CITY TRANSPORT.

Auckland Star, Volume LIX, Issue 222, 19 September 1928, Page 6

CITY TRANSPORT.

The City Council's decision to accept a Transport Board, subject to the ratepayers consenting to hand over the city's system, and the friendly reception of this at the meeting of local body representatives last evening, lift the question on to a higher level. We should 'say that the ratepayers will agree to the transfer. It is true they would be parting with an asset; on the other hand, they would also be ridding themselves of a liability. It is certain that the present system of ownership and control cannot go on indefinitely. If the ratepayers refuse to agree to the establishment of a Transport Board, they cannot expect to enjoy all the transport rights they now possess, and the outside bodies will rightly demand to be allowed to make their own arrangements. In the meantime, if the necessary legislation is to be passed this session, there is need for haste. The outside bodies prefer—and we think justifiably-—a larger area than that recommended by the Commission, but there is no reason why they and the Council should quarrel over this point. The parties are to meet in conference tomorrow night, and the meeting should be entirely friendly, animated by one desire, to get on with an urgent business. The first step should be to reduce the conference to a workable size by the setting-up of a committee of representatives from each side. ,