HIGHWAY TRANSPORT:
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Its Co-relation and Co-ordination With Other Forms
Points from the British Report Presented Before the Sixth Road Congress of the Permanent International Association
MHE paper read by Mr. E. S. Shrapnell-Smith, C-BE., M.Inst.T., before the members of the Sixth International Road Congress at Washington, was prepared by him in conjunction with Sir Henry P. Maybury, G.B.E., consulting engineer to the Ministry of Transport, Mr. James Milne, general manager of the Great Western Railway Co., and Mr. Prank Pick, managing director of the Underground group.
At the beginning it is pointed out that the first fact which merits consideration is the density of the road system in relation to the requirements of the area served. Considering the miles of road per square mile of area, Great Britain has 2.02, Prance 1.86, Germany 1.20, U.S.A. 0.20, and Canada 0.11. In sparsely settled communities properly surfaced roads are few, even in the U.S.A. In Europe the road density is much more, and, with the exception of Belgium, is greatest in Britain.
Road Density in Great Britain.
Here, with a metalled-road system 10 times as dense as that of the U.S.A., it creates a grave problem of co-relation and co-ordination, in that railways may be held to provide an almost complete but' alternative method of transport. The railway is the most economical form of transport for large masses of traffic which it is desired to' move rapidly, especially coal, iron, steel and other heavy commodities. In Britain about two-thirds of the freight tonnage conveyed by railway consists of coal and mineral traffic. '
As regards the miles of surfaced road per route mile of railway, Great Britain has 8.9, France 13.8, Germany 6_6, U.S.A. 2.5 and Canada 10.5. The results are diverse. Canada is an undeveloped country, but roads and railways appear to have grown up together in some reasonable proportion. In the U.S.A. the road system would be, apparently, insufficient to support the railway system if the whole country were opened up for development. In Germany the railway system has developed ahead of the road, whilst in Prance the reverse has happened. Even in Britain the railway system has outpaced the road, and it may be that an allowance of 12 miles of road to a mile of railway would be a fairer measure.
Excess Railway Facilities.
If a detailed object lesson were required, no better could be found than in the eastern counties of England—Essex (excluding Greater London), Suffolk, Norfolk and Cam-, bridge, with the Isle of Ely. They have a road system of 1,540 miles of first-class and 1,450 miles of second-class roads, and there are 11,340 miles of other roads opening up the ' country. The network of railway lines includes 300 miles of, main trunk lines and 1,000 miles of branch lines. Yet the country is sparsely populated and has a density of only one person to 2-i acres. The volume of traffic and rate of movemeat of the population are both small, and yet there are now fewer than 353 railway stations.
It would be impracticable to charge road users with the cost of the provision of roads in the same way as railway users arc debited with the provision of railways, for the roads of the country are used for many other purposes than the mere movement of vehicular traffic. Yet not only have . the railways to provide their right of way, but they have to maintain it. This involves them in considerable annual expenditure which can only be equalled by throwing upon the vehicular traffic of the roads some proper share of the cost of the maintenance of these. This, so far as Britain is concerned, is done through licence duties paid in respect of motor vehicles using the roads. If to these be added the proceeds of the tax on motor spirit—although diverted to other financial purposes by the Government, particularly to the relief of rates on landed property—they represent, in the aggregate, 70 per cent, of the annual outlay upon roads, a more than adequate share of the cost. In recent yeeirs it will be noted that the tendency of legislation in Great Britain has been to equalize the burdens falling on the two forms of transport. Both might well now join in protesting that the burdens upon them are too great and that transport, underlying as it does the industry and life of the people, is( not in itself a suitable subject for taxation.
Traffic Cannot Be Forced.
It is impossible to force traffic to use one or other mode of transport, so that when the conditions governing the several moaes have been fairly adjusted, traffic must be left to choose which it will use. This should be all to the good, and it is anticipated that the traffic will distribute itself in such a way that both railway and road will find themselves reasonably occupied in the performance of the public service. Any tampering with the economics of transport can only be injurious in the long run as depressing healthy endeavour on the part of those engaged in it, setting up artificial barriers to the natu:al development and flow of traffic and possibly restricting growth below the true economic level required for the national welfare.
Many of the ills that have beset rail and road traffic in Great Britain during recent years may be summed up as the uneconomicexploitation of the roads. In a single year the railways lost 1,000,000,000 ton-miles of goods and merchandise. The roads altogether carried in a year 4,000,000,000 ton-miles of goods and merchandise (or four times as many). There was, therefore, a wonderful expaesion of movement arising from the exploitation of the roads, which was a great benefit to the country as a whole.
Gradually the process of rationalization has set in, and the conduct of road transport tends more and more to fall into the hands of organized companies ; especially is this the ease with passenger transport. An important point is that the great bulk of the traffic of the roads belongs to the traders. It is estimated that this amounts to 80 per cent, of the whole, and it is not traffic which is open to competition ; only the balance is traffic which might choose either rail or road.
Looked at from the point of view of railway traffic, the ills that beset rail and road traffic in Britain may be summed up as the stagnation of the railways. The dead hand of the Government descended upon them in 1914, crushing out initiative and resource; later the grouping of the railways
• tended to create an inertia, and it was only about three years ago that the railways showed signs of overcoming the 'obstacles to progress which had beset them since the war.
While the railways were in this state of stagnation the motor coach provided accommodation superior to that of first-class carriages at fares which were approximately half those charged by the railway for third-class travel. The motor lorry also had set a standard of speed, quickness of handling and safety in transport which the railways found it almost impossible to meet. Therefore, when the railways were re-awakened from their torpor they had to follow in the footsteps of road transport, give better comfort, provide express goods trains and guarantee deliveries.
Discretionary Use of Road Powers.
If the railway companies exercise their road powers to restrict development or to suppress competition, then the policy upon which they have embarked may be fraught with evil consequences to the public, but if they exercise them merely to ensure that the two forms of transport, rail and road, discharge their functions upon equal terms and under fair conditions, then nothing but good should follow from the policy which they have pursued.
In conclusion, road transport and rail transport are partly complementary and partly distinct services. They must be looked at independently. There must be no attempt to subordinate the one to the other. All that is required is equal terms in the conduct of their aNairs.