Britain: An official handbook > 1977

Transport
Planning
in Towns
Research
TRANSPORT AND COMMUNICATIONS 303
account in such proceedings. The Road Safety Act 1967 made it an offence
to drive with more than a prescribed level of alcohol in the blood, at present
80 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood. The Secretary of State
for Transport proposes to introduce regulations for Great Britain requiring
the wearing of seat belts where they are fitted in the front seats of cars or vans.
It is estimated that compulsory wearing will save nearly 1,000 deaths and
11,000 serious injuries a year.
National campaigns to persuade people to take greater care on the roads are
conducted by government departments and the Royal Society for the
Prevention of Accidents with assistance from local authorities. In recent
years major publicity campaigns have been undertaken to increase the
wearing of seat belts and reduce pedestrian casualties.
With the exception of trunk roads, which are the concern of the central
Government, traffic is the responsibility of local authorities. Urban transport
planning has involved the development of medium-term transport studies,
which have been carried out or are in progress in many cities and towns in
Great Britain. Following a study the local authority adopts a preferred strategy
which provides the framework for more detailed short-term traffic manage¬
ment and public transport operational measures.
Several cities have abandoned extensive urban motorway schemes in favour
of limiting the amount of traffic permitted to enter central areas and providing
better public transport. Limited urban road improvements are continuing, but
local authorities are relying on measures to improve traffic flow and road
safety, and, in some cases, to assist the flow of certain types of vehicle, usually
buses. Comprehensive traffic management schemes may include ‘one-way’
systems, improved traffic signal control and area traffic control systems, park¬
ing controls, pedestrian precincts and bus lanes. Following experiments on
methods to control by computer a large number of traffic signals in an urban
area, several local authorities are installing these systems. The first purpose-
built automatic traffic control system for a whole city was opened in Leicester
in 1974. In most town centres street parking is permitted for limited periods
only; in London and many other towns schemes for payment at parking meters
or residents’ parking spaces are under the supervision of traffic wardens. In
many big cities new shopping precincts are specially designed for pedestrians
and motor traffic is excluded. Streets in many town centres have been con¬
verted wholly or partly to pedestrian use.
The Government’s road programme (see p. 300) is designed so that even¬
tually heavy goods vehicles will be able to avoid town centres and residential
suburbs wherever possible. The Government is devising, in co-operation with
local authorities, a system of lorry routes.
Research on roads is carried out at the Department of Transport’s Transport
and Road Research Laboratory (TRRL). The laboratory provides technical
and scientific advice and information to help in formulating, developing
and implementing government policies relating to roads and transport,
including their interaction with urban and regional planning. Work is con¬
cerned with planning, design, construction and maintenance of roads and
structures such as bridges and tunnels; safe, efficient and convenient move¬
ment of people and goods, including road layout and transport networks,
control of traffic flow, study of road accidents and methods of reducing their
frequency and severity; assessment of existing and projected passenger or
freight transport systems and investigation of technical developments and