Oil Chief Attacks Road Failure
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A N indictment of different Govern
ments' failure to build modern. roads was delivered by Mr. F. A. C. Citiepin, vice-chairman of the International Road Federation (London) and a managing director of the Royal Dutch Shell group of oil companies, at the first Working session of the I.R.F. in Rome this week.
In the past 20 years, he said, road development had not measured up to the needs of an expanding world econordy. It had failed in almost every country in the world to a greater or lesser degree. and the full economic . and Social implications of this failure were striking. In the more developed countries it had resulted in 'waste on a staggering scale of national and industrial resources, and unnecessary discomfort to human beings.
Everywhere it was restricting economic expansion, nullifying hard.won increases in productivity and delaying improvement in the standard of living. A better road system could result in such an increase in the national income that it would itself provide more than enough money to amortize the capital required and pay a handsome and increasing return as well.
If road development continued to lag behind the increase in vehicle population, congestion would grow to the point of stagnation; road transport costs would become prohibitive, and: our brilliantly technical and complex modern economy, would be choked to death, "Road development is an international problem which can be adequately tackled only by international action," stated Sir William Rootes, chairman of the International Road Federation. In Britain, he said, more than £250m. was lost each year because of "worn-out, old-fashioned road systems."
Roads were the key to a modern economy, Sir William added.