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The New London Traffic Report.

4th February 1915
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Page 17, 4th February 1915 — The New London Traffic Report.
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

Londoners Saving More Shoe Leather ; They Ride More Than Ever. Modi-, fieations to the Traffic "Factors of Obstructiveness."

For some years past we have considered it to be of interest to publish a considered review of the annual report of the London Traffic Branch of the Board of Trade. The report for 1914 is just to hand and this is the seventh of its series.

It brings up to date, or at any rate up to a more recent date, statistics of the same kind which have been published in previous Blue Books. When first these reports were published, they naturally contained much information and not a few suggestions which were of very considerable novelty, and which were obviously destined to give rise to much discussion and comment. Recent issues, however, have provided little of novelty, and there is a comparative absence of useful recommendation and even of constructive criticism in this latest publication. Nevertheless these reports serve their purpose, if only yearly to epitomize much of the information that can be made available with regard to that very farreaching subject—the traffic of the Metropolis and the conditions under which it is operated.

We, of course, are primarily interested in the role —one which is so rapidly increasing in importance— that is played on the highways of the capital by the self-propelled industrial vehicle. In spite of the revolutionary effect which has followed, in such a few years, the introduction of the commercial-motor vehicle as a practical proposal, these London Traffic Reports deal too sparingly with such machines and their effect on the whole great problem.

The bulk of this new volume, as on previous occasions, is devoted to a categorical recital of new and old tramway schemes, complete, in progress and abandoned, and to a review of the state of advance which has been reached ue to a comparatively recent date in connection with the full and final eouipment of London's network of tube railways.

145 Journeys Per Haul in 1905, 271 in 1915.

On one of the early pages of the new report we find as usual a table of extremely interesting figures which deals with the total numbers of passengers carried by the various classes of public-service undertakings in and around the Metropolis. No good purpose would be served by our attempting to reproduce any considerable proportion of these figures. We may, however, pause to remark that the total number of journeys per head credited to each of London's estimatedAopulation of 7,393,000 rose from 144.9 in the year 1903 to 271.5 in 1913, showing that the Londoner's inherent habit of saving his shoe leather is a rapidly-growing one.

It is possible that the compulsory training which so large a proportion of the population is now voluntarily undergoing will, at the end of the present 12 months, reveal a reversal to the times when people were content to walk instead of to ride, even for considerable distances. This increase in the number of journeys per head is a very important factor to be considered by any student of public-service vehicles, and the disproportionate increase for 1913 is one which must be accorded very careful attention.

More Travel by Road, Less by Rail.

Arising from this subject there is an interesting deduction which the statistics of the Board of Trade reveal for the year 1913. and that is that the roads of the Metropolis are steadily stealing the passengers from the railways. The roads in this instance, of course, include the tramways. For instance, in 1909 60 per cent, of the total passengers travelled by road, and 40 per cent, by rail ; in 1911 the former figure had

risen to 64 per cent., with a corresponding decease of railwaypassengers to 36 per cent. Of each 100 in, 1913 we find 68 travelling by road and 32 by rail. Probably this increase has been continued during the year 1914—at any rate up to that period when our whole normal existence was so rudely interrupted in August, canoe when the ordinary habits of civilians have been in so many cases entirely changed. The following paragraph is pertinent, if revealing no particularly original thought. It is at any ratean official expression of opinion, even if a somewhat. laggard one :— " Horse-drawn vehicles continue to be supplanted with remarkable rapidity by those mechanically propelled. Except among private carriages, where the horse may retain its popularity a little longer, the extinction of the horse for passenger purposes seems now almost in sight, and though, in spite of the rapid adoption of the motor vehicle in thecommercial world, some years may elapse before this result in among trade vehicles, the motor is adding very largely every year to the importance of arterial oommunication by road.'

Heavier Traffic in Already-congested Zones.

Considerable space is devoted to the amalyses of the figures ascertained from the customary traffic census as in previous years. Anyone wishing to study the details thus available cannot do better than to procure a copy of the Blue Book itself, which is published by Wyman and Sons at 2s. id. It will sufficeif we record here the published conclusion that thetotal horse and motor vehicles enumerated at thesame 84 points as on previous occasions, all of which are fairly distributed all over London, show an increase in numbers for 1914 of 19.2 per cent, over those for 1911. The greater part of this increase is. proved to have occurred in the zone from six to ninemiles from St. Paul's Cathedral, which, as a matter of fact, is precisely the same area wherein it is of such absolute importance to deal with the question of road improvements without delay.

The "Factors of Obstructiveness" Modified.

Then follows a record of previous recommendations with regard to the inter-related subjects of town planning and road improvements. On previous occasions we have recorded the interesting method which is adopted by the London Traffic Branch of the Board of Trade in order to arrive at something like a satisfactory comparison as to the obstructiveness of vari, ous classes of traffic units. Disappointment was expressed at the first publication of this scale of unite in 1910, on which occasion we ourselves drew particular attention to their utility ; they evoked very little discussion_ In the publication of the report which was reviewed in our issue of 15th January, 1914, the same factors of obstructiveness were preserved. In the present instance, after four years careful experience and consideration, it has been recognized that :— " Some modification of this scale might make these figures more satisfactory for comparison's sake. The very large increase in the number of motor omnibuses in service has brought more prominently to notice the inconvenience and delay to other traffic caused by their drawing-in towards the pavement and their stopping at intervals, and it is now realized that sufficient importance was not attributed to this movement, originally, "The development of the commercial motor and the introduction of the motor parcelcar also entail some adjustment of this classification, and of the values allotted to these various vehicles." It will be interesting to compare the new "obstruction table" with that which has hitherto served.

Sources of Obstruction.

Certain remarks follow which interestingly record the results of careful consideration of the factors which go to make up the obstructiveness of the various types of machines.

" Reverting to the three factors on which the calculation of the unit is based, namely, size, speed, and flexibility, it may be as well to direct attention to some of the characteristics comprised in each factor. In dealing with size, consideration must be given to the road area occupied by the vehicle in question and to the degree of obstruction it presents to the view as well as to the progress of others; to its general unwieldiness or otherwise; and also to its stability as regards direction. The factor of speed, besides the question of a maximum speed consistent with safety, involves the businees nature of the vehicle and its capacity to maintain under normal conditions a fair average speed without " crawling " or stopping at frequent intervals, or standing and waiting, all of which lead to longer occupation of the road, and to the obstruction of other vehicles. Flexibility may he held to include the power of quick acceleration and retardation, of giving way to or of avoiding other vehicles, and of changing direction with the minimum of delay and obstruction, but although its general action is beneficial it may at times be otherwise. A sudden swerve of direction, such as the drawing-in of a moving vehicle from the middle of the road, may he a souses of obstruction in the case of a street where there is much slow heavy traffic, by forcing the slow traffic from its proper place close to the pavement, out into the centre of the road."

"It would seem that. opinions have been unduly influenced by the carrying capacity of the electric tramcar and by its immunity from fatal accident, but these factors cannot be taken into consideration when dealing with road occupation, however valuable they undoubtedly are from the standpoint of public utility. In the case of the motor omnibus, although its power of acceleration and retardation is not so good as that of the tramcar, on the other hand its flexibility enables it to circumvent obstructions and to give room to overtaking or meeting vehicles."

Increase of Commercial Motors. Arising from the census results :— " As regards trade motors, owing to the alteration in their classification, the changes in each individual class do not perhaps give so good an idea as the totals of the rapid substitution of motor over horse in the commercial world. In 1913 they increased by 36.6 per cent, over the numbers counted in 1912, and in 1914 by 27.9 per cent. over 1913.

The Next Returns Will be Interesting.

In the present state of affairs, when by far the vast majority of the heavier types of commercialmotor vehicles are running on Continental roads in the service of the Government, such figures would cl2 be entirely altered, and indeed, when we again revert to more normal commercial conditions, we shall, for a long while to come, see the results of the presentday impressment in such totals as those of which the figures are quoted for 1913 and 1914.

"The abnormal rise last year in the number of motor omnibuses and tramcars enumerated, followed this year by small increases of 5.9 per cent. and 1.1 per cent. respectively, gives the impression that a practical limit may soon be reached."

Slow-moving Vehicles. Traffic Rules.

The following paragraph is also worthy of reproduction as placing on official record many points which have been discussed at considerable length in the columns of this journal :—

"A London County Council by-law to keep slow-moving traffic close to the kerb is now in operation, and attention directed to artificial regulation on some of the following points might result in a further relief of congestion. Undue standing and waiting should be avoided, especially between refugee and pavements, and at ends of streeta. It was never intended that the public streets should be occupied as a loading yard for private traders at places where such work entails grave obstruction to other traffic, and it has been urged in previous reports that in the plans of all new warehouses and premises where the business entails loading and unloading, space should be reserved for such purposes

of any main street. " Crawling " by cabs might f clear reduced. Drivers still have much to learn in making their way through heavy traffic. The same line of traffic should be kept to so far as possible; overlapping and cutting in and out of other vehicles is a practice which is not only obstructive but may be dangerous as well. While every change of direction, stop, or turn should be preceded by the recognized hand signals, drivers of all vehicles should learn that the mere holding out of a hand is not sufficient excuse for suddenly taming across overtaking traffic without. also looking to see what is coming. Tramcars are the only vehicles which should be passed on either side according to circumstances; other vehicles should invariably be passed on the off side."

Public-service Vehicles.

Two pages are devoted to the recording of the increase or decrease respectively of Metropolitan licensed public-service vehicles. As these figures, however, are not brought up to a sufficiently recent date to render them of any particular value, we need spend very little time in connection with them. In passing we may note that the number of licensed cabs on 30th June, 1914, was 9953, of which 4599 belonged to registered companies and 5354 to individuals.

Amongst the few other paragraphs which are of interest to our readers is the following :—

" The Council, an the 30th July, 1912, sanctioned an expenditure of £2,400 for the equipment of three horse tramcars for use as petrol-electric vehicles to experiment as to the possibilities of this system of traction. A service of petrol-electric cars was run on the Today Street to Greenwich Church route, but the result of this experiment was not very satisfactory. Further consideration of the results of the running of these cars determined the Council to discontinue their use, and on the 9th December, 1913, they were withdrawn from service."

Accidents Largely Due to Careless Pedestrians.

The question of street accidents is dealt with at some length, and the following comment is instructive :— " The setting up of a large number of additional refuges, and the compulsory fitting of guards to the side wheels of all motor-omnibuses have already done much, and will do more to check the rate of increase in accidents. It would also be advisable that the heavy commercial motorcars now in use should have similar guards fitted, but in view of the fact that the average of the three years 1910-12 showed that 55 per cent, of the fatalities were due to the inadvertence of the nedestrian, the hest hope of further improvement seems to lie with the pedestrian himself, and there is no doubt that the average person is now much more careful than he used to be."

" Although the motor-omnibus stands out as the most dangerous type of vehicle*, each year has recently shown a substantial reduction in its danger. The decrease in accidents attributable to the motor cab each year is satisfactory."

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Locations: New London, London

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