The New Zealand Railways Magazine, Volume 3, Issue 5 (September 1, 1928)
Advantage of State Ownership
Advantage of State Ownership.
The Department came in for some criticism regarding its action in charging all passengers by the bus service the ordinary fare, and refusing to accept Season and Workers’ Tickets on the Road Motors.
In this connection it is worth pointing out that the rights of the regular clients of the Bus Service had to be protected, Really, the State control of the Railway and Motor Services in this area proved to be in the best interest of all concerned.
It will be remembered that during the railway strike, when the buses were controlled by private owners, the public were charged 2/- single from Lower Hutt and Petone to Wellington, but with State ownership of both the transport services the traffic was handled with the minimum of delay and at the standard fare of 1/- single or 1/6 return. There was thus no exploitation of the travelling public by the Department.
Passengers who travelled in the seated lorries were charged 6d. single between Wellington and Petone, this being half the usual fare.
The outstanding feature of the whole event was the excellent team work shown by Maintenance, Traffic, Workshops and Bus staffs in coping with this difficult emergency.