Labour backs buses in London
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• A determined commitment to "bring sanity back to our transport system" is contained in a Labour Party manifesto A Socialist strategy for London published this week. The manifesto, published against the background of the Greater London Council elections, now less than a month away, lists the pnonties of a Labour majority on the GLC.
An effective transport strategy, says the report, would be based on giving priority to public transport "because nine out of 10 people travelling to London travel that way". If traffic congestion were eased London's buses would be able to operate three million miles a year more. "A disastrous and mounting loss of passengers and revenue" was the result of the present traffic chaos.
A Labour GLC would vastly extend the present network of bus-only lanes so that services could be made faster and more reliable, says the manifesto. The Socialists would investigate whether "substantial" areas of London could be made over for use by public transport only. Sir Reginald Goodwin, the London Labour Leader, said on BBC1's Panorama programme on Monday that bus lanes should stretch right through London. He foresaw miles of continuous lanes along the whole lengths of some bus routes.
On goods transport the manifesto says: "The scourge of juggernaut lorries has changed small high streets into polluted and dangerous race tracks for these vehicles". Top priority would be given by a Labour GLC to the introduction of lorry routes away from residential areas and the need to restrict back-street parking. Comprehensive measures covering the whole of London would be introduced instead of the present GLC proposals which only affected a small area of central London.
The manifesto sides heavily with the principle of providing improved railway facilities instead of the costly motorway box system. Sir Reginald said this week, again on television, that an underground goods railway had considerable potential.
Labour castigates the Tories for having failed to make proper use of the opportunities offered by the GLC's takeover of London Transport. It was vital to the success of bus services that they should be regular and reliable. Labour would halt any further run down of the Aldenham works by restoring to it "the work deliberately farmed out to private enterprise by the Tory GLC".
On fares the manifesto says that present rates are too high. Labour would halt further increases and begin talks with interested parties with a view to introducing a low flat-fare scheme leading to a free transport system — "our long-term aim". The manifesto applauds the development of experimental minibus services but says that fares should be halved to 5p.