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DEVELOPMENT OF MOTOR TRANSPORT 2. Licensing of Motor-vehicles by Principal Groups.—Under the Motor-vehicles Act, 1924, motor-vehicles are required to be registered and licensed. Such licences are renewable annually, and the following table gives the number of motor-vehicles, in the principal groups, licensed as at the 31st March, 1947, the figures for the two preceding years being included for purposes of comparison :

All classes of vehicles licensed at 31st March, 1947, showed gains over the figures for the preceding year. Table No. 1 of the Appendix shows full details of the licensed mo tor-vehicles as at 31st March, 1947, by postal districts. Table No. 2 gives, for purposes of comparison, the number of motor-vehicles licensed year by year as at 31st March, 1937 to 1947, inclusive. 3. Petrol Consumption.—The table hereunder shows for the individual calendar years 1937 to 1946 the estimated quantities of petrol consumed by motor-vehicles, used for other purposes, and the total consumption : _______

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Iv umber licensed as at 31st March, Increase of Type. 1947 over 1945. 1946. 1947. 1946 Licences. Cars 199 418 201,425 202,437 1,012 Trucks not exceeding 2 tons laden 28,616 30,435 33,134 2,699 Trucks exceeding 2 tons laden 21,985 23,499 25,375 1,876 Passenger-trucks 1,576 1,947 1,997 50 Omnibuses 932 1,025 1,133 108 Taxis, including private-hire cars 2,005 2,113 2,147 34 Service cars 572 595 637 42 Rental cars 501 546 828 282 Motor-cycles 13,667 16,167 17,699 1,532 Trailers 17,064 20,031 22,788 2,757 Local body and other vehicles exempted from 9,611 11,903 14,451 2,548 annual licence fees 2,482 Government vehicles 5,207 5,814 8,296 Totals 301,154 315,500 330,922 15,422 or 4*89 per cent.

Estimated Consumption of Petrol. Calendar Year. By Motor-vehicles (i.e., Petrol on which all Duty was paid). Other (i.e., Engines, Aeroplanes, &c., on which Refunds of Duty were made). Total. 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 Gallons. 82,111,000 89,306,000 91,955,000 74,114,000 66,924,000 46,100,000 50,178,000 53,663,000 65,541,000 86,440,000 Gallons. 7,339,000 7,590,000 8,027,000 9,649,000 15,326,000 10,442,000 9,200,000 9,000,000 8,110,000 8,500,000 Gallons. 89,450,000 96,896,000 99,982,000 83,763,000 82,250,000 56,542,000 59,378,000 62,663,000 73,651,000 94,940,000