STRIKING GROWTH

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 1, Issue 19, 15 September 1931, Page 5

STRIKING GROWTH

("Post" Special Gdixjjpissioner.)

TRANSPOpiT CHAB^Ip NEED FOR GO-ORDINATION HAS BECOME VITAL QyESTIQN. PBJEGT. pF THE BILL.

The necpsity for the co-ordina-tion of land ti:ansport in order to qheck the rapidly increasing costs of road and raif seryices was emphagised in the Hoiise of Representafiyes "by the Minister of Transport (the Hon. W. A. Veitch). Tfie' Minister 'stated tljat transport charges |n th© Dominion hacL'risen pbenomehally in the last few years, and' were now more than the country could hear. He conte|i(|ed that the Transport Licensipg Bill, which he tyag spopspring, wonld haVe the effect of eliminatjhg wasteful competition an4 thii^ bringing about a great natiohal saving at a time when economy was ahsoliitely necessary. fhe Mjnister qf Tranepot^ (the Hon. W. A, Yeitch) snfd that 'the most striking feature of the situation was the increase ih transport costs in New Zealanjd? Pne did nqt haye fo look back yery far into the history of the Dominion to find a point when there were no motor transport charges', but to-day the motors were costing 32-,-000;Q00 :per yOay, and if present conditions were allowed "to c'ontinue the cost would increase rapidly, even though to-day the cost was much greafer than the cohntry could alford. There had been a great deal of public anxiety because the annual loss qn the railway^ wgs £l,5pO,P90, because such n loss was a seripus one, but the annual loss c^used by rqpid transport was infinitely greafer.' The only way to reetify the pqsition was to e'stablish reaso'nable regulatiohs to control both rail and road transpoft. There were some whp wpuld syreep the motors off the road altogether, but the Bill did not propose anything of that nature. Nevertheless, it aimed at preventing further iriroads into railway revenue", and this factor alohe justified the passage pf the Bill. Seventy-|iv§ per cent. p| the railway revenue came from hauls of under 100* miles, and over this distance the motors could compete successfully with the railwnyg. Yef on the other h$nd thQnsjands of mptprs comppte with tlje railways, and had created facilities for the public which the railways could have given. The whole problem was to cQ-ordinate all transport spryices jn puch a way as to giye the maximum benefit to the pe'ople at a minimum cost, and this could be achieved only if the public was confident that the Minister pf Transport was dealing with the position With infinitp falrnesjs. ^ Reasons for Sup|>ort Some of the opposers of the Bill had been suspicious pf the measufe because it was being supported by the motor interests, and others had pointed out that it was faVoured by ihe Railway Department, which was aftempting to sweep the motor^ off the roa'ds. It was true that both the railway and the motors were behind the Bill, but kpth had good reasons. The rpilways wanted the Bill because uhcohtrolled services were cuttirig in? to fheir business gtpd because at the present time they were powerless to defend themselves. The road service owners were behind the measure for much the same reason. They found thpmselyes |aced with unreasonable competition amongst themselves, aiid the Motor Omnibus Act was not strong enough tp prevent fhis, The Bill did nof propose tP giy© any mpnopoly, although in some cases exclusive rights would be given. A reduction in transporf pompetition wopld ipean tfeat posfs Qf road m^in_ tenance would be reduced, and a benefit V0144 result "to all sections of the cpmmunity. Jhe iyjidway Coiirse. There had been many views expressed as to what should be the policy of the Trapsporf Pepartmenf. Qn the pne hand there was an agitation that the motor services should be exterminated, and on the other hand the abandonment of the railways was advocated. It was believed that the common sense methpd was to take the midway eourse. The' ideal policy was fo co-ordinate all foyms of transport In order fo give the economically best service to the pepple. Such a policy wpuld be of benpfit to the primary producer. If they could reduce the transport charges to the dairy farmer by id per pound of butter in the carriage of his prp^uPe tp the ship's 'side they would considprgbly increase his net income, Furthermpre, by lessening the voluipe of transport op the rogds thpy wppld relieve the burden of rates, and again the farmer would benefit. There was no doubt that many of the roads were carrying excessive traffic, and the consequent wear and tear was a big item fqr the ratepayer.

Department Justified. I| had been paid that the Transport PepaytlPePt Lad dppe nothing to justify its existence, but there was absolutely xjo foundation ior this statementj and the Minister paid n tribute to the work that had been accomplished' hy the pqmmissionep and his staff. * They had collected a great deal of yaluahle information on the transport problem, and the resplt of their investigations 3000 miles of road had been reclassifxed. By reducing the maximum load that could be placed on a road a considerahle sayipg was made ih 'the mairitenahce costs. The Department's engineer first surveyed' the roads and briflges of a distrjgl: which wag tp be recla^syipd, and after his report had been received the Department's economist visited the district'and examihed tHe busmfeSs potentialities. The maximum load limit was then fixed. As a result of these investigations 3000 miles of road had had their load maximums reduced, and the saving in maintenance costs had paid the cost of the Depar'tment many times over. The condition of the Dominion at the present time justified' eVery measure of economy, and the Transport Licensing Bill gave tremendous scope for national sayihgs. - I^etween 1914 and 1929 the pqpulatjpn of thp Dominion had increased by 29 per cent., production had increased by J02 per cent. In jpnp, |92fij |he?nqmt?eh-6f motor cars in New Zealand was 106,449, and in June of this year the total had reached 219,701, an increase of 113,261, or 107 per cent. Therp was now one vehicle tp eyery fi.g persbps, whereas in 1925 the ratio was one

to every 13 people. In 1914 the annual ppst of land transport was £17,750,000, and in; 1929 it had risen fo £43,750,000/ In the same period the value of petrol imported into the Dominion had risen from £414,000 to over £2,000,000. These figures would cpnvinpe all of tho necesSity for transport cq-ordination.