STREET TRAFFIC

Evening Post, Volume CIX, Issue 36, 12 February 1930, Page 12

STREET TRAFFIC

CONTROL BY LIGHTS "THE BEST SYSTEM" j An ..interesting statement in regard to city traffic problems was made to a "Post" reporter by Mr. Will Appleton (managing director of tho Charles Haines Advertising Agency, Ltd., and overseas director of tho Paton Adver-

tisiug Service Pty., Ltd., Australia), who returned from a ten months' business trip abroad by the Maunganui yesterday. Whilo primarily Mr. Appleton's visit was in connection with his own business, he found time to investigate civic and financial conditions overseas. lie made a special point of studying the regulation of city traffic and had an unusual opportunity of making a survey of the situation because, in tho courso of his tour, lie visited practically every important city iv the world. He was, ho stated, very much impressed with the control of traffic in San Francisco, Chicago, and New York. In his opinion the "light" system of control is quite the best. The lights are so synchronised in the main cities of America and Canada that a motorcar going at, say, 30 miles an hour, can proceed practically uninterruptedly in any given direction. That is to say, once the signal "go" is shown the car can go for eight or tea blocks without pulling up. This, of course, is a tremendous help in the relief of congestion.

"I found the light system of control in use ill practically every city iv America and Canada, even in.the smaller villages," said Mr. Appleton, "and I was glad to see the confirmation of Wellington's action soino time back in starting a similar system. Even in portions of the Old Country they now have tho light system in operation. The method of regulating traffic in France and Germany is very similar to the English system. As a, matter of fact, the Paris police some time ago, sent a delegation to London to study the English system, and the street control in Paris, which is much better than it was, is really based on.the London method. At the same time, I must say that one 'take one's life in one's hands' so to speak, in riding in a taxi iv Paris. They are most reckless drivers, and it is a miracle that there are not far more street accidents. There seems to be no rule of tho road, and they just go anywhere." LONDON'S NARROW STREETS. Asked about his observations in respect to London, Mr. Appletou stated that conditions there could hardly be compared with New York on account of the narrowness of the streets' and the layout of the city. At tho same time, he thought that the time had come when the system of traffic control iv the Old Country generally would have to be revised. .Last year in the metropolitan district of London alone, 1237 peoplo were killed, wiiJ.le the injured numbered 54,461. This meant that in eight years, the number of people lulled had doubled, while the number of people injured had'nearly trebled.

While Mr. Applcton has nothing but praise for the London police, he states that the trend of traffic has really outgrown the old system, efficient as it was. The day has come when fastmoving vehicles, especially in narrow streets, cannot follow the samo routes as slower means of locomotion. It is not an unusual sight in London, for instance, to sec a man with a streetbarrow holding up a whole lino of buses and motor-cars. To give an idea as to how the traffic blocks in London, Mr. Appleton mentioned that one day 311 st before ho left, he was.held up for 25 minutes in a street jam in the new Kogent street, which is wide compared with many of the arteries of London. SUBWAYS FOR PEDESTRIANS. "A frequent cause of accident in tho Old Country," saild Mr. Appleton, "is the lack of care on the part of pedestrians. 'Jay-walkers,' as they ar.e called in the United States, are- very numerous, and time after timo I have seen' elderly women try to run across tho Strand or Fleet street between two fast-moving streams of traffic. This, of course, is absurd. .They will have to be taught to cross at regular intersections, and at the proper time. In New Zealand as well as in England, there is clearly an opening for improvement in the conductoopfp pedestrians. Means must bo taken to discourage their rashness and to shepherd them into safer ways. In England and France more and more subways arc being created; and I think they will have to be adopted in New Zealand, too, j at no distant date. Courtenay place, near j the De Luxe Theatre, is probably one of the most dangerous crossings in Wellington, and personally I think that the civic authorities should consider putting in a subway at this point. It is really the Piccadilly of Wellington, and at that point in London a subway gives a splendid service. Moat people now use it to cross the road."