ROAD TRAFFIC CONDITIONS (Hansard, 1 April 1953)

§ EARL HOWE
My Lords, I beg to ask the first Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.

§ THE EARL OF BIRKENHEAD
My Lords, I do not think that the approaches to, and communications between, any of the major cities have yet reached saturation point; nor is it possible to say when or how far such saturation might occur. But I should like to assure my noble friend that Her Majesty's Government fully realise the desirability of adapting roads to increasing traffic pressure just as soon as the economic position permits.
In view of the many factors involved, it is difficult to give any close estimate of the effect on the casualty rate of traffic congestion on the major trunk routes, or of the cost of delays to industry as a whole. I should like, however, to read two extracts to the noble Earl. The first is an extract from a London Traffic Congestion Report published by Her Majesty's Stationery Office in 1951. Paragraph 15 of that Report says: Various estimates have been made of the cost to the community of traffic congestion, and it is a subject that has been taxing the minds of economists and engineers for some considerable time. The County of London Plan, 1943, contained a statement (page 48) that in New York the estimated cost of delays to traffic totalled £70 million a year, and that if a similar estimate were made for London, it would probably be found to be of the same order. The Plan also refers to another estimate of the cost of delays within a three miles radius of Charing Cross as being over £11 million a year. 453 The cost of accidents was estimated (in 1946) by an eminent economist, Professor Jones of Leeds University, as being £50 million in 1938, and a similar estimate was made by the Government Actuary working on a rather different basis. I quote those estimates with a certain diffidence, as they are clearly tentative. In the meantime, the Economic Committee of the Road Research Board are examining the question of how far it is possible to evaluate the cost of traffic delays.

§ EARL HOWE
My Lords, I thank my noble friend very much for the Answer which he has given. In view of those figures, and the fact that motor vehicle traffic on the roads is increasing by over a quarter of a million vehicles a year, the noble Earl will no doubt agree that there is some urgency in the matter, especially in view of the fact that traffic blocks on the approaches to some of our bigger cities at the present time are three and four miles long. It seems, therefore, that the matter requires very urgent consideration.

LORD HAWKE
Would the noble Earl, Lord Birkenhead, suggest to the Minister of Transport that, if the policy of standstill comes to be changed, plans are, in fact, ready, so that action can take place very swiftly after the change of policy?

§ THE EARL OF BIRKENHEAD
I shall be very pleased to bring that point to the attention of my right honourable friend.

Route No.	Location	No. of Vehicles 16 hrs.	No. of Cyclists 16 hrs.
A.30	1½ miles E. of High Street	…	…	…	…	10,228	2,514
A.30	Egham, ½ mile W. of Staines	…	…	…	…	14,279	4,226
A.308	1 mile S.E. of Staines …	…	…	…	…	5,868	3,380
B.376	⅜ mile S. of High Street …	…	…	…	…	2,574	3,505
B.376	¼ mile N. of High Street …	…	…	…	…	1,696	1,239