A Safety Move

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 516, 20 November 1928, Page 8

A Safety Move

POWER SUPPLY FOR TRAMS

SOME Aucklanders believe that if the Transport Board alters the transport system of the city so as to use more buses amd fewer trams, the cost of power will rise, and the people will have to pay more for the service. Ihe possibility of this is very remote, however, as the tendency is in the direction of reduced generation charges. An agreement made this week has fixed the price of power to the city upon a basis of minimum cost, and specifies a minimum annual supply for the protection of the Power Board’s interests.

When the Auckland Electric Power Board first supplied power for the trams, the city bought the current at cost price, but the fixation of the figure has involved long negotiation between the board and the council. Under the Auckland Electric Power Board Act, no method was outlined of computing the cost to the board of supplying the city with current, and the result has been the operation of an intricate system of calculation based upon every item in the board’s organisation which in any way affected the generation of power for the tramways department.

This was difficult, and necessitated a great deal of work and heavy overhead charges. Recently, however, the method was altered, and a general basis upon a specially arranged formula was set, so that a composite calculation could be made and an accurate record kept of the power used, but without the intricate and tedious work of the old system.. The power board has asked the council to guarantee to take annually a minimum supply of 18,000,000 units, more or less, as a safeguard against installing high-priced plant for service extensions, which the chairman of the board, Mr. W. J. Holdsworth, says was purchased primarily for tramways power. The idea of a guaranteed supply did not appeal to the City Council at first, because the Auckland Transport Board, which is to take over the whole

of the transport system of the city, will be obliged to honour any agreements made by the council on behalf of the tram and bus services.

Mr. Holdsworth looks ahead and sees the possibility of the Transport Board curtailing the use of the trams and extending the services with buses. In such an event he does not wish the Power Board to be left with the unwelcome legacy of useless plant and unused reticulation. TRAMS SHOULD GROW

Mr. J. A. C. Allum, chairman of the Tramways Committee of the City Council, believes, on the other hand, that the tendency will be for the tramways system to grow rather than diminish. The service is fast returning to its normal position, he says, and the likelihood is that the Transport Board will extend it. If buses are used more extensively and the trams are relegated comparatively to the background, however, both the Power Board and the trams will suffer.

It is agreed between the Power Board and the council that the specified 18,000,000 units will consitute the minimum supply, but if the amount used falls excessively short of that figure, the council will seek arbitration to determine for how much it shall pay. The view of Mr. R. H. Bartley, general manager of the Power Board, is that the arrangement is a good one for the city, insofar as the trams must derive the benefit of the board’s development and consequent reduction in generating costs. As the board’s district widens and the power distribution increases, the cost of power falls proportionately, and as the board has agreed to supply current at cost price, the city stands to lose nothing, except in the remote event of the board retrogressing. CITY BENEFITS “It looks as if the tramways will derive the benefit of this board’s progress in the future as they have done in the past,” he said. “This, of course, is as it should be.

“The tramways always have been the first immediate consideration of the board, and the staff is ready at all times to effect repairs to keep the transport system moving. “There has been a certain amount of misunderstanding about the cpst of power for the trams here, mainly on account of people trying to compare them with the cost of systems elsewhere operating under entirely different conditions. These differences have been appreciated by the City Council, and now that a basis of supply has been agreed upon, and a new method of cost established, much expense in labour will be saved, and the figures relating to the cost of the power for Auckland trams may be produced as a balance sheet within the ,hour.”