July 9.
It is hoped that the Traffic Committee, which is being reinforced by the addition of Col. Irving C Moller to its membership, will in as short a time as possible produce some recommendations for the betterment of traffic conditions in Shanghai, which, it is apparent to the most casual observer, are steadily growing worse. It"is still more to be hoped that if and when such recommendations are forth~ coming the Municipal Council will do something about them, because in discussing this question it is impossible to escape reference to the very excellent report published
which for some reason or other was productive of no apparent result. It seems, like so many other carefully prepared reports, to have found safe haven in a municipal pigeon-hole, and there to have hidden its diminished head the obscurity of neglect. It was argued at the time, if memory serves right, that it was impossible for the police to carry out the recommendations which were made and that the constitution of a separate traffic control body would be necessary to undertake work which the police, at their then strength could not very well carry out. That argument if valid then, is very much more so now. Nevertheless some improvement was made though it is perfectly clear now that the rate of progress was nowhere nearly commensurate with the development which was going on in the increased use of Shanghai's streets. But what is striking in connection with the 1926 report, which those interested in the subject will be amply repaid for re-reading, is that it was compiled by @ body of men, none of whom it might be fairly said, could claim to be expert on the subject, but who brought to the study of the subject keenly enquiring brains and an ability to arrive at conclusions which practically in their entirety stand unchanged to-day. With the assistance of Col. Moller, an engineer, and an expert in traffic matters of considerable reputation it is to be expected that the advice that may be rendered to the council will be of so authoritative a nature that it ill imperatively demand suitable action, for, no. matter how unpleasant the implications may be, the fact is that matters are steadily going from bad to worse, and Require to be amended by the firmest possible action, There are all sorts of reasons for Shanghai's present trafic troubles. There is *he narrowness of the streets, a bequest from those city fathers who little realized the manner in which both Shanghai and modern traffic requirements would develop. There is also the odd shape of the International Settlement, the paucity of communications over the Soochow Creek, and the additional difculties brought about by the development of the area all round the International Settlement, which has the effect of thrusting more intricate problems upon the notice of the municipal authorities. This latter is also a development not to have been anticipated when first the Settlement was laid out, oF when later additions were made to it, and if a glance at the map iggests that the Settlement, like Topsy "just growed" the same may be said with greater emphasis about its trafic problem. Parallel with the failure to take due cognisance of and make proper preparation for the development of an adequate arterial system is the fact that there has been a great increase in the number of vehicles using the poor road system which still exists. This is written in no desire to criticize the Municipal Council, but rather as a statement of fact' of which the local ratepayers cannot too often be Te-minded. Nor is it to the disparagement of the same authority to suggest that while valiant efforts have been made at traffic control, and some meagre degree of success obtained, even though it causes at, times considerable irritation, it has not been sufficient to justify any complacency over' the results secured. This is to be laid at neither the door of the Municipal ed. Council nor of the police, for it is apparent that if the loiter were called upon to. perform traffic duties, in the manner it is suggest ed is required in a place like Shanghai, their numbers would have to be increased at a cost which the Settlement is at present in no position to bear.
There is a further consideration.
While traffic regulation and control may be a police matter, the settlement of the principles' upon which such control should be exercised is a subject for expert consideration by engineers. In this respect the following quotation from a speech by Professor Armstrong, may, suggest a reason why Col. Moller's appointment is to be heartily welcomed:—
"Few realize that we are Uving in a new world—a world only a century or so old; that we are governed by @ new method, and by "measurement! The engineer the master of the world to-day, because he is the master of experimental inguiry and has exact Sanaards of length, mass "and It may be that the Traffic Committee, under the expert guidance which it is hoped they will obtain from the new member's vast experience, will make recommendations requiring the expenditure of large sums of money for the completion of road-widening schemes. It is difficult to escape the impression that much which has been done in certain thoroughfares not as valuable to the community should be because of the existence of bottle-necks which discount whatever widening has taken place. That is a possibility which has to be boldly faced. It in the past development has been retarded by the inability to spend sufficient funds for the purpose, it has merely ensured that sooner or later the necessity for that post Poned expenditure will present itself in a manner which can no longer be denied, for if nothing else is certain, this is—that the longer the whole question is, allowed to exist without firm remedial action, the more expensive will reforms be when they can no longer be postponed.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.