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ROAD TRANSPORT MATTERS IN PARLIAMENT.
Page 85
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The Road Vehicles Bill. London Taxicab Fares and the Two-seaters. Insufficient Statistics of Bus Operation. The Road to the Docks of London. Should Drivers be Abstainers ?
By Our Special Parliamentary Correspondent.
THE statement by the Prime Minister in Moving the —guillotine motion on the Trade Disputes and Trade Unions Bill last Monday places it beyond doubt that the Road Vehicles Bill cannot be introduced this session.
Independent Omnibus Proprietors and Co-ordination. ,
OLONEL ASHLEY hopes that the independent omnibus proprietors will be included in any scheme for the co-ordination of London traffic. In his view their inclusion would be an essential feature of any satisfactory scheme of co-ordination.
Road Surface Experiments.
XPERIMENTS in the use of various surfacing materiala are being conducted on a considerable scale, it is officially stated, along the new arterial roads known as the Barnet by-pass and the Barking by-pass. Experimental investigations are also being made into the problems of skidding and the influence of vehicle design upon the wear inflicted upon highways. Although some time must elapse before conclusive results can be obtained, the Minister of Transport hopes to include an interim account of the work in the next annual report on the administration of the Road Fund.
Disappearing Departments.
THE Prime Minister has stated that there is no . chance at all of introducing the Bill to abolish the Mines Department before the prorogation at the beginning of August, and, as this department is bracketed with the Ministry of Transport and the Overseas Trade Department for dissolution, the same observation presumably applies to all three. The Ministry of Transport will, therefore, be allowed to function at least to the end of the year and probably to the end of the financial year, unless meanwhile the Government abandons its policy of so-called economy in respect of these departments.
Scantiness of Bus Statistics.
/THE Minister of Transport has been asked for the number of omnibuses plying for hire on definite recognized routes in Great Britain. as compared with 1922, but is unable to supply the figures, as no returns are furnished to the Ministry of Transport which would enable him to answer the question.
London Taxicab Fares and itwo-seaters. T";question of what was' said by the Home Secretary at his meeting with the cab trade on April 5th regarding two-seater cabs was. brought up in the House of Commons by Colonel Day last week. Sir Wm. Joyn-. son-Hicks was asked whether he had received a letter of protest addressed to him from the conference of the London cab trade held on April 30th, stating that the conference considered the Home Secretary had failed to carry out the pledges which were given on April 5th in the matter of concessions in exchange for their assent to the reduction in fares; whether he was aware that the conference had threatened to withdraw its consent to. such reduction; and whether L could state what steps he had taken to carry out the conditions which were promised to the cab trade.
Sir Wm. Joynson-Hicks, in his reply, referred Colonel Pay to the letter which he addressed to the Federation
of Taxicab Proprietors which was published in the Press on the 6th inst. -
Mr. Benjamin Smith thereupon asked the Home Secretary if he would not agree that the letter he sent to the Press was at least beside the truth. The Home Secretary merely retorted: "The hon. member has known me some years, and I think he will regret that lie has made that observation." Mr. Smith then repeated his statement that the letter sent to the Press contained statements that were other than true, and he asked the Home Secretary whether, in the light of the statement he made in his presence to 24 delegates of the cab trade that he would withdraw the two-seater cabs, he had not failed in that pledge. Sir William made no further reply. Sir F. Meyer remarked that the public of London would prefer to walk rather than be dictated to by a section.
Victoria Dock Road Scheme.
.T"S point has been raised as to whether the Government or the local authorities will be responsible for promoting legislation to sanction the Victoria Dock Road scheme, but the procedure has yet to be considered in the course of negotiations between the Government and the authorities concerned, There seems to be some doubt as to whether the Government have actually received 'a definite offer by the L.C.C. and the other local authorities concerned to supply the 25 per cent of the cost, upon which the Government's offer of 75 per cent, is contingent. Mr. W. Thorne in the House maintained that the authorities were agreeable to pay the 25 per ,cent, and he was asked by the Minister of Transport to communicate to him the information on which be based the statement.
Total Abstinence for Drivers.
A TISCOUNTESS ASTOR, when the Minister of TransV port had informed amemberthat the proposals for dealing with applicants for drivers' licences who Were suffering from physical disabilities were contained In Clauses 14 and 15 of the draft Road Vehicles Bill, wanted to know if it would be laid don that drivers should be total abstainers. Colonel Ashley having given a negative answer, the viscountess suggested that, in view of the number of accidents which occurred owing to people taking a little too much, the question ought ' to be considered seriously. A good deal of laughter greeted the noble lady's suggestion..
Crawling Taxicabs.
rPHE report of the London Traffic • Advisory Com mittee on the subject of crawling taxicabs in London is to be issued at an early date as a Stationery Office. publication. The Minister of Transport hopes that he will then be in a position to announce his decision as to what action is proposed.
Legibility of Taximeters.
ANOTHER question was raised regarding the legibility of taximeters, Sir G. Strickland suggesting that the new taximeters should be made more legible than the existing ones. The Home Secretary stated that this matter had been receiving attention and had been taken up with the taximeter manufacturers. The suitability of the converted taximeters with regard to legibility would be closely considered when they were submitted for approval.