London's Traffic Chaos
Page 28
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IF anything can convince the Government and, in particular, the Ministry of Transport, that early and serious steps must be taken to ameliorate the steadily worsening conditions of transport in the Metropolis, if should be the chaotic conditions obtaining on the roads of central London and even further afield, during the Coronation period.
The first real effects began to be felt about a month before June 2 and they have worked up to a climax which, for many hours of the day and some of the night, have reduced traffic in many areas to a crawl. It is probable that this state of affairs will continue for several weeks although, no doubt, to a diminishing degree.
The Coronation period should have been a happy time for all, it has brought congenial and probably wanted work to many, and has introduced a major interest in the lives of millions, in both this country and others. It has brought to our shores hosts of visitors, most of whom have probably never before seen Britain, or have not previously been able to gain such an adequate conception of the British mode of life, yet they, like us, must have been appalled„at the condition of our "thoroughfares," if they can now be so termed. Some may even have gained the impression that this state of affairs is normal. In this, in a way, they will not be far wrong, for even the Lord Mayor's Show, confined to a comparatively • small area of the city, is enough to derange road transport in a ripple effect spreading over many square miles.
There are others, however, such as the drivers of buses, goods vehicles, delivery vans and even taxicabs, to whom their work has temporarily become a matter of mental and physical torture. That they have been able to maintain reasonable cheerfulness and almost miraculously avoid a large number of accidents say as much for their loyal interest in the great occasion as for their skill. At the same time it must not be forgotten that the road conditions which we see today resulting from an unusual occasion, may, within a few years, become the normal state of affairs, and that is something that must be prevented at all costs, for if not, stagnation will result.