§ 89. Mr. Clive Bossomasked the Minister of Transport (1) how many traffic engineers are employed by the London County Council, county councils, county boroughs and other highway authorities, respectively; whether he is satisfied that this number is adequate in view of the greater volume of traffic; and what steps 194W he is taking further to encourage their greater employment in view of London's experience in improving traffic flow by employment of traffic engineering methods:
(2) how many local authorities have traffic engineering sections; how the number compares with 31st December 1960, or the nearest date when the information is available; and if he is satisfied with the response to his circular, sent to highway authorities in December, 1960, advocating employment of traffic engineers.
§ Mr. MarplesThere are no regular returns of the number of engineers employed by highway authorities upon traffic engineering, or of the manner in which the staff is organised. The information asked for could therefore only be obtained by circularising the large number of authorities concerned. Last year 39 authorities in England and Wales had traffic engineering sections. I believe that since my Department made available to the Association of Municipal Corporations a memorandum on traffic engineering the number of engineers engaged in it has increased. This may in part be due to local authorities taking note of the success achieved by my London Traffic Management Unit in applying traffic engineering techniques to London's traffic. I am considering issuing a circular to highway authorities on the recruitment and training of staff for traffic engineering.