Road transport: problems and prospects

1. Man, nature, transport... What is for which and which is for whom? Who is to gain or to lose?

Interest in these problems had extended beyond the spe­cialist to the millions of men interested in the problems that have come with development. Everyone rides on some ve­hicle every day, of course, but besides this, in modern society transport reflects some of the main problems of society — the big city, energy problems (in developed countries about a quarter of the power output is consumed by transport), raw materials (a million cats require up to a million tons of steel, 50 thousand tons of glass and 100 thousand tons of rubber). Finally there are the problems of the distribution of manpower resources (about a fifth of the employed population in devel­oped countries work directly or indirectly in transport), and ecology (transport is largely responsible for pollution).

2. So far transport research has given no exact definition of transport's place in modem society.

To get to the root of the transport problems one must begin by understanding what society needs transport for. This seemingly simple question has never been fully answered. Yet an answer we must have, if we are to solve the overall transport problem or even the problems involved in develop­ing one or another system.

Now an analysis of the social role of road transport has made it possible to see the main trends of its development and to forecast the consequences.

The development of road transport has called for con­trolled technological progress, for subordinating the technical aspects of transport to the harmonious development of trans-port, for a balanced combination of private and public trans­port.

3. The fact, though at first glance insignificant, that in public transport people learn to be considerate to each other (in Russian public transport, for instance, passengers do not smoke, the young should give up their seats to the elderly, etc.) is very important in the development of society — indeed, it helps to create a more friendly atmosphere. The fast growing transport systems call for still higher costs, and it is essential that technological progress in trans­port should eventually coordinate the society's transport needs with its materials and manpower resources.

An unbalanced development of transport may lead to a situation when the economic benefits in agriculture and industry are largely swallowed by high transport costs. There­fore, unbalanced developments of both individual types of transport and public transport system may restrict their relative efficiency.

4. In modern society transport has grown from a weak child into a giant whose habits are hard to live with. Everyone wants to reach a place comfortably and fast. Yet even transport engineers have user interest in transport. This is quite natural, but one must remember that the development of speed and comfort in transport can become a difficult problem — current steep rise in business, tourist and other journeys result in transport indiscipline.

5. We are hearing more and more about the evil by-products of the car — road accidents, smog and so on. Smog atone kills hundreds of people and is the cause of serious illnesses for many thousands of people in cities like Tokyo, New York, and London. How to solve these problems? More effective use of scientific and technological achievements of different countries could help here.

6. Road transport is receiving very close attention in Russia. Our country is fast becoming a leading car producer.

One feature of the Russian motor industry is uniformity. Maintenance, repairs and spares supplies, etc., are made much easier by a highly standardized fleet of cars.

Road passenger transport is playing an extremely impor­tant part in the country's life now; it brings town facilities to the village, and improves the standard and quality of life. Every Russian city with more than 60 thousand inhabitants has bus services. Altogether, more than 35 million people travel by bus every day.

Our country continues to increase the output of buses. This is the result of socialist policy of public transport first. But the number of private cars is a!so growing.

7. To work out a sound transport policy one must first work out the theory on the functioning of the modern trans­port systems, practical application of which can make trans­port really controllable. Thus man will be able to develop a transport system consciously, to make it optimal for the development of society; finally, this should help avoid the transport indiscipline, symptoms of which are being wit­nessed in our world.

All this is of prime importance for Russia whose vast territory and enormous scale of production require a colossal transport system.

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