MORE BUSES.

Press, Volume LXIII, Issue 19152, 8 November 1927, Page 14

MORE BUSES.

NORTH BEACH AND BRYNDWR. BEQUEST TO LICENSING AUTHORITY. Sitting as the Licensing Authority for No. 10 Motor Omnibus District, the City Council last night dealt with application to improve the present bus Mrrices to the North Beach and Bryndwr. Representatives of the applicants, Mr \\. S. Bussell (Inter-Citj Motor Service, Ltd.) and the Christchurch Tramway Board, were present and were permitted to address the Council concerning their requirements. Via Wainoni Itoad.

A letter was read from the Intercity Motor Service, Ltd., enclosing an application for licenses for two extra buses to run on tlie ChristehurchNorth Beach service to fulfil the demand created at peak hours and holidays, and stating that its business urgently demands increased transport: facilities. A report from the Chief Iraffic Inspector read as follows:—"Mr Busbell has a motor service from Christchurch to North Beach via Wainoni road, etc. He was granted a license for one vehicle, and at the last meeting of the Licensing authority, he wa-s granted a licten.se for two vehicles with an extra number of trips. lhave to remark that, so far as it affects the City, the only consideration is the effect on the roads; about this, the City Engineer may have something to say. I recommend that the Heathcote County Council and the New Brighton Borough Council be advised of this application, as part of the route is within their jurisdiction. Tramway Board Objects. The Christchurch Tramway Board wrote enclosing a letter from Mr J.J. Dougall, the solicitor, protesting against the issue of licenses applied for, and asking for an opportunity of expressing the Board's views before the matter is decided. Also stating that the Christchurch Tramway Board was refused a license for Wainoni road, and further that Mr Bussell's service cannot but have a detrimental effect oil the tram--1 wav service.

A letter from the Heathcote County Council stated that it had 110 objection to the extra permits being granted. The New Brighton Borough Council also advised that it had no objection to the granting of the application. Mr C. S. Thomas said that at present Mr Bussell was unable to deal witli all the business that was offering wmi the present number of buses, whereas the Tramway Board was able to us© as many buses as it chose. The matter was important to residents :>f Wainoni road, who would otherwise have to walk for a considerable distance. Cr. Sullivan asked if it was North Bench traffic ov Wainoni traffic that was the trouble. Mr Thomas: To be perfectly honest, it is a little of each.

In answer to a further question from Cr. Sullivan, Mr Thomas said that it •was principally Wainoni traffic that was tlie concern of Mr Bussell.

Area Affected, Mr J. D. Hutchison (Tramway Board) said the point suggested by Cr, Sullivan was a real and important one. Mr Bussell was not entitled to compete with the tramways from North Beach under his license. It was for the Wainoni area. Mr Hutchison quoted the pronouncemnets of the Transport Appeal Board. It was clear, he said, that the license was not to enable competition with the tramways in the North Beach area. An account had been taken on the 3rd instant of houses in the Wainoni area, from a lrne between Wainoni and Page's roads and the Avon. There was a total of 125. In New Zealand there was one motor-car to every 11 people, and in Christchurch one bicycle to e.very two persons. One might reasonable take the people in the Wainoni area as average citizens. It must thus be assumed that 25 pe~ <«nt. of the people went in motor-cars to business, and half the rest on bicycles. It was submitted that two buses would carry the people in the area. • The Tramway Board held that the two <-xtra buses were intended to carry North Beach traffic. .Mr Hutchison quoted figures to prove this contention. The application should be rejected, he said. To the Mayor : The people got into town more quickly by bus than by tram. , , , ~ Cr. P. W. Sharpe asked whether there was a bus at Burwood for every tram arriving there. Mr Hutchison: Not everv one; there are 21 bus connexions in the day. Cr. Sharpe said North Beach residents were very dissatisfied at present. In answer to' Cr. E. H. Andrews, Mr Thomas said that on -holidays his clients' buses were often heavily loaded to North Beach, but at other times that loading was even for the various stopping places.

Wear on RoadsThe Cit.v Engineer (Mr A. R. Galbraitb) said the traffic of over roads which were unsealed was very wearing, and any increase in the number erf buses would make matters worse. To tar-seal the roads would involve an expenditure of 9d to 10d per square yard. In answer to Cr. Andrews. Mr Galbraith said that about 31 miles of the City's roads were traversed on the route taken by the buses. Mr Thomas said that speaking without prejudice he understood that the City Traffic Inspector had a case impending of overloading, in which 60 passengers had travelled on a bus. This would show how big the demand was for extra buses. Besides this, the Avondale Golf Club had to be taken into consideration. Mr Bussell was enly asking for a similar privilege to what the Tramway Board now enjoyed. He agreed that there would be extra wear and tear on the roads, but the buses ate up petrol and it should not be overlooked that an extra tax had now been imposed in respect of petrol, and he presumed that this would go towards improving the roads. Another matter that had to be taken into consideration was that the bus did not always connect with the Burwood tram.

Mr Hutchison said if people wanted t-o go to Park road they did not havo Ro by tho No. 10 service: the No. 5 service was more frequent. The whole object of the Act was to protect the publicly-owned services.

Public Convenience. The Mayor said they had to study primarily and almost exclusively the public convenience. The sympathies of most of them were with the publiclyowned enterprises. The question was whether the application was reasonable or not. Any amalgamation that might r£ P' ace should not influence them. Or. G. R; Hunter said Kerr's road one of the worst in the City since tne buses travelled on it. In view of the possibility of another party controlling the Tramway Board,, he suggested that no. license be issued. Or. Andrews said he would like to 0o over the route by tram and bus. * • e •° n^y wav by which to arrive »t a fair judgment. He moved that matter be held over for a fortnight to enable the route to" be in•P®cted by Councillors. Mayor sajd if it was true that £®opJe were being left stranded and MTTIM was inadequate, the poei-

tion should be considered very seriously. The Tramw ay Board should not, only oppose the application, but suggest an alternative. So far it had not done so. It was not everybody who could afford to take a taxi to his home.

Cr. P. TV. Sharp© said the starting and stopping of cars occupied more time than the stopping of buses, and if he lived at North Beachwould, -although a City Councillor, use the buses. However, the blame was to a large extent on the Board. He seconded Cr. Andrew's motion. C'r. I!. M. Miitfarlane said he was sure that many passengers who used the buses did so in order to ''get one" on to the Tramway Board. Cr. K. I?. McCombs said consideration should be given to the cases of those women and children who wanted to get home whenever the.v visited the City. There was much dissatisfaction in this respect.

Avoiding Congestion. Cr. M. E. Lvfins -: t {.i he wiu surprised at Councillor-, c -mhg to the table not knowing the <l : sirict they represented. Jf they nniy used their commousense they won!'! know there was going to be 1 ongc-.-,tl-;n. Surely it was comrnonsense to give Mr Bussell the same privileges as the Tramway Board't

Cr. Reanland: Arc you standing for that district next, election;'

Cr. Lyons: This i.s not a political matter at all.

C'r. T. H. Butterfield .said it was theTramway Board's fault that Mr Bussell had got in. The area affected wa.> a growing one. Ho felt bound to support the application. Cr. Beanland snicl they should be very careful in granting licenses that affected the Tramway Board's New Brighton traffic. He did not think the New Brighton people had treated the Board quite fairly. Tf the City went back to special rating areas, they would be glad to patronise the trams. Cr. Sullivan said the Motor Omnibus Act was to protect publicly-owned services. Jt was their duty to give effect to tiie spirit of the Act, up to a point. The.v should get from .Mr Bussell exact particulars of"his traffic. If the license primarily required to serve the Waimnj people, the license should be granted, but figures should be obtained. Cr. Lyons: Did we ask the Tramwav Board for those figures? Cr Sullivan : "Cr. Lyons has missed my point." A\ itli over GOO people in the area it was reasonably possible that the additional facilities were required. He suggested that Cr. Andrews should attach to his motion proviso requiring _Mr Bussell to furnish the Council with figures for each section of his service over a period of sav three months. '

Private or Public Services? Nearly every decision of ours lias .. n upheld by the Appeal Board," said the Mayor, who added that he thought the application should be granted. Ho did not care about private service or public service when it came to a question of a better service. Cr Lyons • Come over here. The only justification for public services is efficiency," said the Mayor. So far as the New (Brighton people were concerned, they were perfectly free to ride by whatever service they liked. He was only interested in giving the people the best service possible.

"At the expense of the public," commented Cr. G. Manning. The matter was held over for two weeks, Cr. Lyons dissenting. Sir Thomas asked whether Mr Bussell would be allowed to carry a fair overload, just to show the Council how many people buses were carrying. Cr. C. Carr suggested that it would be safer to show the Council how many people wore left behind.

Bryndwr Bus, A letter from the Christchurch Tramway Board read as follows: —"On November Ist next the Board desires to extend the Bryndwr bus ten trips a day, in accordance with attached timetable. The route proposed is from the present terminus (corner Idris road and Wairarapa road), along Idris road to Bligh's road, thence along Bligh's road to Matson's road, terminating at the junction of Matson's road and Windermere road. The maximum fare from the Square will be sd. I would be glad to have the license authority for this extension in time to commence on November Ist next, as stated." A map was enclosed. The report from the Chief Traffic Inspector was as follows: —"I can see no objection to this application unless the City Engineer has anything to say about the roads." The application was agreed to.