LONDON’S LEAP OUTWARDS

Taranaki Daily News, 4 June 1929, Page 11

LONDON’S LEAP OUTWARDS

| FASTEST GROWING CITY. . I ' ‘ ‘ i London is expanding' so rapidly that iit is outgrowing its transport system. No other city'iii the world is growing so fast. Since the war it flung its. tentacles 25 miles out into Home Counties. Its population since 1902 has increased from 6,500,000 -'to nearly 8,000,000, almost twice that of Scotland. All round tho rim of Greater London young towns aro rising. Sir Henry Jackson, M.P. for Wandsworth, who represents the Metropolitan boroughs on the London Traffic Advisory Committee, said to a reporter: The number of journeys- per head in 1902 was. 166. In 1926 it had risen to 456. This indicates the wanderlust of the Londoner. .He is not content to spend his evenings- at home. My ideal system of transport for London is one of fast tube trains running from the centre in all-directions and connecting with short-distance omnibus services. °That is the function of the omnibus and tramway car. We must do away with these long-distance omnibuses, which come into London from a distance of 10 miles, increasing the congestion of the roads. At present tramway-cars and omnibuses are crowded with people who have miles to go to and from their homes. This should not be. Underground and electrified trains will be the only solution of this growing transport problem. The latest outcome of London Statistics, issued to-day, shows that: Greater London is governed by 441 authorities. There are 30,727 acres of public open spaces. There aro nearly 10,000 local government officials. Tho London County Council alone maintains 977 elementary schools. The gross expenditure of London local authorities in 1924-25-the latest year for which information is available—was £56,073,806.