AUSTRALIA TO-DAY.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1657, 25 January 1913, Page 6

AUSTRALIA TO-DAY.

I SYDNEY'S TRAFFIC.

(Br Wn,ii Lawbon.)

'When tho stranger just arrives in tho heart of Sydney, no is inclined to be rather bewildered by the traffic of the streets. Trains in endless procession, roll in' both directions; at the King Street intersection of tho four maui streets, which are George Street, Pitt 1 btreot, Gastlcreagh Street, and Elizabeth Street, the cross-streams of vehiclos of all kinds make tho narrow streets difficult to traverse.

At first, ono wonders where all the trams corno from, where they run to. When the visitor lias been to the many suburbs, and found that on no lino'' is thoro less than a ten-minute service, and that most cars pass' tho George Street> King Street corner, the wonder then is that there aro not more cars. In.' all, Sydnoy has over 1000 cars.

. And then there, aro 12,000-odd motor vehicles in Sydney; two years ago there were only GOtW. Many of tho streets are as narrow as Willis Streot, in.Wellington. In addition to these, thero are thousands of . horse-vehicles—hansoms, private carriages, and delivery-wagons.' ■ At tho King Street corners there is. always a traffic constable on duty. ' First he stops tho traffio going in one direction, then in the other, and' so keeps them both gradually moving on.' On a hot, stilling day, this constable, standing in the middle of the-road,, scarce , able to move one way or tho other, has a hard task to accomplish. Regulating such, traffic requires .ability above tho average and physical powers of endurance.

The bulk of the tramway, services lead to tho. ferries or to the railway at the Central Station, and one noticeable thing about Sydney's trams is that very rarely is it necessary for the men to swing the trolly-polo at the terminus. 'It is,usually arranged 60 that the car turns on a loop, and runs always in tho same direction. j'

All the George Street cars, in- which street there is a double track, run from the "Suburbs, via the railway, down to, Circular Quay. The Pitt Street cars run from the Quay to the railway, mount a grade into ■ tho station, and having discharged passengers and picked up return loads, run out into Castlereagh Street, and down to Circular Quay again. There are only 6ingle tracks in these streets. -, In Elizabeth Street,'where there is a double track, run the cars from Circular Quay to the south coast suburbs—Coogee, Bondi, Long Bay, La Tcrousc, etc. On' some of tho . long-distance. lines. trailers' are run 'but as. a rule,- when double cars are required, they are run in pairs,- which are electrically connected,' the motors of both 'cars being controlled' by . one motornian; each car. has its own conductor; This strikes the newcomer; as a most useful and economical idea which should commend itself to the authorities of those-New Zealand systems where traileTS' are forbidden on, account of the steep ■ grades. There are steeper'grades, in pinches, in Sydney than in any New, Zealand electric system, as high a grado aa lin 8 occurring on some .of the suburban lines.. : On the Balmairi > line; ' which. run* down to the waterside at its terminus, 1 recourse is had to an ihgenioua idea to enablo the car : to safely take' tho hill. ' A truck,' which is connected steel cable to ' an. hydraulic brake, stands on the line at tho crest of .the descent. The electrio car, with, brakes on, is run up to the truck. Then the truck descends slowly, bringing the -car; to water level. On the up-run, great euro has to be exercised by the. motorman lest he goes too fast. Shoiildhe do so, the truclc reaches tho limit ; of its: tether with a "bang, and there'is damage, (done. . The brake used on the electrio cars is the air-pressure ' brake, which is easy: in action and fairly prompt, though some of the men say that there are cars in which qn ' emergency stop is - almost impossible'/.'.' Thi accidents' seems to, lend ..colour to the/statement. Another; contributing factor: is,, however, the crowded state of the lines, which 'give's tho men scarcely any room . for ' rapid pulling up. :If a motorman slowed or stopped at obstructions which would cause a. quick stop •in less crowded: streets: ho would : nevir reach his joiirney'e end. ; ' : Pedestrians,' in, particular," are very careless in their regard-for, or disregard of; tho .trams. Two inches margin seems to be an extravagant allowance to mako for two 20-ton cars bowling down f. grade. And since passengers. are, allowed to get on . and; off at-both, sides of tho cars,. the narrow, escapes from, death every 'day are enormous. Hundreds' of times one. may ceo women step off, without even looking for the approaching car on tile opposite line; and men are even worse. For a busy city, Sydney people are slow movers on the tram-lines. In additi on. to. the' city lines, there aro the North ' Sydney—North . Sydney is" a; good deal larger, than any 'New Zealand city; These services connect with' the.ferries. .- '■ "" ' ■

For the conveyance of horf« .and .Wheeled trafflo to North Sydney, there aro two lines of steam ferries plying • continually, cach vessel able to carry 'about 30 vehicles and two such vessels running, on each .line.. And < they are quite, inade-" quate. ' Some' days there are dozens/left behind ench trip, arid ; on occasions there are hundreds of .vehicles; standing in; a long line waiting to., get on to the- ferry. In some cases the wait would he for nearly an hour.' \ It is on this route that it has beGn proposed to build a'bridge to, oonnect North Sydney with Sydney city. The distance across the water ib not- great—about, a quarter of a mile.'. But the bridge would cross, the highwav. of the shipping that comes and goes irom Darling Harbour, and for that reason it would require to bo built , from the high land on _ either Bide, more than double the width, of water would have to bo'crossed; the cost, needless to say, would be enormous. But the Sydney people say that suoli'a bridge will have to come.' The ferries continually. crossing the paths of ocean steamers' constitute a menace whioh some day will materialise in u terrible accident. Sydney,'in point of fact,' is too big. It is growing too rapidly. The railways cannot carry the freights fast enough to and from the port, despite quadruple and double, tracks for a long distance out of the Central Station. The trains will soon completely line the streets, and the ferries render the navigation of the harbour too hazardous.

With a population, of . one and threequarter millions in New- South Wales, there are 650,000 in Sydney. It would really be better to spend the money, not on bridges and proposed subways, but in opening up the other goodjjorts which abound on the New South Wales coast. Something is being dono in this direction at Jervis Bay, which will be the port of the Federal Capital and of the largo areas of country surrounding it. Yet oven that may not stop the prodigious growth of Sydney.