What I survey
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Mick Hamer does not have the exclusive rights to strange utterances; local politicians take a' share.
In a survey just published it is revealed that London Transport journeys are now taking 14 per cent longer than they did a few years back. Sheila Roberts, chairman of the GLC's planning and co-ordination committee — who have produced their own more favourable survey — disagrees. She thinks the rival survey is incomplete and said so to thousands of radio listeners last week.
She pointed out that when the survey was taken last winter it was the wettest winter for years, and that slowed up the traffic. That statement was almost in keeping with the weather.
The chairperson then went on to say that buses now had doors and that made boarding slower than just hopping on a bus. I suppose it does, but we once calculated the delay as an extra 90 seconds per stop. That was years ago; we should be getting slicker.
What the GLC member did not point out was that we now have bus-lanes, which were not there a few years ago, and should counteract these obstructive doors.
Why doesn't someone do something about city ring roads? It's useless just to moan about congestion — road building is the sensible answer. At least Sheila Roberts is not talking about banning cars; she wants to make public transport more attractive. The answer, dear lady, is an ambitious roads programme. Let's get on with it.