The City of St. James, in a brief presented to metro's special committee on transit Wednesday, indicated support to a policy of subsidization for the public transportation system.

Mayor A. W. Hanks with Ald. R. J. Gillies, appeared before the committee to present the St. James submission during the last day of hearings on transit matters.

About 40 briefs have been heard during five meetings in the past three weeks. A study of the proposals will be made and a report presented to metro council before May 15.

Mayor Hanks said Wednesday St. James feels the transit system should be a self-supporting utility.

"It is so essential and necessary that if fares alone cannot support it, financial assistance from other sources must be obtained," he said.

"We firmly believe public transit is vital to the welfare and economic prosperity of metropolitan Winnipeg and must be maintained," he said.

Other points covered in the brief included:

• Curb parking on busy streets should be prohibited during peak hours.
• Downtown bus terminals as central transfer points should be established.
• More shelters should be provided.
• Parking areas for park-and-ride operation should be experimented with.
• Distance should not be the sole determining factor for zone fare boundaries, population density and improved lane use should be considered.
• Greater co-operation of industrial firms should be sought with a view to staggering work hours.