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Strengthening the Vital Link

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8th November 1935

Page 123

Page 123, 8th November 1935 — Strengthening the Vital Link

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Trade, Commerce and National Prosperity Depend Upon Efficient Transport

By Sir Herbert Austin, K.B.E.

\,S.,/ by considering the predominant part played by Mechanical transport in the economic life of the -nation to-day, it is difficult to realize that only 30 years. ago there was scarcely a commercial vehicle to be seen on the streets or roads of this or any other

country. . . .

That so short a time has brought about the development of a transport system which, by the way, is almost entirely reliant upon the internal-combustion engine, Speaks for its utility and demand, and indicates that if an industry can grow to such proportions in three decades the immensity of its future expansion is almost beyond our powers of imagination.

Just over 30 years ago, in 1004, the total number of commercialvehicles in use in this country was about•

4,000. The corresponding figure for to-day is well over 400,000 and is rising at the rate of over 20,000 vehicles per year, whilst British factories are producing at the present time . some 85,000 commercial vehicles per annum. .

. These figures are sufficient to show that commercial road transport,has become a vital link in the economic life of the modern community—one upon which national welfare and industrial prosperity depend.

It has now been realized that anchoring large communities in one spat involves grave economic dangers.

Frozen labour is as bad for the community as frozen

capital, arid the rigid industrial development of this Country, due to the rise of the railways, which at the

outset was good in itself, has now reached the point where a solvent is required to set free the labour reserves of the country and redistribute industrial activity with a view to eliminating the depressed areas. This redistribution of population is one factor which makes road transport of such vital necessity. .

Road Transport Essential to Decentralization.

It is evident that already the movement of communities away from the large centres has begun and only within the past week or so statisticians have told us that even London is losing its population as a result of this process of decentralization. Every step in this direction makes the commercial vehicle more essential.

There is no doubt that the tendency towards decentralization in modern town planning calls more and more for the freedom of expansion which the mobility of road transport affords, and less for the territorial limitations that the permanent way imposes.

The building of large housing estates on the outskirts of our towns and cities has resulted in great numbers of people relying upon the facilities of the motor vehicle, and although, naturally, I recognize that in ome ceisutres the tube and train are also assisting, these services are not stimulated to the same extent

as is road travel. Expansions such as those outlined above would be practically impossible if road transport were not available.

Factories can now be erected outside the boundaries of the highly rated towns, and although they may be quite isolated from the railway systems they can safely rely upon the road vehicle for their supplies and the transport of their workers. I feel that this decentralization of industry, will -ultimately solve the unemployment problem, but its consummation depends more than anything else upon the inter-communication provided by the commercial vehicle. Hand in hand with the rise of the business motor must go the development of the roads. The old Roman axiom that a country ...relies-upon its roads was never truer than it is to-day.

Great Development of Road Services Predicted.

Readers may think that I have .painted too bright a

• picture of the future prospects of road transport, but I am convinced that as time goes on economic necessity will demand the development of road services on a greater scale than anything so far attempted in national transport systems.

To say that the future of road transport is in the lap of the gods" would be an under-statement, for actually it occupies a much more precarious position —it is in the lap of Governments, and its development depends very largely upon two factors under the control of our legislators—one, arresting the mass of restrictive legislation with which the industry is at present hemmed in and, two, the carrying out of a road programme that will enable road transport to take its rightful place in the economic life of the community which its efficiency and economy warrant; These multifarious regulations have a stifling effect upon the industry, and in curbing the initiative of the vehicle designer threaten to put this country behind others in the development of road transport and handicap us in the struggle for prosperity in this highly competitive world I am afraid it is likely to be many years before an adequate road system can be completed, but we must hope that whatever Government we may elect will make it its business to press forward most energetically with road development. The creation of roads to carry the growing volume of. traffic in safety, is one of our most urgent national problems and this factor above all others will decide the future of the commercial vehicle industry.