CITY TRANSPORT

Evening Post, Volume CXXX, Issue 10, 11 July 1940, Page 10

CITY TRANSPORT

It was inevitable as petrol restric-

tions became more and more severe that people who had been accustomed to travel daily to and from the city in private cars would have to resort increasingly to public transport in trains, trams, and buses. This has resulted in serious congestion on these vehicles at rush hours, and conditions of discomfort for all concerned are likely, as time goes on, to grow worse instead of better. Such a state of affairs cannot be ignored by the authorities in charge of public transport. The chief sufferers are those who patronise the Corporation's transport services by tram and bus, and the City Council discussed the situation last night. The Mayor gave two reasons for the overcrowding on trams. The first was that so many offices, particularly Government, closed at the same time, and the second was a shortage in the tramway traffic staff, which precluded the employment of the whole of the rolling stock available. He did not think that petrol restrictions had actually affected the overcrowding at

the moment, but they would do so with the curtailment of the Corporation bus services and the use of private cars. In that case, even worse overcrowding may be expected. The course recommended by the City Council, after the discussion, was to ask that Government offices close at 4.30 p.m. instead of 5 p.m. as at present, and that school should begin at 9.15 a.m. While such measures might ease the situation to a certain extent by spreading the rush period over a longer time, they will not, apart from the possibly difficult readjustments imposed in the offices and schools concerned, solve the problem. Public transport must be prepared for an indeterminate period ahead to cope with much heavier patronage than even now. To do so, adequately is not only an obligation for the authorities, but furnishes an opportunity for retaining a lucrative patronage permanently.