Emphasizing Road Transport's National Value
Page 36
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
le\GREAT service to the industry is being rendered by the British Road Federation in its efforts to direct attention to the national value of road transport, and some of the facts that are not generally known to the man in the street are being stressed in its series of propaganda advertisements now being published. Outside those intimately concerned, how many people know that £64,000,000 are now paid annually in road taxes, and, what is more important, that the larger portion is a contribution to the general revenue, only about £24,000,000 being used for the construction of new roads and the efficient maintenance of all highways.
This policy is merely another case of robbing Peter to pay Paul, because road costs above the amount available involve a further tax upon the ratepayer. Thus, the public pays in two ways— one through the medium of higher commodity costs brought about by increased transport and distribution charges, and the other by way of the local rates—a weapon often insidibuslv used politically.
By its efforts the British Road Federation can do much to place before the public a true perspective of the position of road and rail transport. The facts cannot be controverted, but a forceful dissemination of them is imperative in order to bring about the eventual achievement of the desired end.