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' JW \ WaST VAN KMWH T A ,.,4. .'*.^ *♦ 't^ H,̂ "v H*' 4 • II THEI i n i C i PURCHASE Paciik Stage Lines i n v i t e t h e r a t e p a t e r s o f w e s t Va n c o u v e r TO CONSINER THE FOLLOWING IN CONNECTION WITH THE WEST VANCOUVER $40,00U.U0 UUS PURCHASE BT-LAW ♦ Adeqiiato bus service to and from West>sVancouver it already being given. . ̂ . >, ,r < - i ■ ■ , .c ..... U-~--' ■ ♦ The proposed new Municipal service is only a duplication of exisHng services and adds nothing fo the convenience of the public. ' > T h o ^ s no increa^n^atfiipTequ^^^ equ ip^ ment; but rather a decrease in traffic. ♦„ The profit for* which the Municipal Council K<^/ in oj-der to justify their , Venfui'e/̂ ' w a loss. - \ ♦ The operation of fhe Municipal transportation services has resulted in a "loss every year buf one from 1912 to 1939. < ♦ Any further loss must be reflected in higher municipal taxes; ♦ Duplication is absolutely unjustifiabie at this time when Canada Is at war. ♦ Needless competition will make a ' reducfiw' in fares im- possible, ____ " __-- ___________ ♦ The ratepayers have much' to lose^and iu^ing to gain by approving the By-law. PACIFIC STAGE UNES' POSITION 2; The Municipal Council's esHmafes of pi ôfil; are based on important errors. . The Counoll employed an accountant, who had no ex­ perience in the bus business, .to make estimate of the re­ sult, of the Municipality's*^>roposed additional services anil he estimated that it could reduce last year's loss in>-bus -operation,--which--was--$11,338.38.--to--$5,590.03;. ,in:_other_ words, reduce last year's Transportation (bus and ferry) ̂ loss of $27,328;00 to $21,579.65. Two examples will serve to' shoiWi how unreliable this estimate is: ; When Col. Ralston refers to the necessity of scrutiniz­ ing normal or ordinary expenditures at this time, how mucfi more necessary It is to question now capital outlays, such as for buses, especially when tliero is an existing ^service capable of handling all the trafl'lc. * • Duplication of service is wastoful at. any time but totally unwarranted In war time. -- -- ^NiFproviBlinr*lBnraadiErfor-i:he^irtBreBriV'hlclnwill~ . have to be. paid on . the $40,000.00 which it is proposed to imrrow. If this money can be obtained a t as little as 5%, the loss will be increased by $ 2,000.00. (b) ' For the new service the' Council propose to pur­ chase buses which their mechanic anticipates will get seven miles to ,th e gallon of gasoline. : The rate a t which they will have to buy their gasoline^is ,23c per g;allon. Their gasoline will_ therefore cost .them 3 '2 -/7 'cents pjsr mile. Yet" their estimated cost for gasoline 'and oil for the 105,311 additional mile's which they estimate they will have to run, is 1.98c .p̂ er, mile. In . this con­ nection the loss is under-estimated by over $1,360.00. . . 3. The passengers carried bv public carriers be- 6. The Municipal Council did not accept an offer of a fare reduction by Pacific Stage Lines in .' September, 1939. _____________^ into and within W est Vancouver, Since the Lions' Gate, Bridge opened we have operated buses over it connecting West Vancouver with VancottYbr. As traffic has warranted it, we have acUmted our schedules and we feel that we have been givli^4.n adequate and satisfactory service. The Council of the Municipality of W est Vancouver now wish "=~to=du~Dltcat^thlH aerviG'e7a~nd""think :that~they "will~be able to get half the business in the- territory which will be served by both systems. In protection of our investment In this service, we point oixt that there are some difficulties- with which the Municipality is faced and which we believe . will lead to an inevitable loss to the taxpayer, and incid­ entally to ourselves, with no compensation in service. We"believe'^hat it would be in the best interests of the-people ■ of W est Vancouver to defeat the By-law be­ cause ̂we think that the* p ro p o se Increased service woiild not only, result In a loss to the taxpayers but would also mean an increase in fares due to 'Ae needless duplication of . equipment, overhead expense,, staff et cetera. We submit the following evidence to support our contention. i^veen West Vancouver and Vancouver are decreasing in spite of an increase in popula­ tion. Here are the total numbers of passengers" by West Vancouver Perry AND all . buses -o.yer the Lions'--Gate Bridge:- - -------- - ------ - -- -̂-------- ---- ------- - 1938 (full year)' 1,071,976 1939. (first 5 months) 414,182 1939 " - r 1,045,002 1940 " " , 402,607 4,„ Duplication of existing facilities would lead to a loss by both parties. - ____The__ proposed Municipal schedules are_ only dupUca=L- 1. The property owner will be ibslxiad more heavily to pay for losses on a traii^ortation service -----he may not use. ̂ V . , The Municipality has, with one exception, run'."' ^ ' transportation services a t a lose €yery year since This statement. was made in a Brief .which the Municipal; ity presented to the Public, Uitdlities Commission. In 1939 the loss was $27,328.00 which, of course, like the losses in other years, had to he made up through taxes. The effect of making taxpayers 'i»y for losses on the transportation service should be quiteilear. (a) The, property owner who 'lives in the' Municipal­ ity, but who uses h,is~ automobile for travel to and from Vancouver, bears part of the burden of carrying the patrons of the Municipality's trans­ portation service,; including many who do not themselves pay taxes.' ̂ , (b) The non-resident property-.pwner likewise pays . heavier taxes caused by losses on the Municipal­ ity's transportation service used by someone else. Pacific Stage'Lihes service m'ast'b'e self-supporting and can never become a liability of a lther patrons or ratepayers. tions of Pacific Stage Linesf existing schedules as far as West Bay (west of which point the Public Utilities Cpm- misslon granted no permission to the Municipality to op- erate) and will not add at all to. the convenience of the travelling puhliCj or increase the number of people travel­ ling. It hardly needs explanation that, if the existing pas­ sengers now carried by one service were divided between two services, each with its own fixed costs, the fixed cost per passenger would Increase. ■ f '• Duplication of,service is always uneconomic and must he paid Cor by someone sooner or later. In this case the loss woud fall upon' the taxpayers. Unnecessary competition in public utility service is universally considered to be waste­ ful and the public suffers. Wit'll C a n a d a every resource .to win the war, this is no time to waste money on duplication of existing facilities. We draw your attention to the words of Hon. J. L. Ralston, in his budget speech on June 24: "It is vitally-imperative that all governmental author­ ities, provincial and municipal, should appraise with a new sense of national responsibility the justification for the dollars proposed to be spent on normal activities. "And It ought almost to go M thout saying that to pro­ vide -the enormous sums which m u ^ be spent by the Dom­ inion this year for defense, the ordinary expenditures of government, all governments in Clanada, must be decreased ■ if they are not to restrict the amount that can be devoted to the driving task of defeating Nazism." By .letter of September '22, 1.939, Pacific Stage. Lines offered the Municipal Council to reduce commutaU^ii furos between Vancouver And Ambleside' from 15c to ,13yaC per ride. If tlie Municipality would reduce its off-peak ferry service. The Council waited until .October 23 and then wrote that they could not give a definite reply to the qffor. Later the reduction in ferry service which had been pro­ posed was put In effect and-the Council thereupon com­ menced operating buses over the Bridge. With the business split between the-Municipality and Paoifiic,'-Stage Lines, we-bee ndf prdspedC'df bur beln^ Able to conslder-a reduction In fares. With the probable loss which wlir result from the Gouncll's operations we see no prospect of their being able to reduce fares. 7. This is a time to look!at realities of tosts and taxes, not at the theories of municipal or ------private ownerships-------- ^ ^ ------- If the ' Municipality operates Its additional services at' a loss, that loss will have to be made up by increased-Mun­ icipal taxation. This is tho worst possible time for the Municipality to risk Increasing taxes. Dominion taxes are^; increasing .byjeaps andjbounds.i There is no prospect of our | Provincial taxes decreasing. The Municipality has to bor-r. row a large sum for water services,* Who wants to pay still more* Municipal taxes? Finally, Paciflq,.Stage Lines are, , we submit, giving • adequate and satisfactory service and have sufficient equip­ ment and resources to carry a ll,the traffic that may be presented. _ ^ -Serviee-and ^ares-are subject-t<>7the-approva4-t>f-tIie-- 5. Public utilities Commission and, as we said before, ,we have been serving "the Municipality since-1926-and-have-earned.,-- we believe, the approval of the travelling public, Our mod- ern terminal Is used d a ily -^ the majority of West Van-*'- couver bus patrons. Our buses are comfortable, and our drivers, many of whom have been residents of West Van­ couver tor years, are known for their courtesy and service, CONCLUSION We repeat that the proposed ucmecessary duplication of Pacific*" Stage Lines' ex itin g servlc'e cannot benefit tho travelling public, is untimely, and will undoubtedly__r^ult__ In higher taxes. I For verification of facts In connection with the foregoing, we have available at ohr .offlcje on. the second floor of the Bus Terminal, 570 Dunsmulr street, Vancouver, B.C., copies of the following documents: (a) Brief of the Municipality presented to the Public Utilities Commission. (b) Municipality's ■ repoil to the Commission on Its costs of bus operation In .1939 and the anticipated result of Increased services. (c) Letter from Pacific Stage Lines to the Miunlclpal Coun-, cll, dated September 22, 1939. -(d) Letter from the Municipal Clerk to Pacific Stage Lines, " dated October 23, 1939. (e) Our present, schedule and W est Vancouver's proposed additional schedule. .We shall he glad to show these documents to any ratepayer or any other Interested person who. 'wishes to verify our statements, ; j To a vo id in creased ta x a tio n VOTE AOAINST THE BY-LAW! . O p e ra te d ^ b y ■ • . R r M O T O R t r a n s p o r t a t i o n l i m i t e d IVOR w. NEIL - - - - - g e n e r a l MANAGER 1--