BUSES TO RACES

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 433, 15 August 1928, Page 16

BUSES TO RACES

LICENCES ON CONDITIONS AUTHORITY'S ANXIETY Having granted a number of licences for buses to run to race meetings and to Carlaw Park, the No. 1 Licensing authority intends to take immediate action against the bus owners not licensed for these trips. The authority expressed some anxiety about the possibility that private bus owners might allow their ordinary services to suffer on race and football days. There was a difference of opinion on the question of whether the Tramways Department buses and trams were sufficient to carry the traffic without the help of outside services. Mr. G. Baildon presided. The town clerk advised that he had circularised bus owners and intimated that services run on race days and similar occasions should be licensed. A number of owners had replied, asking for licences to Ellerslie racecourse, Alexandra Park, Avondale racecourse and Carlaw Park. The first application was from the Tramways Department, seeking a licence for a bus service from Sturdee Street to the Green Lane entrance to the Ellerslie racecourse. Mr. A. E. Ford, the tramways manager, said on race days the department ran 165 trams and 24 buses to cater for the traffic. Those services, it was submitted, were adequate for the traffic between the city and the course. He had no objection to applications by licensed services from the course to other points not catered for by the department’s services. Mr. A. M. Goulding, representing a private bus owner, contended the Tramways Department’s services were not adequate to move the crowds from the course. He suggested the department should welcome the assistance of private owners. On the motion of the chairman, the applications of the trawmays for the two services to the racecourse were granted. PRIVATE APPLICATION Mr. Ford objected to the granting of the application of L. J. Keys, saying that the service of trams and buses was adequate at present. In answer to Miss Ellen Melville, Mr. Keys said the number of passengers depended on the number of buses he was able to send to the races. He did not neglect his ordinary services for the race trips, and had never missed a timetable journey. Mr A. J. Stallworthy asked Mr. Ford if it was not a fact that the ordinary services suffered during race days. “We have never received a complaint of any interference with the basic service, and not one service car has been converted to a race car,” said Mr. Ford. Mr. E. Phelan said that all the buses on the run were absolutely necessary for the crowds. It would not be playing the game to give the city the monopoly. The bus companies had ta get the same consideration as the city buses. A long discussion in committee ensued, a decision then being reached to grant Mr. Keys’s application, subject to the number of buses, the time-table and the scale of fares being approved by the chairman, Mr. G. Baildon, and the town clerk, Mr. J. S. Brigham. On similar conditions, the following applications for licences were also

granted: L. J. Keys. St. Hellers and Kohimarama to Ellerslie; Passenger Transport Company, Limited, Otahuhu to Ellerslie, Sturdee Street to Ellerslie. Otahuhu to Alexandra Park, and Otahuhu to Car law Park; L. W. Grieves, Pitt Street to Ellerslie, and Pitt Street to Avondale; W. J. Wheeler, Sturdee Street to Ellerslie, and Sturdee Street to Alexandra Park; F. Crawford, Sturdee Street to Ellerslie, Sturdee Street to Alexandra Park, and Sturdee Street to Avondale. The Tramways Department was granted licences for services from Sturdee Street to Alexandra Park, from Sturdee Street to Carlaw Park, from Sturdee Street to Avondale, and from the Mount Albert tram terminus to Avondale. Applications by G. M. McFarlane for services from Sturdee Street to Ellerslie and Alexandra Park were declined. The applicant said he ran a sight-seeing bus and was not engaged on regular services. His vehicle had not been passed by the Public Works Department. J. Collett unsuccessfully sought permission to establish a full daily service between the city and Ellerslie racecourse, the opinion being expressed that there was already an adequate service. Subsequently, Mr. Collett withdrew an application for a service from Sturdee Street to Carlaw Park.