The Road Traffic Census The census of road-traffic which is
being taken this week at thousands of points all over the country outside London will provide precise information which ought to be at the disposal of the authorities both in planning or improving roads for transport and making them safer against accidents. (In an article on a later page Mr. Geoffrey Crowther shows that our roads are more over- crowded than those of any other country in the world.) The ten thousand enumerators who will be posted at selected points. will bount not only vehicles of all sorts, including bicycles, but also, , on . roads without adequate footpaths, pedestrians. Thus for the first time the Ministry of Transport and the local authori- ties will know exactly where the traffic is most dense, and demands more or wider roads ; and where tracks for cyclists • or paths for pedestrians, now lacking, ought to be provided. The necessary overhauling and planning of the road system over the whole country can only be done scientifically, with a view to the fullest possible efficiency and elimination of danger, if the traffic demands on each stretch of road arc known. The statistics that will be forthcoming will help in deciding wherefor example--horses should or should not be allowed; or where a new round-about should be constructed, or an entirely new road.
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