H.—4o.

Competition with Railways. Of the 564 service-cars operating in January, 1931, 260 were running on routes that paralleled the railway. The operations of these vehicles during 1930-31 accounted for 11,000,000 miles, or 67 per cent., out of a total vehicle mileage for all service-cars of 17,300,000 ; 705,000, or 57 per cent., of the total service-car passengers (1,240,000) ; and £327,000, or 61 per cent., of the total receipts for service cars (£539,000). The annual receipts from those vehicles operating on routes that do not parallel the railway increased by approximately 10 per cent, in 1930-31 as compared with 1929-30, while that from vehicles operating on routes that parallel the railway increased by 4 per cent. The following figures show the developments in the services on routes that substantially parallel the railways, and those on other routes, for the years ended 31st March, 1930 and 1931 : —

The outstanding point in the above figures is the relatively greater expansion in the services running on routes unserved by the railways. Another noticeable feature is that out of a total of 17,300,000 vehicle-miles for 1930-31, approximately 11,000,000, or 67 per cent., were run on routes that paralleled the railways. Freight Services. In the earlier stages of the development of motor-transport passenger and goods services on defined routes, passenger services developed more rapidly than the freight services. Recent years, however, have witnessed increased organization in the freight-haulage business, with rapid increases in the number of time-table services over defined routes. The number of vehicles employed on these routes during the year ended 31st March, 1931, was 1,160 ; the monthly average number of trucks (including all classes from small delivery-vans to the heaviest types) licensed during the same period was 25,294. These trucks on the organized services ran 11,700,000 miles during the year, and carried 1,038,000 tons of freight for a revenue of £708,000. Compared with the preceding year, these figures show gains of 19, 18, and 8 per cent, respectively. The following summary shows the principal information relating to the operation of trucks on organized services during the years ended 31st March, 1930 and 1931 :—

The increase in the number of vehicles and the aggregate vehicle mileage is much, greater relatively than that recorded for the tonnage of freight handled. A good proportion of this increase in the number of vehicles and mileage is due to new services being started, while a considerable proportion may be regarded as an indication of keener competition on routes already served.

2—H. 40.

9

Year ended 31st March, Percentage. 1930. 1931. Increase. Decrease. (a) Service-car Routes that substantially -parallel Rail Routes. Vehicles . . . . . . Number 266 260 .. 2 Vehicle mileage .. .. Miles 9,700,000 11,000,000 13 Passengers .. .. .. Number 103,000 705,000 Receipts .. .. .. £ 315,000 327,000 4 (b) Service-car Routes that do not parallel Rail Routes. Vehicles .. .. .. Number 257 £04 18 Vehicle mileage .. .. Miles 5,300,000 6,300,000 19 Passengers .. .. .. Number 519,000 539,000 4 Receipts .. .. .. £ 192,000 212,000 10

Year ended 31st March, Percentage. 1930. 1931. | Increase. Decrease. Vehicles .. .. .. .. Number 965 1,160 20 Vehicle mileage .. .. .. Miles 9,800,000 11,700,000 19 Freight .. .. .. Tons 876,000 1,038,000 18 Receipts .. .. .. .. £ 653,000 708,000 8 Average mileage per vehicle per annum .. Miles 10,000 10,000 Average number of tons of freight per Number 907 894 .. 1 vehicle per annum Average receipts per vehicle per annum .. £ 677 610 . . 10 Average receipts per ton of freight .. d. 179 164 .. 8 Average receipts per vehicle-mile .. d. 16-0 14-5 .. 9