THE TOLL ON THE CITY

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1886, 21 October 1913, Page 8

THE TOLL ON THE CITY

FOR RE-MODELLING CARS. ESTIMATED COST ,£90,000. REPORT TO COUNCIL, A spocial meeting of the Tramway Committee of the City Council was called yesterday by the Mayor (Mr. J. P. Luke) to consider the Tramway Amendment Jiili now before Parliament, and the question of centre aisles as allecting Wellington cars. The Tramway Board of Management had prepared a report on the subject, and this was laid before the committee. It read as follows:— Twenty New Cars Nesdcd. n "In order to show clearly how the Wellington Tramways system will ba affected by the. proposed legislation requiring centre aisles to be'provided in all cars by March 1, 1914, the board desires to placo before you full information concerning the position. Twelve months ago there were 91 cars in the service. At that time only 22 cars had centre passagowiys. The corporation agreed with the Minister of Public Works to alter the .remainder so as to provide centre aisles at the rate of one car per month. There was no legislation to require this to be done. Since that time N l9 cars have been altered, and in addition live cars are at present in'process of alteration, and it is confidently expected that by the first of November these five cars will havo been altered, making a total of twenty-lour cars altered in accordance with tho promise made to the Minister rather less than 14 months ago. It' will therefore be seen that the corporation has dono much more tiian it was expected to do. Tho loss of seating capacity in the 69 cars to bo altered is equal to 870 seats. As we are able to provide only 37 seats in a car, it will be seen that 24 additional cars must be built in order to provide tho same seating, capacity that we iliad twelve months ago.

Changes Will Cost Over £90,000. ■'The average cost per car can be safely set down at £1500, or a total cost for now cars (irrespective of ordinary increaso of trailic) of £36,000. In addition to this, amount, extensions to Power Station, car'depots, and feeders will bo necessary for hauling the additional number of cars and tho estimated cost of providing same is £45,000. The cost of alterations to cars is expected to reach tho sum of £9,200. The total cost, therefore, for providing additional cars with increased power and necessary accommodation, etc., and the alterations to existing cars will be at least £90,200. Iu addition to the above cost thero will bo increased annual expenditure due to additional number of motornien and conductors, car cleaners, etc., employed, also increased cost of maintenance of all parts of the system duo to additional number of cars required. In view of the regulations now under consideration by the Hon. the Minister of Public Works limiting the carrying capacity of all cars, the gravity of tho situation is considerably accentuated as standing capacity will be proportional to the amount of seating capacity provided. How Long to Change? "As regard the time required to alter existing cars (without consideration to building of any now cars), wo estimate that with the means at our. disposal, and with tho assistance of outside firms, the alteration, of three cars per month would be as much as can possibly bo done. To do this six cars must be kept out of traffic durine the progress of alterations, during which timo the convenience of the public will bo greatly interfered with. As' after November 1 45 cars will still remain to be altered, it will be seen that 15 months are required to complete tlio work Jit tlie rato of three per month. Wo are, however, of opinion that by working extra time it may be possible to complete the work in twelve months. The time proposed in the Bill now before Parliament is totally insufficient for tho work to be done, and is altogether unreasonable. Servjce3 will Sufler. "If insisted upon it will mean, that on March 1 next 30 oars will bo out of traffic. This will mean that the service to the public cannot bo maintained .to meet requirements, great loss of revenue will result, and a considerable number of men temporarily ' discharged. It would be impossible to continue the services to Miramar, Seatoun. and Knrori, and a number of city services would be greatly curtailed. All the cars to be altered after November 1 are palace cars, which are the most difficult anct expensive to deal with. Onlv three of this particular type will liavo been altered by November 1. Tt must also bo understood that whilst carrying out alterations the work of building new cars must be at a complete standstill, and as traffic is increasing, even though we are given twelve months to carry - out alterations, tho accommodation to the public will be considerably sliort of requirements at tho end of the period.

' Side-Step and Hysteria. "We >are of opinion that the references made concerning accidents on tho Wellington system show that the trao position is not known, and that many of the statements are of a sensational and hysterica! nature. The number of fatal accidents to men working on the side-steps of cars since tho inception of the servico, covering a period of nine years, does not exceed three, viz.— Conductor Athea, August 10, 1907; Conductor M'Kay, July 26, 1912; Conductor Breedin, September 13, 1913. The total number of conductors in the service is 140, and sinco. tho. inauguration) of tlio tram service in this city over 17.000,000 car miles have been inn, and 178.000,000 passengers carried. The statement mado in Parliament that there has recently been a speeding up in the running of the cars is absolutely iucorroct. As a matter of fact .tlio speed lias been lessened. It is admitted that a number of accidents of a less serious character have also occurred, and in 110 case has a man left the service consequent upon such injuries, and in all cases tho men have received full pay during incapacity, and any hospital and medical expenses have been paid by the corporation. u "\Ve desiro to state that tho uso or side-stops is not confined to "Wellington, but cars fitted with same aro greatly used in various countries throughout the world, and particularly in Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide, and on smaller systems in Australia, and nlso ill Christchurch. Tlio City Council of Wellington has, however, pledged itsolf to provido a contro aisle between seats for the convenience of conductors, and the only requost made by the corporation is that a sufficient time—twelve months is granted for the completion of tho work now in hand. . "In conclusion, and in addition, we consider that the wording of tlio clause in the Bill should be altered so as to provide for a centro passage-way betweon seats, as provided for in the Tramways Amendment Act, 1911, Clause 11 of which reads as follows:— "All new tramway carriages, li- ■ censed after tlio passing of this Act, except those used 011 cable tramways, shall be constructed with an aislo or passageway throughout ■ tho portion of the carriage set apart for passengers." "It is quito unnecessary that tlio aislo should extend from end to end of cars. Attached hereto will bo found a suminarv of statements included herein and a statement showing the increased

annual cost of operation, and increase of fixed charges. Finance of Whole Thing. "The addition of twenty-four cars required to make Rood the loss of accommodation duo to the alteration of cars will add to tlio working expenses and fixed charges per annum as follows: — Estimated additional car miles 407,116, at 10.3d. per car mile 20,436 Interest of £90,082, at 4J- per cent 4.050 Sinking fund, at 1 per cent. ... 907 Depreciation on £75,488, at 2| per cent 2,076 Total increased cost per annum 27,499 "This amount represents an increase in the cost of operation of nearly 20 per cent., and is equal to ail averago of ,277 d. per passenger carried, and means that the fares which now averago 1.43 d. . would have to be increased to 1.70 d., to make up tho additional expenditure. "Applying this additional expenditure of £27,499 to the cost of operation of last year, the financial results would have shown as follow: — £ £ Gross Revenue ... 151,837 Working expenses 121,564 Interest 24,041 Sinking Fund 6,185 Depreciation 16,144 Total Cost of Operation , 167,934 Net Loss 16,097 £167,934 £167,934 " Tliis means that the net profit of £11,402 obtained last year would have been turned into a loss of £16,097, unless fares had been raised." Roport Discussed In Ganrara. When the roport was presented, the committee discussed the whole situation. The pTess were not admitted to the'meeting, but subsequently the Mayor made a brief statement as to what had been dono. "AVe had a discussion," ho Said, " apd decided to petition Parliament eo that representations could be made by the council to a oommittee of the House." The City Council, ho added, would endeavour to place before that committee all tho facts in connection with the proposed alterations