SUNDAY, OCTOBER 28, 1979
NUMBER OF PRIVATE CARS REACHES ALL TIME HIGH
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THE NUMBER OF REGISTERED PRIVATE CARS HAS REACHED AN ALL TIME HIGH OF 157 000 IN SEPTEMBER THIS YEAR FOLLOWING A DROP BETWEEN 1974 AND 1976, A SPOKESMAN FOR THE TRANSPORT DEPARTMENT SAID TODAY (SUNDAY).
IN 1978 THERE WERE OVER 19 000 ADDITIONAL PRIVATE CAR REGISTRATIONS, REPRESENTING AN INCREASE OF 15 PER CENT COMPARED WITH 1977.
DURING THE FIRST NINE MONTHS OF THIS YEAR THE NUMBER OF CAR REGISTRATIONS INCREASED BY 12 639.
+WHILE THE GROWTH RATE THIS YEAR IS SLIGHTLY LOWER THAN LAST YEAR PROBABLY DUE TO THE INCREASED COST OF FUEL AND OTHER PRICES, IT IS STILL WELL ABOVE AVERAGE, HE SAID.
COMMENTING ON THE INCREASE THE SPOKESMAN REFERRED TO TWO FORECASTS FROM THE COMPREHENSIVE TRANSPORT STUDY.
ONE FORECAST ASSUMED THAT UNRESTRAINED GROWTH IN CAR OWNERSHIP AND USE WOULD LEAD TO NEARLY 400 000 REGISTERED PRIVATE CARS IN 1991, WHILE THE OTHER, WITH THE IMPOSITION OF SUCCESSIVE LEVELS OF RESTRAINT ON CAR OWNERSHIP AND USE, WOULD RESULT IN A TOTAL OF 283 000 REGISTERED VEHICLES BY 1991.
HE SAID THAT THIS LATTER FORECAST WOULD HAVE THE EFFECT OF MAINTAINING TRAFFIC FLOW AT AN ACCEPTABLE LEVEL, ASSUMING THAT THE AMBITIOUS PROGRAMME OF IMPROVED AND ADDITIONAL ROADS IS IMPLEMENTED IN FULL AND ON SCHEDULE.
THE SPOKESMAN SAID: +WHILST THE RECENT INCREASE IN REGISTRATIONS MAY REPRESENT ONLY A TEMPORARY RECOVERY. IF, ON THE OTHER HAND, THE GROWTH RATE CONTINUES, BOTH FORECASTS OF THE COMPREHENSIVE TRANSPORT STUDY COULD BE BREACHED WITHIN THE NEXT FEW YEARS, AND THIS MUST BE VIEWED WITH A CERTAIN AMOUNT OF CONCERN.+
QUOTING FROM THE WHITE PAPER ON INTERNAL TRANSPORT POLICY, HE ADDED: +IF UNACCEPTABLE ROAD CONGESTION IS TO BE AVOIDED, THE GOVERNMENT BELIEVES THAT SOME RESTRAINT ON ROAD USE BÝ MOTOR CYCLES AND PRIVATE CARS WILL BE UNAVOIDABLE.
+THE GOVERNMENT HAS NO WISH TO IMPOSE RESTRAINTS BEFORE THEY ARE NECESSARY, BUT WILL WATCH CLOSELY HOW TRAFFIC FLOW IS MAINTAINED AGAINST A BACKGROUND OF INCREASING REGISTRATIONS ON THE ONE HAND AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF NEW ROADS ON THE OTHER.+
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