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FREIGHT The work done by each form of transport may be measured by the number of tonmiles and passenger-miles recorded. The volume of goods carried does not clearly indicate the amount of work done. A ton of goods may be carried one mile or many miles. The work involved varies both with the quantity of goods carried and the distance they are transported. For this reason tons of freight have been converted to ton-miles—i.e., one ton hauled one mile represents one ton-mile. For similar reasons passenger transport is expressed in terms of passenger-miles—i.e., one passenger carried for one mile represents one passenger-mile. Last year 1,963 million ton-miles were recorded for all forms of transport —on the average over 1,000 ton-miles per head of our population. The following percentage figures show how different transport agencies contributed to this total. Kind of Transport. Railways .. .. .. 48 Motor transport* .. .. 30 Shipping .. .. .. 22 Air transport Total .. .. .. .. 100 * Includes ancillary trucks. The railways made the substantial contribution of 48 per cent, of the total, coastal shipping and motor transport making up the balance between them. Air transport contributed only 5 out of every 10,000 ton-miles and is not yet of sufficient magnitude to figure on the scoreboard. Some freight may know one form of transport only, others may be carried on rail, road, and sea ; the way between production and consumption is a vast network on which the pattern of our trade and commerce is worked out. The ton-mile expresses all this activity in a simple figure in which the same goods may appear more than once. PASSENGERS During the year 3,133 million passenger-miles were run. This figure is made up as follows: Kind of Transport. T" Motor transport — Private cars, &c. .. .. 1,625 52 Public services .. .. .. 401 13 Railways .. .. .. .. 585 18 Electric tramways .. .. .. 406 13 Shipping .. .. .. .. 80 3 Air transport .. .. .. 36 1 Totals .. .. ..3,133 100 The magnitude of the figures for passenger-miles is an eloquent commentary on the New Zealanders' love of travel. It looms large in our national life and is ever expanding. It reflects the high standard of life enjoyed in this country to-day. On the average, every man, woman, or child travels approximately 1,750 miles a year. The most popular form of passenger transport is the private car, combining speed with comfort. It is not generally realized that in actual volume of passenger-miles the electric tramways are not so very far behind the railways. Air travel, as yet in its infancy, already accounts for 1 per cent, of the total and faces a future full of promise.

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