REORGANISATION.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1473, 28 June 1912, Page 4

REORGANISATION.

THB fIITY! ffRAMWAYSj • REPORT OE .THE BO ADD, In The Dominion , of Wednesday lust we announced that the Wellington City Tramway Board was engaged in the preparation of a report to tho City Council which would cover recommendations for a-thorough reorganisation of the city tramway system. The essential principles governing the basis of. this reorganisation were also indicated. The report has now been mode public. It is a, lengthy document, but its essential points, are ' these:—r Questions to be Faced. Witli the inevitable expansion of the city, there has to be faced: "Duplications of.existing tracks; new lay-outs for tho accommodation of heavy traffic (such as may.':'(Shortly bo required in connection lrith'th© new railway station); additional rolling stock with shed accommodation; additional generating sets and boilers; -short extensions of track and overhead eqnipment,\feeders, etc. "Consideration of the balance-sheet for tho past year 1911-1912, and tho four ■weekly statenieut of the current year, proves conclusively that the concern is not self-supporting, and that eerious , attention must now 'bo given to the various sources from which additional revenue may be obtained without raising fares to such an'extent that the pubHo would nbstnin from travelling on . tTie care. Since the inception of the system the whole of the profits have been devoted to tho improvement of the system for tho convenience of the public, that many concessions have been- granted, but that few, if any, of tho additional works carried out havo as yet tended towards en. increase in tho' profits of the concerii. "The cost of Tunning and maintaining the- system has increased considerably, and Quite recently a largo increase in tho wages of nien..«niployed throughout the service has had to be met. Detailed investigation has been given to tho length of sections, concessions inade from time to time and now in force, advertising on cars, sunday fares, services Tendered "outside of ordinary passenger traffic, and altered method of allowing concessions on fares, ''-•.. . Pruning the Sections, ' ,"It should bo generally conceded that fares at the rato of Id. per mile aro reasonable and such that the citizens generally can afford to pay. It is not always possible, and in Wellington seldom, to fix tho ends of sections at one mile apart. ' The end of o. section should be located at a place naturally suited for the purpose, having regard to traffic on both main and" branch lines. After very careful consideration the board is of opinion that the sections on Newtown, Constable Street, and tunnel routes ihonld be shortened, and recommend:

.•"1. That the second section, from Lamb- . ton Railway Station" on Newtbwn,. Island Bay, and Constable S'rcet Toutcs terminate at John Street, and , that tho third section be formed between John Street nnd termini of -, fho Kewtow'n and Constable Street That the second section from tho . Lambton Station on the tunnel route should tenuinato at the corner of Waitoa Boad and Jloxham Avenue, Hataitai; tho third section to ter- >, ruinate at the intersection of Craw- . ford and Lyall Bay Roads, and that ■ fourth sections should extend from the latter intersection to the Jfira- _: niar and city boundary nnd Lyall ":'Bay terminus respectively.

"Itis considered that tho council should favourably consider the extension of the Newtowh line to the park gates and the Lyall Bay line a distance of about 10 chains along the esplanade. The possible connection of the Constable Street' line with, tho Lyall Bay line has also bccM 2 considered, and in this regard it ■seems absolutely essential that the suggested alterations ■in • the sections should take place in order that tho fares on either route to Lyall Bay ihould bo the same. The suitability of ohn Street for the end of the section n the Constable-Street,' Island Bay and venrtown routes should bo noted, and ho distances along the Wallaco Street •>nd ■ J<ewtown lines from tho Lambton railway station carefully compared. Excepting that end of second section should also be at John Street, it is not desirable to make further alterations to sections on the Idand Bay route. Tho board is strongly of opinion that the suggested rearrangement of sections is tho best that can be adopted in Wellington, and recommend; that it bo given effect to. "The proposed alteration is .estimated to result in an increased revenue of J29750 per annum. Details of the section {proposals nro as follow:— .' i ■ Si,l !l I *' ]J !i? i go v po g island Bay , i :105 1 103 Newtown 3 134-3 31 Constablo Streot and Crawford Koad extension ... 2 132 3 10G lyall Bay 3 117 i 00 City Boundary 3 118 4 89 Oriental Bay 2 103 Unaltered .."Wallace Street ... 2 81 „ ;, ■Brooklyn ■ (from G.P.0.) „ '.. 2, 80 „ „ tThiakori • Road (from -Government Buildings) 1 110 ~ „ Wadestown 3 -18 „ . „ Thorndon Quay. ..; 1 07 „ „ Too Many Concessions, "The board is of opinion that tho many concessions already granted aro, owing [to tho cheapness of the fares generally, not warranted, and should be at once cancelled. There can be no doubt that many uf the residential concessions have been requested by residents of various districts ufter comparison of tho length, of other loutes with that of Kewtown; It is adciitted that with such cheap travelling as at present on tho Newtown line, it was, difficult to refuse concessions to those living further from tho centre of tho oity. .The recent alteration in the age limit of children was, iu v tho opinion of tho board, undesirable. The ago limit of 12 ■years for haif fares is almost universal, ; und should again be adopted in Wclliagjton. Concessions granted to scholars have ■been made without sufficient investigation. It has been ascertained that married persons attending commercial colleges, have applied, for and been granted scholars' concession tickets. This should

pot be, and tho board, recommends that .theso concessions should bo limited to ! bona-fide scholars not more than 17 years - of age regularly attending tho public and private schools for primary or secondary e ducation only. In a later part of tho report the board makes a recommendation concerning tho universal concession. "The board does not recommend any change at present in regard to workers' cars, but desires to state that tho present system of issuing workers! tickets leads to many abuses. It is intended to try (o introduce at an early date a ticket which irill rid tho service of such abuse?, and conservo the concession to those entitled thereto. A further report on this subject .will be submitted. Advertising. "The board is of opinion that the pre- '• eent method of advertising on cars is mot that which will bring in the most revenue. The present method is unsatisfactory in many respects, costly to advertisei-3, not likely to be sought after by advertisers, owing to the uniformity of design. Whilst not desirous of making the cars hideous, and strongly of opinion that advertisements should not bo displayed on the outside of cars (except when "required in connection with public Slitherings when the tramway system would benefit) tho )>oard considers that the system in vogue in Melbourne and Dunodin should bo adopted hero. Thiss system provides for tho use of printed advertising matter on strawboard fixed in the panels , of the coves of each car. Such advertisements may be made attractive, easily fixed and removed, and the advertisers may vary the advertisements from time to time as desired. The board estimates the additional amount in revenue to bo derived jngftods.

recommended would bo not !e« tiinn ,£!00 per anunra above- that obtained at prosont. ' Loss on Sunday Cars. "A recent investigation of Sunday, traffic proves conclusively that tliero is all actual Joss iu carrrinjf on this service as at present, Uiio to tto time and a. halt lutes paid to employees for Sunday work. "The board recommends that the Sunday morning services be run and fares charged as at present, but that after midday a universal fare of 3d. bo charged on all lines within the city boundary. Ao transfers ought to be given. "A considerable increase in revenue, probably .£3OOO per'annum, -is expected to result "from the adoption of tho alteration suggested. , "The board is also strongly of opinion that additional revenue can bo obtained in connection with the carriage of luggage and freight's ond for other tervices rendered by the tramway department. With regard to the > carriage of luggage tho board is of opinion that small bags or parcels, which can be carried.' into a car by a passenger and so held as not to impede tho movements, or interfere with the comfort of passengers, should not uo charged for, but that provision for luggage should be made in all special cars to or from the Taihvay stations when mooting country trains by reserving in each car one compartment for luggage, and that a suitable charge should be made for the service rendered. By such a system fhe passenger and Tiis or her luggage will bo convoyed by the same' car, and tho privilege should bo inoro frequently availed of, and increased Tevenuo TCSlllt. £10,250 Increase Estimated. "If the alterations as hereinbeforo recommended aro given, effect to, but not unless, a' universal concession tickot should be issued by means of Which (he purchaser would bo entitled to rido fourteen sections for Is., each division on the ticket when clipped to represent the payment of Id., and to be available for ordinary travelling on alt cars including these- ruil on Sundays, when threo clips would be taken to represent the payment of a 3d. fare. Theio tickets, Jiowever, must not bo used fo-r payment of fares on workers' cars. . . :

"By this 'means all persons 'purchasing tickets would receive a discount in proportion to the amount spent on fares. Increased traffic would result, claims for concessions from particular districts would not be made, and the council could in tho future, by simply altering tho number of divisions on the tickets, so adjust the fares throughout tho system by increasing or diminishing Hie number of journeys available by each ticket. "This system would diminish tho actual quantity of cash handled by the conductors, a saving of time would result, ■more fares should be collected, and tho work of the conductors on tho cars greatly simplified. "Tho new time-table, now practically complete, will, it is confidently expected, bo more economical than that at present in use, while the convenience of the public will be greatly increased. In conclusion, tlie board earnestly recommends that close consideration bo given to the various proposnls, such being mads after long and careful consideration, of the various details of the tramway system, and is of opinion that if given effect to . tho- tramway undertaking will be placed on a. sound financial foundation, tho estimated -total increase to the Tevenue being -•£10,250 per annum." . . ('STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL. , ' ' THE REPORT AND THE PRESS. ' The Mayor's exercise of hi* Mayoral prerogatives, in the matter of giving the I above report to tho representative of one newspaper i only in Wellington, was discussed at the council meeting last night. The discussion was raised by Council-' lor Fletcher. "Last Tuesday afternoon, at the meeting of tho Tramways Committee," he said, "we had a. very important document presented to us for consideration. This document was . confidential, nnd it was agreed at the committee meeting that' the matter' should bo referred to a , special meeting of the council in committee. It was rather astonishing to find, the following morning, (Jiat the whole confidential document was published in the public press. I think, Sir,,-to say tho least of it, that it is very wrong." The Mayor:. J<ot the following morning. Councillor Fletcher: "Well, fhe morning after. ... I should like to know how thi3 document came into the hands of , the press." The Mayor: The position is this: I had the documeut, and ' for the reason that parts of what was in it were appearing in the papers piecemeal, I consulted the chairman of the Tramway Board as to whether there was anything in the document that need be kent back, and lie was of opinion that there" was nothing in it that need be kept "back from tho public. For that reason I gave it to the press. If I did wrong I am prepared to take any censure. I tell you candidly that I gave it, but I,understood that tho motion that was carried was simply that the matfer bo referred to a special meeting of the council, and that councillors were to have a copy of the report. I niacle inquiries of Mr. Tait, and understood from him that these had been sent out,, and it was only after this -that I gave out tho report. Councillor Fuller: To all the press of the Dominion, Sir ? ■ 1 Councillor Fletcher accepted the Mayor's answer as satisfactory. "But," he added, "this is tho point I wash to emphasise: It was marked 'strictly confidential.' " '

Tho. Mayor. My copy was not marked "confidential." i

Other couucillora saixl thfcir (reports were all so marked, and a copy was pro-, duced for the Mayor's perusal, marked "strictly confidential." "It is hardly fair to the council," continued Councillor Fletcher, "to have all this information of n confidential nature published'in tho press before councillors have an opportunity of discussing it. The resolution should have been carried out." . Councillor Fuller: Why was it given only to one paper? The Mayor: The pressman, waited upon me and asked for it.

Councillor Shirtcliff*;: Wliat pressman? The Mayor: Tho "Times" man came to mo in the afternoon after I hud. been informed what had been 'done. Councillor Shirtcliffe: Each paper did not get tho report? The Mayor: Ko, I regret that they did not. They would have all got the report if they had come for it. . Councillor Shirtcliffe was sorry all the papers were not treated in tho same way. But he agreed that it was.bettor to have the full report rather than garbled accounts of it published. Councillor Fuller: Wns your statement that only ono paper asked you? I think it is entirely wrong that you should have missed .out the other papers. Councillor Hindmarsh: Point of order. Them is no motion before tho meeting. The Mayor: I have answered the question, and you are not to go on discussing it. 1 forgot to send it to the other papers. I have a great many other matters to attend to.

[On the (lay before the report was published in fcho "Now Zealand Times"— Wednesday, to bo exact—a representative of The Dominion, referring to a brief forecast of tlio scheme of reorganisation which hod appeared in his paper that morning, asked the Mayor (Mr. M'Laren) if lie wore prepared to mate a statement with regard to the details of the scheme. Mr. M'Laion replied: "Xo—there is nothing further to pay at this juncture" On tho same day, Mr. M'Lnren, on his own admission to the council, handed a.copy of the report: to the "Xcw Zealand Times," which published it the following, morning.] ""