The Guardian And Evening Star, with which is incorporated the West Coast Times THURSDAY, JUNE 9, 1932. TRANSPORT PROBLEMS.

Hokitika Guardian, 9 June 1932, Page 4

The Guardian And Evening Star, with which is incorporated the West Coast Times THURSDAY, JUNE 9, 1932. TRANSPORT PROBLEMS.

In the course of a sitting of the Transport Appeal Board at Christchurch, the chairman Mr Justice Frazer, outlined the policy guiding the decisions of the Board. The object of the Act wan not so much to set up a monopoly in favour of the Railway Department or a rival motor service, but it was intended to check wasteful and uneconomic competition between the, different forms of transport over the same route. So far as the railways are concerned, the, attitude of the Board must depend on the nature of the railway service. For instance, we have in the Wellington area the railway line between Masterton and 'Wellington; That is a line that follows a somewhat tortuous course and has to ascend the Rinuitaka incline. It is a long journey by rail and.the presence of the Rimutaka incline means that oven by the express trains it i« a slow journey. On the other hand motor transport is far more convenient, and the Rimutaka incline is avoided altogether by tho motor-cars, though certainly they have, tp climb the Rimutaka Hi!3, but there is an easy grade and ~a good roa'd, The result is that the run by motor is comparatively short. Owing,to the difficulties, of the country, the railway timetable is not an extensive one. In such n case a.s this the board raises no objection at all to motor traffic competing with the railway for pasjpen.gr. services. There is no desire' to fix penal rates in order to protect the railways. A different state of affairs existed, he said, m regard to the Rangiora line, where there was a good railway service running over flat country and providing an efficient and convenient timetable. The Act specially piovided that where it wa® desirable in the public interest, the licensing authority might so fix the fares as to avoid wasteful forms of competition with alternative forms of transport of any kind. What is the public interest in a case of this kind? It is interested in a good convenient service. It cannot be denied that the Railway Department does provide a convenient, good, efficient service, and provides a good timetable between Lnristchurch and Rangiora. It charges reasonable fares. The fares are based on the suburban scale. What more is required in tho public interest? It does not seem that anything more is required than the service provided by tbe Railway Board. But under tho Act, for this year at ar;y rate, existing motor services are allowed to run on certain conditions. They were not really running In the public interest: they were running what amounted to a luxury service. People preferred to be picked up at some, street in Rangiora rather than go to the railway station,' .and the average person would prefer to be dropped in' Victoria ■Square, almoot in the heart of Christchurch instead of at . the railway station at the end of Manchester Street. But were the.se tilings really neceeary in the public interest? They were a matter of convenience to a number of people. In arriving at a conclusion as to what was desirable in the public interest, they had to consider tbe question of wasteful competition. If the more or lees luxury service competed with the railway service to such an extent as to prejudice the finances' of that .service,,; then it was undoutbedlv wasteful. If the railway could give convenient, fast, ■efficient service which would .supply the needs of the people of Rangiora, then obviously anything that cut into that service was wasteful and in the long run the public had to pay.