Buses Speed Up London Traffic
Page 32
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A LTHOUGH it will not be cornMpleted until next October, London Transport's Om. programme for the replacement of trams by buses has already improved traffic conditions in all areas where it has been carried through.
Twenty-eight tram routes have so far been replaced by bus services and nine more routes are due for replacement. The next stage, covering the Norwood and Forest Hill routes and the remaining services north of the Thames, will take place in April. Only 214 trams are still running in London.
Lord Latham, chairman of the London Transport Executive, said last week that many of London's most congested traffic spots had been transformed. The new bus services were achieving far greater regularity than was possible with the trams and waiting time for passengers had been reduced.
He said that before conversion, 150 trams an hour passed New Cross Gate. Traffic blocks stretched for a quarter of a mile and delays of up to 10 minutes were common. Since the trams had been removed, traffic had flowed freely. As a result, the three new bus routes serving the large housing estate at Dolsnham and other areas had been able to run with greater regularity.
At Croydon, 300 trams a week from the central area used to be turned short of their destination because of delays. Since conversion, not a mile of the new scheduled bus services through Croydon had had to be cut on this account.
Delays at the Elephant and Castle. which used to amount to about 10 minutes, had almost been eliminated since the trams were replaced by buses.
STEEL BARREL GROUP BUSY
ALARGER volume of orders is in hand with Steel Barrel, Scammells and Associated Engineers, Ltd., than at any previous time, states the chairman in his annual report. It is also reported that the popularity of the Carrirnore six-wheeler .has been extended overseas.
The Steel Barrel works at Uxbridge are being expanded and reorganized to expedite defence contracts, particularly concerning the construction of fuellers.
APPELLANTS FAIL TO APPEAR
APPELLANTS in two cases that came before the Transport [Appeall Tribunal, last week, failed to appear in court. Their appeals were struck out and the acting president, Mr. N. L. Macaskie, K.C., said that unless satisfactory explanations of absence were made or the appeals were submitted afresh, orders for costs would he made in favour of the respondents, the Rail
a30 way and Road Haulage Executives in each case.
The appellants were Lynam and Gill, Ltd., Staveley, and Mr. \V. D. Brown. Swindon.
• ROAD SERVICES "NO SOLUTION"
nOUBT whether a long-term solution
of Merseyside's transport problems could be found in road services has been expressed in a memorandum prepared by Mr. G. S. F. Ritson, director of the Lancashire and Merseyside Industrial Development Association, and presented to the Merseyside Development Committee.
The memorandum states that more vehicles would cause greater congestion in central areas, but that this could be overcome by means of new bus stations and multi-storey car parks. "Consideration should also be given to the possibilities of opening the lower
Mersey tunnel far the use of slowmoving traffic," it says, adding that there was a teadency to limit transport improvements to the London area, leaving provincial districts to adopt palliative measures.
"THE MOTOR" MANUAL
ALTHOUGH the main appeal of r"t" The Motor" Manual, the 34th edition of which 'has just been published, is directed towards the private motorist, much of the material included in its 272 pages applies to commercialvehicle engines and components.
The book, which is written in a concise, straightforward style, is well illustrated with the type of lint drawing which has always been an outstanding feature of all handbooks and journals published by Temple Press Ltd. Every feature of a car chassis is explained and illustrated.
The price is 6s. from all booksellers and bookstalls. or 6s. 6d. by post from Temple Press Ltd., Bowling Green Lane, London. E.C.1.
NUFFIELD EXPORTS %,782
LAST year the Nuffield Organization exported 96,782 commercial vehicles and cars, compared with 105,872 in 1950. Shipping ditilculties and the collapse of the Canadian market caused the decline.
Another 63,299 • C-licence Vehicles
STATISTICS issued last week by the -Ministry of Transport show that last year the number of C-licence vehicles increased by 63,299. The total number rose from 733,044 in December, 1450, to 796,343 at the end of last year. .
During that period, 24,880 new C-licence operators came into existence. At December, 1950, there were 378,664, compared with 403,544 a year later.
SAFE-DRIVING BONUSES PAID • BY SHELL
A SCHEME whereby commercialvehicle drivers will receive an annual award of £2 for driving without blameworthy accident has been introduced by Shell-Mex and B.P., Ltd. In addition, the company will pay a £5 bonus on each occasion that a man• receives the award of the Royal Society
for the Prevention of Accidents for five • consecutive years' accident-free driving.
Nearly all Shell-Mex drivers entered the national safe-driving competition of the Society last year and the results are. expected shortly. In 1950, 3,029 awards were gained. During that year, Shell-B.P. vehicles covered nearly 66m. miles: TANGANYIKAN TENDERS
THE municipal council of Dar-csSalaam requires tenders for • the supply of the following vehicles:—A light four-wheel-drive unit with 'a canvas hood, a 30-cwt. goods chassis, an 18-owt. pick-up, a 5-ton platform lorry and a 750-gallon cesspit emptier.
Tenders should be sent to the Town Hall, Dar-es-Salaam, by February 20. The United Kingdom Trade Commissioner in Nairobi would like to be informed.
"BEN'S" MEMBERSHIP UP
THE Motor and Cycle Trades Benevolent Fund enrolled 1,799 new members in 1951 nd at the end of the year the total membership amounted to 14.796. This figure cornpares with 14,731 at the end of 1950. The date of the Fund's annual general meeting has been altered cto March 17.