Where More Commercial Motors Will Be Wanted.
Page 28
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AT a recent meeting of various bodies interested in the question of roads in the Soviet Union a report was read by M. Yakimov showing the urgent necessity for increasing and improving the roads in the Union. According to data collected in 1920 the averaiw distance of populated centres from the nearest railway station was over 70 kilometre,4 (431 miles) in the European part of the Union, whilst in the Asiatic part the distance was as much as 1,000 hilometre,s (625 miles).
In vie W of the small number of railways AMI waterways in the Soviet Union, reads play a very important part in the condnet of the country's affairs. It Is estimated that there are in all about 3.000,009 kilometres (1,875,000 miles) of road in the Union, but only
C41, 23,000 kilometres (14,375 miles) are paved with stone.
The transport of goods by the socalled natural roads (wide tracks which often cannot be used when the snow melts in the spring) greatly inereaaes the cost of goods. For instance, the Cost of transporting a ton of rye for 100 kilometres (62* miles) is about 24 per cent, of the purchase price on paved roads, 38 per cent, on natural roads and 52 per cent, on the worst rural roads.
Compared with the West European countries the Soviet Union conies last in the length of paved roads, its 23,000 kilometres comparing very badly with nearly 900,000 kilometres in America, 306,000 in France and 210,000 in Germany.
The control of toads in the Soviet Union is divided amongst various Government departments and organizations. Out of the total of 8,000,0.00 kilometres, 50,000 are included in the State Budget and 100,000 in local budgets. The rest are uncontrolled. Out of the paved roads only 24 per cent. are in a satisfactory condition and out of the natural roads not more than 3 per cent. The Government proposes to spend over 1,500,000,000 roubles (£150,000,000) on the building of roads during the next five years.
The president of the Commissariat for Ham Affairs has made it Clear that the building of asphalted roads would have to depend entirely on the development in the use of mechanical transport vehicles.