In the Pink
Page 34
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A T the Press conference at which his "Pink Zone" proposals tt for dealing with London's Christmas traffic problem were revealed, Mr. Ernest Marples, Minister of Transport, impressed me as much by his grasp of a new subject as by his handling of questions, some of which were sharply edged. He had, he said, no desire to persecute the motorist, who represented a lot of revenue and a lot of votes, but that if thrombosis (or clots in the blood stream) set in, the roads ceased to be means of communication.
Refusing to be drawn on his future plans for metropolitan traffic, he did say that if Waterloo Bridge, for example, were used efficiently at rush hours, it could have the effect of giving London another bridge. The Minister did much for the Post Office. Let us hope he will bring some new and constructive thinking to a problem that has us all baffled.
Follow My Leader
MR. G. D. RAMSAY, who has just been appointed traffic managerof the Western S.M.T. Co., Ltd., in succession to the late Mr. .T. M. Harper, is following a familiar path, for it was in Mr. Harper's family firm, Harpers of Peebles, that he started his transport career in 1929. In 1932 he transferred to the Caledonian company at Dumfries and joined Western S.M.T. when the two companies amalgamated. In recent years he has been responsible mainly for court and licence work, tours and schedules, and acted as traffic manager during Mr. Harper's long illness.
The Razor's Edge
ASUGGESTION• that should promote road safety comes from the vehicles committee of the National Road Transport Federation. It is that a light box framework, with, perhaps, a chequered design, should be placed over the whole
1328 width of "knife-edged" loads, such as steel sheets laid flat, which are barely perceptible at night. Where traffic is moving at high speed, such as on Ml, this precaution is much needed.
Flank Attack
IFyour drivers are slack in keeping records, Mr. R. E. G. Brown, secretary of the London and Home Counties Division of the Traders Road Transport Association, is the man to talk to them. His gift for making a difficult subject plain was never better demonstrated than when, last Friday, he addressed employees of T.R.T.A, members in the Reading Area. Many similar meetings for,drivers have been held in the division.
An outside adviser is often in a much better position than an employer to make the vital point that records have to be kept and statutory hours observed to protect the driver. That is the line that seems to succeed where -others fail.
Woman at the Helm
AWOMAN with a man's knowledge of transport has just retired from West Bridgford Transport Department after 37 years' service. She is Miss H. Alton. Mr. L. C. Harrison, general manager of the department, tells me that some years ago, when sickness denuded the undertaking, she practically ran it for several weeks. Such women are scarce.
Affairs of Kaos
a dispatch from the People's State of Kaos, Maj. Ole Oil 1 technical adviser to CLOT, reveals a transient difficulty in licensing procedure under the Highways and Hedges Act. It appears that the weekly passenger vehicle operating an express service from the capital to the salt mines of Phlat Bir carries convicts in one direction and bagged salt on the return.