CITY TRAM SERVICES

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2775, 19 May 1916, Page 6

CITY TRAM SERVICES

.THE TRUE POSITION SOME WAR-TIME TROUBLES TRAFFIC GROWTH . kast evening the City Engineer (Mr. W. H. Morton) presented to the City Council the "following Teport on Cit'v tram matters:— . . "In view of the difficulty that is being experienced in getting materials and plant necessary to enable the tramways system, to keep pace-with.' the growth of traifcc, and consequent upon tlie alteraw- '!9 ns in the running of the cars .since, the completion of the Crawford itoad route, I have deemed it advisable to make known to the council several watters relating to the system,which will show how seriously the Department is handicapped in meeting public requirements, and have to report as follows:— Consequent upon the re-arrangement of the tramway services to the southern portions of the City since the opepiug of the . Crawford Ho;k1 route, special attention : has been given to ascertaining the manner in which the traffic is distributed o\er the'lines leading south from Courtenay Place. ■ "11 yns to.be expeoted that for some - the.alteration.tho public .would' ■ not fall in readily with the alterations. I have, however; to report that the re- • suits are generally satisfactory. A care- . ful count of the passengers carried on the various routes shows that during rush hours the traffic is fairly evenly dis- . tnbuted."; To ascertain exactly the condi- ' tions .of loading,, one of the inspectors . ■ was detailed to obtain', the necessary in-* formation. This was done on. two even- - ----ingsi in one week, .both evenings being .under normal conditions. The results , * ha\ o'..been. indicated on the. diagrams, : which.show-in black lines the number or' -seated passengers OTrried on each trip, and in red lines those who required to - • stand. Patronage of Constable Street Line, I-':,-.'-. 1 "It-is-true that up to the present cars i 'v, passing over. Constable Street and having :i:. their terminus at .the /Kilbirnie Post Office, are iiot so well patronised as cars passing to the same terminus' through the tunnel. This, I consider,, is <lue : prin- . ... cipally to- the fact that, these cars start ... . from the City by the Jervois Quay route. : It is also 6hown clearly by tne diagram :that the cars via the tuunel to Kilbirnie T'u are'; not as well filled; as those going further afield. There can be no doubt, how- • : ever,, that the frequent service to Kilbirnie aas reduced considerably the amount "-v 6f-loading o lines, ot.-greater length. Minor alterations .will shortly - be made to .still further improve the conditions ot • • loading. ■ .... '- V .''The.-.diagrams also show clearly, the. effect of tne use of -ininimum-fare cars. It will be .seen that in no' instance is the minimum-fare car loaded unoomfort--rably, whereas on.caxs. on which miiii- " - niura fare_ is not charged the crowding is in many instances excessive. It is quite obvious that to increase the number of . : minimum-fare cars would occasion greater • ' crowding on the remainder, and 'that v. "without-i large increase in the number of cars ■ for use. throughout the system •• . those districts having minimum-fare' cars ... are benefiting nt the expense of others. "My attention: has been drawn to state- .; 'ments reported in.the daily press concern- ' - .ing. the advisability 'of: providing: addi-.-j tiohali cars ion whicn minimum. fares are ■ ■ provided.': I desire to say definitely that ■ if additional minimum-fare cars are provided it- will be impossible to cope with I . ,th^.traffic to the intermediate districts.

is due., entirely to an insufficient •;,jnuniber.of cars available, for the service. , I have to'point out that during: the last ■ . three .years the traffic over all lines has . increased considerably. The average num- . ber of passengers per four weeks 'at the - present' time of the! yearin. 1914 was ; 2,027,41)3; in 1915, 2,093,664; in 1916, ■i 2,421,580, an increase of over 394,000 pasy .Bengers, per period' of four weeks, I Vabout-14,d00 passengers daily. Trend Towards the Suburbs. • » '/For the years ending ? March 31, 1914, 1915, and. 191G- 1 the total number of. pasEehgers. carried ./was':- 24,505,376, .25,517,515, : . and 28,1)87,773 respectively.,: The car miles run were:—l9l4, 2,328,849; 1915, 2,521,692; 1916, 2,784,102. ; ' -'These. figures indicate a. great growth in ; traffic and a trend of population to , ; the' outlying districts,' the. latter result \ being largely due to .the very, favourable, .'•.."conditions 'under., '.which' ; the concession tickets are granted by the "iv-ellington! City.. Council.. It has always been urged .: that, the tramways, should be used to encourage people to live in tlie outlying disVtric'ts, in order to. avoid..furthe'r> conges- ■: -tion in the City.- It cannot be 'denied -. but- that very gratifying results have been obtained in this direction. , ; ...':.- "It is estimated ; that to. satisfactorily oope w }th. the 1 traffic at present offering ; ..an additional twenty cai'3 are ■ necessary. ■. This would only allow, of: a reasonable number of cars being in dock at time , for,thorough overhaul' and:attention.. At ' the'/.present time the; very ..saHSactory •; results: which, are obtained by the .-con- ' tinued iise of practically the, full number : .of'.cars belonging, to the tramway system is ' due in >a great measure to :■ :tne-:very great.care exercised by. the car- ■: shed superintendant and his - staff. "In order that an additional twenty cars, can'be utilised,; it. will, however, be uecessary to provide facilities for housing _9iidvoverhauling sanie.' At the present ; w time. a new c-arslied is in course of' erec- < . tion at Kilbirnie which, will accommodate hfty.' ctfrsj. "and ; will,' when ready,, be of ,'"lwmsiderable benefit. ' • Difficulty in Getting Machinery. "At the power-station an additional ;' L boiler is expected shortly. • The new Bab- . cock and Wilcox- boiler ordered for the .- ■ council was originally intended to be ; . brought to New Zealand by the s.s. •' llangatira, which vessel foundered near C'' C-ape Town, but owing, to fortunate circumstances it was decided at the last moment to ship by a different route, and t this bolter may bo expected shortly. ■ Homo time will elapse before the boiler ". '.caii be put into operation, and its'as- * sistahce. jn keeping steam during rush [) hours will' be much appreciated. "I regret, however, to state that, as far as generating machinery is concerned, it ' will not be possible to obtain machinery for some considerable' time. : Inquiries ."' have been made as to tho possibility of ' obtaining an additional generator,, but so " • far there appears to be no possibility of ;. increasing the plant for some time to ... Joine.

"After the new boiler and one generator have been erected there will be no room ill the power-station for additional machinery, but with the installation of a storage battery it would be possible to hang on for some time. I have previously reported on tho difficulties which attach to the present unfavourable location of the power-house, and it can be clearly seen that before long it will .be advisable to combine tlie two stations on a more suitable piece of ground, with larger generating sets for the necessary power for lighting, power supply, and tramway purposes. . "It was intended this year to duplicate the Island Bay line from tho Athletic Part to Duppa Street. Owing to the exportation of Tails from Great Britain having been stopped, inquiries have been made in other directions, and it is now Cvmd impossible to obtain rails for the .duplication of single-track lines. ' Had it been possible to have carried out the Island Bay duplication, ears on this route lould 'have been worked to much greater advantage,v and unnecessary delays presented. "At present, therefore, the tramway system is suffering from an insufticiency 3t cars, toilers, and cenerating -machinery, and in addition the permanent way in some instances does not permit oresent rolling-stock to bo used to the best advantage. . , "There is also a difficulty in obtaining labour ill connection with the various p.'Prts of . the system. and if conscription occurs it is extremely likely that greater difficulty will arise. "Under the circumstances above set out. I 'think it. very advisable that the public shonld be made cosrnisant of tlie true position in order that difficulties which the tramway staff has at prpjnßlt to meet may be fully understood, «n<! generous allowance made." -