Counsel of Despair
Page 35
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.T is dangerously significant that the prize-winning entry in a competition promoted by the B.B.C. television programme, Panorama, to discover ways of reducing traffic congestion, contained the s ggestion that traffic should be transferred from road to rail. An i dependent panel judged the entry to be the best of 6,000 submitted. The idea of solving the road traffic problem by removing the traffic is hardly a conception of genius. Wars could be prevented by obliterating t human race, but the end scarcely justifies the means. It is certainly nit a solution of the problem of teaching people to live together in amity. T e difficulty of road congestion equally cannot be overcome by d stroying the vital social and industrial service that has created it. There is a suspicion that this kind of thinking may influence the new R • ad and Rail Association, the formation of which was announced last w ek. Among other things, the Association aim to 'achieve the more e •nomic and effective use of the nation's internal freight transport fa ilities." The founder-members include a peer who has had aircraft _ c nnections, two Members of Parliament and two directors of a public re ations concern—not, one might think, a team best qualified to tell the nation how to travel and move its goods.
he Association propose to ." acquire facts, figures, views and o irtions," but not to undertake original research. This occupation is in itself harmless enough. The danger lies in the interpretation that may be placed on statistics, and the weight that may be given to opinions th t support a preconceived idea. _ Clearly, the return of the Conservative Government has not eliminated the risk of pressure by individuals and groups for the restriction of road transport. The motive may be either the relief of congestion or the protection of the railways. Any argument for the greater use of ' th railways to promote the flow of traffic on the roads overlooks the fa t that most congestion occurs in towns, and not on trunk routes. The rai ways cannot directly serve every shop and house, and most railborne gods must be collected and distributed by road. There is no evidence to suggest that mere ownership by the railways makes a vehicle less ob tructive than any other while necessarily halted in the street.
reedom of choice for consignors of goods must be zealously guarded. ancJ the right of passengers to travel by road, either by bus or private tra sport, must be strenuously preserved. There will always be busybo ies who try to interfere with the liberty of others, believing in the sol tion of problems by restriction instead of by imaginative expansion. Th ir influence will not be great, bin by constant repetition they may ev ntually sow seeds of doubt in even the most balanced minds. Effective co nter-measures by the Traders Road Transport Association, Road Ha lage Association and other responsible organizations will constantly be required. 4