The Importance of Limiting Horsed Transport.
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SATE have no doubt that the new Minister of Transport is going to have a very busy time. Already the wires are being pulled in various directions, but there are signs that he will not prove a mere puppet controlled by any one branch of the transport industry, whether it be rail, tram or road. A strong plea is being put up by the London Connty. Council for the further restriction of omnibuses on tramway routes as a means for assisting in the reduction of traffic congestion. We would, however, draw the Minister's attention to a far more important cause of traffic delay—we refer to the.horsed vehicle, and we suggest that a general speeding-up of traffic could be effected immediately by restricting the hours during which horsed transport be permitted to use the busier thoroughfares. No impartial observer of London's traffic can fail to observe the numerous delays and obstructions caused by the slow-moving vehicle, particularly as it is so often driven away from the kerb. One cart, or railway delivery van, may hold up a long string of vehicles which would otherwise be capable of niaintainlng an average speed three or four times as great as that within the practical capacity of the horse. As a result of the fear that the speed of traffic will gradually be reduced still further, it has actually been suggested in certain quarters that greater use should be made of horsed traffic. Could any advice be more foolish or fallacious? It is hardly possible to cure an evil by adding to it, which is what the suggestion, if carried out, would amount to. Many of our readers will no doubt remember that two or three years ago we published a large number of photographs showing how fast traffic is impeded by slow-moving vehicles, and as a proof of the truth of this statement It is sufficient to mention that these photographs were practically all obtained in the course of a single day, and with the utmost ease. The same condition of affairs obtains in every busy quarter of the metropolis, to say nothing of the congested areas in many other of our cities and towns.