FLAT RATE ON TRAMS.

Auckland Star, Volume LX, Issue 229, 27 September 1929, Page 6

FLAT RATE ON TRAMS.

Much discussion has taken place of late regarding a fiat rate on our trains. I saw the flat-rate system successfully operated in many of the large cities and in some of the comparatively smaller ones in America. The system has many features to recommend its adoption in Auckland. The most essential item to be considered is finance. Will a flat rate of 2.47 d meet the charges? I say yes, provided the figures supplied to me by the tramways department for the year ending 1927 are correct. In the year 1927 the trams., carried 56,781,195 passengers, producing revenue amounting to £576,931 12/7, and the total expenditure was £567,925 17/11. We can assume that the trams will carry in the future at least the above number, as our population is on the increase each year. A flat rate of 2.47 d would not suit our coinage, so I suggest 2.50 d. That would yield £591,470 15/7, as against the revenue under the present system of £576,931 12/7. Under a flat-rate system the overhead and other charges can be considerably reduced. Very many thousands or pounds could be saved in the elimination of tickets; one third of the army of inspectors would cover the necessary work. There would also be a considerable reduction of the indoor staff and the abolition of the many incidental expenses associated with the present cumbersome system. These savings in organisation would leave a substantial profit in the flatrate charge of 2.50 d. It would allow the bulk of the population to travel to their homes iin outlying areas at a minimum cost and it would induce those who' now find the cost of transport too heavy a burden to go beyond the first and second sections. The greater length of the journey would be compensated for in the reduction of living costs, fur present high cost of transport tends to cause congestion within the city area, which is contrary to the doctrine preached by many, whicn is that there should be migration to our wide and beautiful suburbs. The above figures snow clearly what could be achieved if we ran our trams on a flat rate of five cents, such as is charged in America. What I saw done there in the way of tram transport can be accomplished here. W. H. MURRAY.