The Daily News. THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 1921. ROADING POLICY.

Taranaki Daily News, 10 February 1921, Page 4

The Daily News. THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 1921. ROADING POLICY.

The Bill which is now being drafted to em'body the Government’s reading policy should be of extreme interest to motorists as well as to all the local bodies responsible for the construction and maintenance of the main highways of the Dominion. According to a recent statement by the Minister for Public Works (Hon. J. G. Coates) it is not proposed to interfere with local control of the main roads, but to aim at greater uniformity in maintenance work than exists at present. The manner in which that aim is to be carried out consists in defining exactly the area to be placed un'der the jurisdiction of each body,! and the constitution of a controlling board or commission, comprised of representatives elected by the local bodies in each prescribed area for the purpose of controlling the main roads. Naturally, the question of finance plays an important part in this scheme, and it is contemplated to raise a fund by means of a motor or tyre tax wherewith to supplement the sums already granted for the maintenance of our high roads. There may be some difficulty in arranging an equita'ble basis for this tax, the justice of which is generally admitted by motorists if they are to have the boon of good roads that will facilitate rapid transit and prolong the life of motor vehicles and their tyres. In a recent and very instructive review of the roads of the Empire, the ehairman of the Empire Roads and Transport Committee (Mr. H. C. B. Underdown) discussed very fully the various systems of road construction and maintenance throughout the Empire, as well as in America. It is interesting to note that in the Transvaal undrained tracks are the rule, but a momement is on foot to form a Roads' Council there, while in the Orange Free State the money received through the wheel tax is directly applied /o toad work through the Iqofd

road boards. So far as Australia is concerned, chief interest centres in the change of policy in Victoria from a system of disintegrated local control to one of partnership between the State and the local councils, the merits of the new* scheme for financial control being much appreciated, and the educative effect on public opinion being most encouraging. Turning to reading developments in America, Mr. Underdown refers to the Federal Road Act of 1916, the object of which is very similar to that which is the basis of the measure Mr. Coates is engaged upon —co-operation by the Government and the States in the construction of highways by Federal aid, it bein ges'timated that the operations under the American Act will involve an expenditure exceeding that of the Panama Canal. That the United States realises the advent of a new era in road construction is attested by the fact the; sixty per cent, of the total allotment of Federal air funds approved up to June, 1920, was expended on roads of such durable types as bituminous concrete. Portland cement concrete, and vitrified brick. The principle recognised in America is that income

accruing from the taxation of motor vehicles should be applied specifically towards roads, and a similar principle is being adopted by the Ministry of Transport in Britain. There is another feature connected with the American system that should be noticed in relation to road finance. Several States issue road bonds by capitalising motor vehicle revenue, the principal, interest and sinking funds being charge don such revenue, thus enabling new roads to be constructed. The registration fee is based on the carrying capacity of each motor vehicle, the average being eight and- a half dollars a year. A matter of equal importance is the attention devoted in America to highway engineering, which is being promoted to a science. Sir Erie Geddes recently published an article in which he contended that road development and maintenance must be viewed as a whole and solved as a whole by reason of the fact that the matter was of national rather than local interest, hence the need for co-ordinated effort on the part of the highway authorities and the Government. The science of road-making is still far from satisfactory, but with its advancement and the requisite finance forthcoming, the problem of economic transport by road will be solved.