tt.—4o.

Table B.— Comparing the Highway Mileage, Motor-vehicle Use, and Traffic Density on the North and South Island and New Zealand Main Highway Systems in 1937-38 and 1934-45.

(3) Comparisons between Highway Districts in respect of Utilization of the Main Highways. The highway districts where the volume of traffic is most dense are the Wellington West District, with an average density of 435 motor-vehicles per day, and the Auckland South District with 378 vehicles per day. The districts where the main highway traffic is most sparse are the King-country Highway District with an average traffic density of 112 motor-vehicles per day (74 in 1934-35) and the West Coast District (South Island), where the density is 116 per day as compared with 81 in 1934-35. The district showing the greatest increase in traffic was the Canterbury North Highway District. In this area the average density of traffic on the main highways in 1934-35 was 72-1 motor-vehicles per day, while in 1937-38 the average reached 125-7 vehicles daily. Auckland South, Wellington West, and King-country were other highway districts where large increases were experienced. The district recording the least increase in traffic was the Gisborne Highway District, covering the whole of the Poverty Bay area and extending as far south as Wairoa. Here the traffic density averaged 133 vehicles per day in 1934-35 and 144-3 in 1937-38, the increase being only 8| per cent.

Table C. —Main-highway Mileage, Vehicle-mileage, and Traffic Density: Comparison between 1937-38 and 1934-35.

(4) Distribution or Traffic Density on the Main-highway System. Table D classifies the main highways according to traffic density. Thus 5,177 miles, or 44 per cent, of the total mileage, carried less than 100 vehicles per day ; 9,578 miles, or 82 per cent., carried less than 300 vehicles per day ; and 10,646 miles carried loss than 500 per day. Only 195 miles, or less than 2 per cent., carried over 1,000 vehicles daily, and 7 miles carried more than 2,500. In 1934-35 there were 6,037 miles, or 54 per cent., carrying less than 100 vehicles per day ; 9,821 miles, or 88 per cent., carrying less than 300 ; and 10,654, or 95 per cent., carried less than 500 per day. There were only miles carrying more than 1,000 vehicles per day, and only 1J miles with a density in excess of 2,500.

13

Main-highway Mileage. Annual Vehicle-mileage. Average Traffic Density. Main Highway Percentage of _ T . . . .. Percentage of Motor-vehicles Pe , r " System. ' Miles. Total Mileage. Vehicle-miles. Total Mileage. per Day. centage . crease 1937-38. 1934-35. 1937-38. 1934-35. 1937-38. 1934-35. 1937-38. 1934-35. 1937-38. 1934-35. '"fty"' North Island .. 6,478 6,206 55-32 55-53 578,906,425 377,439,930 65-39 63-57 244-8 166-6 46-93 South Island .. 5,232:4,970 44-68 44-47 306,387,205 216,267,245 34-61 36-43 160-4 119-2 34-6 New Zealand 11,710 11,176 100-00 100-00 885,293,630 l 593,707,175 100-00 100-00 207-1 145-5 42-3 I

ir . , ... , . . . ,, , Daily Vehicle-miles on . ril Highway District. Main-highway Mileage. Main-highway System. Average Trafflo Density. J 937—38 1934—35 Percent- 1937—38. 1934—35. Percent-1 PercentNo - Name. Miles ' Miles" age Vehicle- Vehicle- age L937-38. 1934-35. ago Increase. miles. miles. Increase. > Increase. 1 Auckland North .. .. 949 930f 1-9 152,620 111,901 36-3 160-8 120-4 33-6 2 Auckland South .. .. l,203i 1,022 17-7 455,398 246,002 85-1 378-4 240-8 57-1 3 Tauranga .. .. 704J 0801 3-5 151,312 99,890 51-5 214-9 140-7 46-5 4 Giaborne .. .. 392£ 362J 8-2 56,652 48,252 17-4 144-3 133-0 8-5 5 Napier .. .. .. 714§ 702 1-8 174,436 128,923 35-3 244-1 183-7 32-9 6 King-country .. .. 594J 652J -8-9* 66,296 48,241 37-4 111-6 73-9 51-0 7 Taranaki .. .. 449 442\ 1-5 132,456 93,837 41-2 295-0 212-1 39-1 8 Wanganui .. .. 509J 483\ 5-4 111,892 73,320 52-6 219-8 151-7 44-9 9 Wellington West .. 477 455 4-8 207,674 120,756 63-8 435-4 278-0 56-3 10 Wellington East .. .. 484i 474\ 2-1 77,309 50,834 36-0 159-7 119-8 33-3 11 Nelson .. .. .. 650J 640\ 1-5 88,329 01,100 44-4 135-8 95-5 42-2 12 West Coast .. .. 528 5191 1-8 61,529 41,932 46-7 116-5 80-7 44-4 13 Canterbury North .. 330J 330\ 0-2 41,572 23,819 74-5 125-7 72-1 74-3 14 Canterbury Central .. 728j 608 9-1 169,891 112,373 51-2 233-2 168-2 38-6 15 Canterbury South .. 786j 737} 6-6 135,882 103,030 31-9 172-8 139-6 23-8 16 Otago Central .. .. 820J 749j 9-4 110,019 72,931 50-9 134-0 97-3 37-7 17 OtagoSouth .. .. 508| 46,5J 9-3 100,646 82,398 22-1 197-8 177-1 11-7 18 Southland .. .. 878| 859 2-3 131,549 94,864 38-7 149-7 110-4 35-6 New Zealand .. .. 11,710 11,170 4-8 2,425,462 1,026,595 49-1 207-1 145-5 42-3 * The decrease in this case is occasioned by a change in the boundary between the Nos. 2 and ti highway districts.