By Oliver Conway

Last session, some of the pupils in Mr Chalmers’ S2 English class entered the Commonwealth Essay Competition. This Competition invites pupils to write essays on a range of subjects and a variety of prizes is awarded for the winning essays. Oliver Conway, now in S3, won the local prize for Scotland, the Mary Jackson Memorial Prize and a cheque for £100.00. The Chief Examiner concluded that Oliver’s essay was “well planned and mature, covering every aspect of transport and giving logical reasons for his suggestions. Oliver knows that there are all sorts of obstacles to reform and suggests modifications might work better than completely new forms. He really should be put in charge of the British Transport System!” We are delighted to record our congratulations to Oliver and print his winning essay below.

IF I WERE IN CHARGE OF THE BRITISH TRANSPORT SYSTEM

The British Transport System as it is represents an ecological shambles. The pollution created is less than it was compared with, for example, nineteenth century Edinburgh (‘Auld Reekie’) but is still creating excess carbon monoxide that damages lungs and atmosphere – two important aspects of staying alive! Also consider the amount of needless traffic – private cars with only one person in each. One public bus transports the amount of people approximately eight times its length in private cars. An advantage of the high car prices in Britain is that it is less affordable to buy one. The relative priority of freight commuter and tourist traffic, air and land, should be addressed, as good organisation of these will amount to a better system without having to take away or add anything.

Firstly an example taken from Singapore, possibly the most eco-friendly city in the world. Echoing them I would use tax for research into cleaner fuel and fuel efficient car engines. The people’s money would also come in useful for an improved public transport system. This would include an interlocked bus/metro system such as has been put into operation in Toulouse in the South of France, one that I have experienced for myself. I think the buses should be made more comfortable so people want to travel publicly. There could be other public transport such as trams and monorails which should be more widespread as they are efficient, fume-free and relatively easy to maintain. Another leaf out of Singapore’s book is the use of tough restrictions on private cars in the form of high petrol and diesel prices, higher tax, strict traffic laws and a more demanding driving test making it difficult to own a car even if you are rich.

The next subject of interest is freight, probably the most important sector of transport needed to keep the country up and running. Therefore I would create a purely freight railway system using routes solely for freight and so would not be hindered by the comparatively roundabout journeys of the commuter and tourist network. This would take all the hulking freight juggernauts off the road meaning less traffic congestion and reducing the need for road maintenance. The added use of canals and rivers means that freight wouldn’t rely on these new freightways. The importance of these would be enhanced by the ever more increasing use of ‘net-shopping’.

Lastly, the encouragement of using bikes, walking, and ‘scooting’ is important primarily for the space and cleanliness but also would help the growing concern for the amount of ‘beerbellies’ there are cropping up. With these measures in place there should now be enough space for more walkways and cycleways that would encourage the British to enjoy the newly green Britain.

A drawback of this revolutionary transport system would be the inconvenience of digging metro-tunnels, making new trainlines/tramlines which would mostly disrupt business and commuter transport. These new ideas would also put the Government under pressure because of rises in the cost of fuel which could result in another fuel protest. The passing of bills on traffic would be difficult and risky too. Significantly, the giant oil companies would buy off all eco-friendly, clean fuel patents, then shelve them and because we rely on these companies to maintain the global infrastructure, no-one can dispute them. Lastly the high tax on cars and the cavalier use of such taxes in creating a new system would draw attention and prejudice the flow of the project.

Unfortunately, these immense changes could be difficult for many people to absorb. People tend to be uneasy about change. Most of the ideas mentioned are effective because they have worked elsewhere but it is incredibly difficult to make a substantial amount of people agree because human beings are so varied in opinion. The most likely proposals that could work are modifications rather than completely new forms.