H.—4o,

(2) Goods-service Vehicles. —All goods-service vehicles licensed under the Transport Licensing Act are subjected to a thorough mechanical inspection each six months, and the maximum permissible load which can be transported in safety is inscribed in the certificate of fitness.

The following table gives the number of passenger and goods vehicles which operate in the four licensing districts : —

(3) Other Vehicles. —All motor-vehicles other than those coming within the scope of the Transport Licensing Act are required to undergo a periodical inspection each half-year. The issue of warrants of fitness to these vehicles is undertaken by motor garages approved for the purpose, and some of' the municipalities. The inspection includes a check of brakes, lights, steering-gear, wheel-alignment, windscreen-wiper, rear-vision mirror, warning-device, and door-fastenings. 5. WAR MEASURES. A. Additional Functions of Traffic Staff. -These have comprised the organization and training of Emergency Traffic Police units, the regular inspection of reserve petrol storage and testing of petrol delivery pumps, the testing of military drivers for purposes of the issue of driving licenses, investigations and inquiries concerning the administration of the Oil Fuel Emergency Regulations, and latterly the district administration of the control of tires and tubes. B. Additional Functions of Vehicle Inspection Staff. —During the year these officers have been engaged for a considerable part of their time on the inspection of vehicles for impressment purposes. 6. REGULATION OF COMMERCIAL ROAD TRANSPORT. TRANSPORT LICENSING ACT, 1931. Licensing.—During the year the Licensing Authorities continued to carry out their usual duties of considering applications for licenses, amendment, renewal, and transfer of licenses, and in addition acted as appeal authorities for vehicles impressed for the Army. The main feature of the licensing system has been the automatic extension of expiring licenses under the Transport Licensing Emergency Regulations 1942. The Licensing Authorities have the power of exempting licenses from the operation of these regulations, while the power to review licenses still operates. _ . A considerable number of licenses have been suspended for the duration of the war. This is authorized by the Transport Licensing Emergency Regulations 1942, and has the effect of keeping licenses in existence without the payment of fees while the licensees are with the armed services. Inspection of Accounts and Records. —The routine inspection of accounts has been discontinued. The work is now confined to investigation of complaints or cases where special inquiries are necessary. Finances and Statistics.—Owing to the shortage of paper it has been decided to discontinue the general collection of financial and statistical returns from licensed operators for the duration of the war, except in those instances where it is considered necessary to have returns submitted. The main features of the statistics for the year 1940-41 were: — (i) Passenger-service Industry. —In 1939-40 these services covered 26,000,000 vehicle-miles to carry over 30,500,000 passengers ; in 1940-41 the mileage run was just under 27,000,000 miles and the number of passengers carried in excess of 32,500,000. In other words, vehicle-mileage run increased by 3-6 per cent., while the number of passengers carried increased by 6-5 per cent. Gross revenue has advanced from £1,407,000 in 1939-40 to £1,661,000 in 1940-41, while net revenue has risen from £119,000 to £193,000. (ii) Goods-service Industry. —During the year ended 31st March, 1941, it is estimated that the goods-service vehicles licensed to operate under the Transport Act covered 113,000,000 vehicle-miles for a total cost of £6,800,000. The gross revenue from these operations approximated £7,400,000, thus giving a net return to the industry of £625,000. The comparative figures for the previous year were f Mileage, 120,000,000 miles ; gross revenue, £7,250,000 ; and net revenue, £750,000. (iii) Taxi-service Industry.—¥ ox the year ended March, 1941, it is estimated that the 1,675 taxi .and private-hire cars holding transport licenses covered over 33,000,000 vehicle-miles to earn a total gross revenue exceeding £1,000,000. The total cost of operating these vehicles also exceeded £1,000,000 and included £445,000 expended on wages or drawn out by way of drawings in lieu of wages at award rates of pay.

3

Number. ft i • Tot&l> Passenger-service Goods-service Vehicles. Vehicles. No. 1 : Auckland .. •• •• 1,273 2,978 4,251 No. 2: Wellington .. .. 1,207 2,688 3,895 No. 3: Christchurch .. .. ■■ 747 1,354 2,101 No. 4: Dunedin .. .. • ■ 492 889 1,381 Total .. .. 3,719 7,909 11,628