LONDON'S TIDE OF TRAFFIC

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 7057, 19 February 1910, Page 15

LONDON'S TIDE OF TRAFFIC

rEOJI OTTB SPECIAL COnRESrONBENT. LONDON, January 7. London's gigantic traffic is full ot mar-l vels. A Bluebook on the subject, so far from being dry and dull, is ait appeal; to the slowest imagination. Perhaps be-' cause the loud continuous roar of tkol vehicles streaming up and down. Fleet Street comes in at the -windows as II write, I find the Bluebook issued tins' week on the changes and developmental of London traffic, a fascinating study. You have to think in millions when you deal with the traffic of the world's! metropolis. . Take, for example, the in-, crease in :<tho passenger traffic during recent years, influenced largely by the, expansion of the population into the out-, er areas. As the following table shows, the number of Londoners, who: travel ta and from their occupations by rail,i tram, and 'bus is not only growing rrvp-j idly, but the number of journeys i«\-r head is steadily increasing.

•' Thus the total number of passengers in 1908 was approximately 1,377.080,180, as compared with 1,121,784,965 in 1906. In, 1881 the total was only .269,062,049. Theßu colossal figures do .not, however, represent the whole of the travelling which tak.es place in London in public conveyances, since they do not , include tha whole of the omaibus traffic, the cab, traffic, nor the very large (suburban traffic carried by the trunk • railways. Think what these figures mean in human beings. Imagine the mighty swarm of humanity .that pours - into London every morning by train, tram,' and omnibus. The statistics aire eloquent. _ Another feature of great interest -in the traffic returns is the displacement of horse-drawn by mechanical vehicles, which has worked a revolution in London traffic. Some idea of the extent of the change will be gained from the subjoined ' figures, showing the increases or decreases in the numbers of the various classes of vehicles in 1908 as compared with 1903':-Increase-Decrease Mechanical cabs ... '..-• 2803 Horse-drawnl cabs ... Motor omnibuses .•• 1120 Horse omnibuses .... —_ ~, 1108 Electric tramcars ... . 1427 . Horse tramcars ........ It is stated that the -popularity of the motor cab is undoubtedly growing, and that the harisom is being superseded so rapidly that its complete disoppenrance at no distant date seems probable. A special inquiry is in hand to ascertain the need of new,and improved arterial roads in and from London. They are badly needed. While Paris "has 102 miles of boulevards and aveiLues 98}ft or more wide, London has only 81 mileß; while Pans has forty-two roads radiating into the country. London, with a population; twice as large, has only twenty, usually not so wide.

It H H ■ 1 1 ■U i iy m 1 H g 1 Kj % si pi 1