Bans Solve Nothing, Say.T.R.T.A.
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LOADING bans could solve nothing and would increase, and not decrease, congestion. Such bans would raise distribution costs and the totalcost of essential consumer goods.
These points were made in a letter sent to all highway authorities in the London traffic area by the London and Home Counties Division of the Traders' Road Transport Association.
The letter was circulated because several authorities sought the assistance of the Association on questions raised in a communication from the London and Home Counties Traffic Advisory Committee.
In the Association's letter, Mr. R. E G. Brown, divisional secretary, said that the collection or delivery of goods in the busiest shopping streets would be nearly impossible without " no-waiting " restrictions because of the difficulty van drivers would have in finding parking places.
The committee, stated Mr. Brown, were now asking whether highway authorities would care to go farther in making restrictions, and added: "We hope you will feel that any necessary restrictions should be designed only for the particular needs of your authority, and not applied for longer periods merely to bring them into line with a tidy formula of central planning."
Loads which could notbe loaded or unloaded during the -period allowed in " no-waiting " restrictions must have some free period during shop hours when, vehicles could stop for as long as might be necessary, Mr. Brown _wrote. Additional restrictions during peak traffic hours, particularly near light-controlled inter-sections "in theory is a
deceptively harmless proposition: a little ban in a limited area for a limited time. In practice its effect on the cost of delivering consumer goods could be disastrous.
"In London, where such a ban has been imposed experimentally in a few cases of quite exceptional traffic pressure, the effect has been an unmistakable reduction in delivery output per vehicle." he asserted.