TRAMWAY FIGURES

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 114, 7 February 1919, Page 6

TRAMWAY FIGURES

THE NEED FOR CARE

DEBATE IN THE CITY COUNCIL

In view of.the somewhat alarming,report of the municipal tramways undertaking for the four weeks ended January 5 and the forty weeks' summary of revenue and expenditure ended the same date, some comment was expected at the council meeting last evening. In. Moving the adoption of the Tramway Committee's report, the Mayor (Mr.' J. P. •Luke) drew attention to the debits, shown in the report (already published in brief), and said that whilst the revenue for the four weeks mentioned Uiad fallen by nearly on the car mileage, the working expenses had increased by 1 l-6d., clearly indicating a falling-off in revenue, due largely he thought to the ef;feet of the epidemic and the bad weather. Although the charges had gono up and wages had increased he did not think it was right.to take the result of (he four weeks as an indication of the true state of things. The epidemic had been disastrous to the tramways, and then the schools were closed, and the holidays came again with bad' weather. If the weather continued to show im-

provement as at present he thought the returns would pull up considerably. He mentioned that epidemic pay to the cram-

waynwn, .01603, was a non-recurring one, and said that the snecinl expenditure for the four weeks ended January- 5 was as follows:—Epidemic pay, .£1603; active service pay, ,£220; superannuation, JJI3I; total, £I%L The principal increases in working expenses for the 40 weeks were as follow:—Wages of molormen and conductors, .4874; wages traffic staff, j>334; ticket check, ,£254; car cleaning, ,£154; track cleaning, 4J694; uniforms, .£232; repairs and maintenance overhead equipment, ,£635; repairs to cars, ,£602; wages power station staff and employees, £960; coal for power station, total, ,£6757. Other itenis showing decreases total i£1617, leaving the net increase at .£5140. " . The Mayor also referred to the suggestions which had been ■ made to alter the system of fares by the adoption of the universal fare, a proposal with which he did not agree, and pointed'out thai the penny, twopenny, and threepenny cash fares were tho folid basis of the tramways finance. Over and above those, fares the concession tickets came in, and it was their concession tickets bore a close relationship to the universal fare. He did not think that any remodelling of .their fares would make any improvement. • ' ' , , Councillor .Luckie quoted the car mileage in. relation to passengers carried, and argued that if the ratio of previous yeare hud been maintained they would have been in a sound position, but the j weather had prevented that, and that | being so he did not think there was any I jCauso for alarm. •• • ■ I Councillor W. H. P. Barber did not agree with Councillor Luckie's logic, and said that the returns for forty weeks only showed a credit of ,£702, which might disappear in a week. He. was not a.pessimist, nor did he wi?h to raiee a scarp, .but the fact remained that, they had'not carried the passengers Councillor Luckie thquglu they' ought to have carried, whilst there had been large increases, in the wages, and the prices of stores, material, and coal had ndvanced. Ho only wished say—as he had said at the last meeting—that there was need of

being extra careful. They had been trading largely on a floating population, p.nd it was disappearing-with the dispersal of the solidera from the camps, and they must be prepared \for the altered conditions which may arise.

Councillor R. A. Wright congratulated the council on not having become panicstricken. Nothing but disaster would occur if they raised the fares or altered the sections'at the present time. The truth was' that they ' had come well through a most trying time. The epiciemic had paralysed the tramways revenue. ■ .... Councillor JL P. LueMe: 'The theatres were closed for four weeks! ■ Councillor G. Frost: 'Dhe pubs were closed, too." •, ( Councillor Wright did not think''the latter, restriction made any difference. Still, they would lose the traffic from the camps, which could not be helped, and they must lrj>ai»d manage as carefully as possible. He pointed out that they were face to face with the proble-n of a contested city, and if they could not give the people' cheap fares Jiow could thev live out of the city? Yet to relievo the congestion they must encourage the people to go out'of the city. People with small salaries could not pay increased fares, j" ■ . Councillor -Fitzgerald asked for fuller information about the tramway finances, and the Mayor 'promised to brin? down a complete report nt the next meeting.