XN000022-1987-02-06 — Page 6

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 1987

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TRAFFIC CONGESTION WILL BE TACKLED VIGOROUSLY

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TRAFFIC CONGESTION REMAINS THE MOST PRESSING PROBLEM TO BE TACKLED IN THE YEARS TO COME, THE COMMISSIONER FOR TRANSPORT, MR PETER LEEDS, SAID THIS (FRIDAY) AFTERNOON.

SPEAKING AT A ROTARY CLUB LUNCHEON MEETING, MR LEEDS SAID THIS WAS MORE IMPORTANT THAN PROVIDING NEW ROADS OR NEW BUS SERVICES.

+ IF IT IS NOT TACKLED FIRMLY AND IN GOOD TIME ALL THE ADVANTAGES THAT HAVE BEEN GAINED OVER THE PAST YEARS BY THE HEAVY INVESTMENT IN THE TRANSPORT INFRASTRUCTURE WILL HAVE BEEN WASTED IF THE ROAD TRAFFIC SYSTEM IS BROUGHT TO A STANDSTILL BY ROAD CONGESTION,+ HE STRESSED,

HOWEVER, HE ADDED, THE GOVERNMENT WAS FULLY AWARE OF THE PROBLEM AND IT WOULD BE TACKLED VIGOROUSLY AND EFFECTIVELY.

MR LEEDS SAID THE GOVERNMENT'S POLICY ON THE MORE ECONOMIC USE OF THE ROAD SYSTEM -- ONE OF THE THREE PRINCIPLES DRAWN UP IN THE 1979 POLICY WHITE PAPER ON TRANSPORT -- WAS BOTH THE LEAST UNDERSTOOD AND THE MOST CONTENTIOUS.

OVER THE PAST SEVERAL YEARS, HE SAID, THERE HAD BEEN A SIGNIFICANT BOOM IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF HIGH-RISE PREMISES FOR THE DOMESTIC, COMMERCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL SECTORS, BUT THERE HAD NOT BEEN A COMPARABLE INCREASE IN THE CAPACITY OF THE ROAD SYSTEM AND THERE NEVER COULD BE.

SOME FORM OF RATIONING WAS INEVITABLE AS THERE WOULD ALWAYS BE A SHORTAGE OF ROAD CAPACITY WHEN COMPARED WITH DEMAND, HE SAID.

+A DO NOTHING POLICY WOULD RESULT IN RATIONING OF A SORT- RATIONING BY CONGESTION UNDER WHICH MANY JOURNEYS WOULD NOT BE TAKEN AT ALL BECAUSE FOR MANY HOURS OF THE DAY OVER WIDER AREAS TRAFFIC WOULD MOVE IN A SNAIL-LIKE SPEED OR PERHAPS NOT AT ALL.

+THIS POSSIBLE SITUATION, WHICH SOME OF YOU MAY SAY IS HAPPENING ALREADY, IS ONE THAT HAS BEEN FORECAST IN THE MANY TRANSPORT STUDIES AND IT IS THE SITUATION WHICH NOBODY WOULD WISH TO SEE HAPPEN,+ HE SAID.

THE COMMISSIONER POINTED OUT THAT ALTHOUGH MUCH HAD BEEN DONE TO IMPROVE TRAFFIC FLOW BY TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT TECHNIQUES, THE CRUX OF THE PROBLEM WAS HOW TO RESTRAIN THE INCREASING DEMAND.

+THERE ARE NO EASY OR PAINLESS TRAFFIC RESTRAINT OPTIONS TO BRING THE DEMAND FOR ROAD SPACE INTO LINE WITH THE SUPPLY AVAILABLE. THE PRESENT POLICY OF HIGH TAXATION ON VEHICLES OWNERSHIP TO HOLD DOWN THE NUMBER OF VEHICLES IS A SYSTEM OF INDIRECT ROAD PRICING, + HE SAID.

/+IT IS