic offences in 1942. (g) Drastic measures involving an annual saving of 25,450,000 vehicle-miles were taken to meet the shortage of commercial tires. (h) Throughout the Dominion 67 Goods Transport and 18 Taxi Control Committees were set up to assist in conserving tires and petrol. (i) Far-reaching measures for zoning retail deliveries by motor-vehicles were put into operation. (j) Adoption of speeding and loading restrictions for the purpose of prolonging commercial tire-life. (k) Organization of Traffic Control Corps and National Road Transport E.P.S. (I) Ancillary trucks bearing " H " plates brought under the provisions of the Transport Act. (m) Suspension of many goods and passenger road services paralleling the railways. 2. Numbers of Motor-vehicles.—The following summary shows the numbers of the principal types of motor-vehicles registered in the Dominion as at 31st December, 1941, and 1942 : —

3. There were nearly 20,000 less oars and just over 3,000 fewer trucks on the register at the end of 1942 as compared with 1941. Having regard to the relatively meagre petrol-allowance available for use in private cars during 1942 it is of interest that there were 190,000 cars still on the roads in 1942. The bulk of private motorists apparently prefer to keep their cars in running order rather than lay them up.

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Number on Register at 31st December, Difference : Type. : + Increase ; — Decrease. 1941. 1942. Cars .. .. .. .. .. .. 208,129 190,002 -18,127 Trucks and vans .. .. .. .. 47,597 44,217 — 3,380 Buses and service cars .. .. .. 1,332 1,360 + 28 Taxis and rental cars .. .. .. .. 2,213 2,252 -j- 39 Motor-cycles .. .. .. .. .. 15,678 15,480 — 198 Trailers .. .. .. .. .. 12,621 10,841 — 1,780 Government and local bodies and others* .. .. 13,203 22,657 + 9,454 Total .. .. .. .. 300,773 286,809 -13,964 * Includes armed services.