Surprised they did not . .issue him with a 0. V.9.'
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MAGGIE laid the evening paper reverently on the table. " You can say whatever you like, but [think . • h suits him," she said. "Perhaps my remarks were a little bit too harsh,admitted Maggie's brother Cromwell. "I have been looking at some of the reports of heavy goods vehicle inspections on the inside page and I did not think he was setting a very good example. You must admit that, if the photograph is telling the truth, there is blatant evidence of a lack of maintenance which no examiner would let pass. I am surprised they did not take away his passport and issue him with a "It could well be on the other hand,I said. "that after a holiday in the Alps he felt he should return looking like Moses bringing the tablets of the law down from the mountain. Looking like that, there is no doubt that he will strike more terror into the heart of a careless operator. In addition to which there are a lot of abstruse problems piling up for his decision-:."
I agree," said Cromwell. "The newspapers seem full of transport mysteries. Look at this news item, for example. It says that the Firth of Forth bridge in Scotland has cost £20 m, instead of the estimated .£6 m.; that the Government have had to advance £14 m.; that a charge of 2s. 6d. a vehicle will not even pay the interest on this amount: and that the Government may have to write off most of the loan. The question here is how long it will take the railways to suggest to the Geddes Committee that every lorry using the bridge ought to pay £10 toll each way."
"First the motorways and now the bridge," I said. "On top of which the Smeed report suggests that people should be made to meet the cost of the congestion they cause. There seems to be only one conclusion. For years past we must have been getting our roads on the cheap."
"But you are always complaining about the amount of tax we pay for using the roads.said Maggie.
" There must have been something wrong with our arithmetic allthese years ", I said. "When we compare what We pay in tax with what is spent on the roads, we seem to be getting very much the worse end of the stick. But whenever we actually use the roads, it seems that more often than not we are causing more expense than our contribution to the Exchequer would justify."
"So that as long as nobody actually uses the Forth bridge, it will not lose any money ", said Cromwell. "Or at least if it does lose money it will not be our fault."
"Then it would have been better not to have built the bridge in the first place -, said Maggie.
"You must think of those poor people in Scotland who have been waiting for more than 40 years ", said Cromwell.
"But the people in Scotland are not all poor ", said Maggie. "Why should they not pay the proper price, whatever that may be?"
"An economic toll is supposed to be somewhere between 12s. and 15s.", I said. "Most people would not think it worth while to pay so much. They would still prefer to take the long way round via the Kincardine bridge, or they 00 would continue to use the ferry, which no doubt some entrprising fellow would keep running to meet demand." think they should have found all this out before they built the bridge -, said Maggie.
"The ultimate cost was more than three times the
estimate ", I said. But on the other hand ", I continued, "the original estimate was made as long ago as 1946 and there have been some increases in other prices since then. All the same, the problem of cost must have been considered before the final decision was taken to start building." "Then the decision was wrong ", said Maggie. "Why should we have to pay all these taxes so that the people in Scotland can have a cheap ride as often as they want to? We may find it convenient to use the bridge ourselves next time we go up there ", I said.
" In which case I should riot object in the least to paying the ,proper price," said Maggie. "The bridge should be well worth a visit for its own sake. According to this newspaper it is the fourth longest in the world and has the longest single span of any bridge in Europe. It contains 150,000 cubic yards of concrete. . . ."
"Which brings us back to Dr. Beeching's argument,I said. "Here, we have the transport dilemma in almost a classic form. There are three different means for crossing the Firth of Forth, and the evident popular choice is encouraged still further by preferential rates. It does not seem equitable."
"Just what I was saying,said Maggie. "If it can be worked out how much it costs to use the bridge, why should people expect to go across for less?"
" It must be something to do with the balance of payments," said Cromwell. "Perhaps people cannot afford to pay more, in which case necessity has become the daughter of invention. Once it was only possible to cross the Firth of Forth by water and no doubt the price was fixed by haggling. Then came the railway bridge and the cost of crossing was whatever the railways charged. Now we have the democratic road bridge, and people no doubt feel that if they own the bridge they have a right to use it."
"And perhaps the people are right," 1 said. "The bridge after all is part of the road and we do not usually in this country have to make a special payment for using any particular stretch of a highway. 'Tolls ought to be regarded as a generous concession by the user rather than an obligation. In a sense the public are being asked to pay twice. They pay fuel tax and licence duties already, and in this way are adding something like one-tenth to the Government's annual revenue. However much the Treasury try to blur the issue, this payment entitles road users to something in exchange. In other words they have a right to an adequate road system, and once it is provided they have a right to use it as much or as little as they please. Ideally this should be without further payment, except possibly where congestion cannot be avoided without rationing road space."
" I can see there are some difficult times ahead for the authorities," said Cromwell. Perhaps that beard will come in useful after all as a disguise."