Improving london

UNDERGROUND. Recommended is the introduction of a ticket system similar to that found on the Paris Metro, where machines are used for checking and collecting tickets. London Underground is beginning to modernize with sophisticated ticket machines and has plans to Install checking machines at some stations. The new scheme, however, should be implemented at all tube stations and the use of high automatic doors, as opposed to low barriers, would also make it more difficult to fare-dodge, and might help recoup part of the 20 million pounds lost each year through ticket evasion.

BUSES. The routemaster two-men operated bus is gradually being phased out of service. London Transport claims that as much as 250,000 pounds a year can be saved on a major route if it is replaced by a one-man operated bus. It also states that the new buses are four times safer because they prevent passengers from entering and exiting recklessly. One problem still has to be solved: boarding time on the new buses are almost twice as slow.

But there are several good reasons for retaining the routemaster. They are well designed, with their distinctive wooden platform at the back, which makes it easy to get on and off; the conductor is able to provide change, something that the new buses seem unable to do; and the routemaster's classic design has long been a feature of the London streets.

BOATS. The Thames, once London's greatest highway, has become a wasted asset. We curse it for getting in the way instead of making use of it. What we should be doing is travelling on it, and thus both enjoying some of the most spectacular of the city's sights and avoiding the congestion along those appalling roads on the north bank and on the south.

Regular water taxis should be restored. The reasons given for the lack of transport on the Thames are cost and speed limit. The last attempt to overcome these obstacles, a hydrofoil service, failed in the 1970s because it proved to be uneconomical.

It is clearly up to the people of London to support this attractive and healthy form of commuting. It must be more reliable and relaxing than the erratic progress of those cumbersome road buses, and certainly less degrading than the tube.

TAXIS. A cab driver travelling with his sign illuminated must, when hailed, take the passenger to the destination he requires. Too often the cab driver labours under the misapprehension that a passenger is being unreasonable in wanting to go west when the cab driver wants to go east. And too often he refuses a fare if it does not happen to take him where he plans to have lunch.

Cab drivers wishing to ban smokers should advertise the fact on the outside of the cab and not seek to hide this restriction until the passenger has boarded. The meter should be improved so that it may be viewed from the nearside window as well as from the inside of the cab. This would eliminate the misunderstandings that occasionally occur between foreigners and the cab drivers as to the amount they owe.

TRAMS should be brought back – not the old; clanking varieties, which finally expired in London shortly after the war, but the modern, comfortable, quiet and speedy version to be seen in some capital cities. Modern trams are economical to run, they do not pollute the atmosphere, their direction is sure and their timing is better than that of buses. Car and taxi drivers hate them because there is no doubt about who has priority; everyone else should welcome their return for the same reason, and because public travelling is likely to become faster and easier.

Because London's street plans are so erratic their return should be limited to four cross-town arteries. The trams will normally run on two-way lines down the middle of roads, will have priority over all except emergency traffic, should have one standard fare and run at intervals of not more than six minutes.

Listening Comprehension