Traffic jams are nothing new

         In the age before the motor car, what was traveling in London like? Photographs taken 100 years ago showing packed streets indicate that it was much the same as it is now. It has been calculated that, even with new anti-congestion systems in place, commuters who choose the car to get to work travel at an average speed of 17 kph from their homes in the suburbs to offices in the centre. This /That / It is virtually the same speed that they would /must have traveled at in a horse and carriage a century ago.

      As towns and cities grow, so does traffic, whether in the form of the horse and carriage or the modern motor car. It would seem that, wherever there are people who need to go somewhere,  they would rather be carried than walk or pedal. The photographs show that, in terms of congestion and speed, traffic in London hasn’t changed over the past 100 years. London has had traffic james ever since it became a huge city.  It is only the vehicles that have changed.

        However, apart from the congestion which affected London long before the car came along, the age of the horse produced relatively little unpleasantness. This age, for example, saw none of the exhaust fumes which city dwellers have to live with today.