The Auckland Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News The Echo and The Sun. THURSDAY, JULY 16, 1931. TRAFFIC OUTLETS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXII, Issue 166, 16 July 1931, Page 6

The Auckland Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News The Echo and The Sun.

THURSDAY, JULY 16, 1931. TRAFFIC OUTLETS.

For the cause that lacks assistance, For the wrong that needs resistance, For the future in the distance, And the good that mc can do.

Mr. Stephen Leaeock tells a story of a man who was so thorough in his preparation for a job that he never got the job done. To do a rough bit of carpentry in a camp he spent an unconscionable time getting his tools ready. When he came to study English, he Avent right back to Sanskrit to obtain the right foundation. The moral of the story should not be pushed too far, but it is worth remembering when the improvement of traffic outlets in Auckland is considered. . The City Engineer has presented a valuable report on local traffic, but suggests that two or three years should be spent in further exploration. "Early decisions" about outlets are desirable, but more information about traffic is necessary before the Council decides when and in what order the new works shall be commenced. It would be interesting to know just what Mr. Tyler means by "early." No one will dispute the value of the further traffic survey that he recommends; indeed, it may be said that work on the whole problem of transport in New Zealand is hampered by lack of reliable data. It may be possible, however, to have such a thing as too much preparation. While elaborate preliminary measures are being taken the evil grows, and it becomes more difficult to cope with it.

Mi*. Tyler's report shows the extent o£ the complication that has been introduced into traffic by the development of the motor. Of 300,000 vehicles recorded in one tally, 235,000 were motor cars and trucks. But the most astonishing' item in the report is the fact that the average car in the streets of Auckland carries less than two persons, and a fraction under 50 per cent of cars contain only the driver. Relatively, therefore, the motor car is an uneconomic vehicle, and in view of these figures the motorist will find it still more difficult to persuade the public that he is paying more than his share of the cost of road construction and maintenance. But the broadest fact that emerges from the report in its local application is that the problem of better outlets is a metropolitan and not a purely city affair. Mr. Tyler rightly regards improvement as the business of the whole Greater Auckland area, and he counsels planning ahead for the much larger population that may reasonably be expected. It is obvious that improvements made by the City Council in its own area will benefit all the people in Greater Auckland, and the question is sure to be raised whether the city proper should bear all the cost, just as Takapuna is asking why it should lose a considerable amount of rate revenue because the source of the water supply for the northern boroughs lies within its boundaries. This, however, is a side issue. The main thing to do now is to plan widely and as quickly as possible.