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London Transport Chairman on Traffic Problems
Page 57
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ADEFINITE and encouragi n,z improvement " in the bus stati position is reported by Mr. A. B. B. Valentine, London Transport chairman, in a review addressed to the Executive's workers in London Transport M a gazine."
Since last October the number of busmen has increased by 1,200 and the number of bus journeys having to be cancelled for staff reasons has gone down from 10 per cent. to less than 4 per cent.
Mr. Valentine names street congestion, after the bus staff shortage, as the second main factor that governs the " public image" of London's bus services. "And this," he says, " is getting worse, not better. Last year central buses and trolleybuses lost 70 per cent. more mile age through traffic congestion than in the previous year, and three times as much as in 1956."
Commenting on the results of congestion, he says: "Cars, scooters and other private vehicles coming into central London during the morning rush-hour have gone up by 40 per cent. in three years, so that there are now 18 times as many of them as there are buses.
" But, in spite of this, the army of private vehicles only carry one-third of the road travellers, while the buses do the big job and carry two-thirds. More and more vehicles are jamming up the streets but they are not carrying a single extra passenger. The problem does not end here, because the number of cars may well double in the next 10 to 12 years."