3 The impact of car ownership and other travel developments, 1918-79

How did the car industry and car ownership grow during the interwar period?

• Most cars were too expensive, but fell from the early 1930s (e.g. the Morris Minor SV cost £100)
• Still the preserve of the middle classes (except secondhand car sellers/ syndicates)
• Aided by mass marketing/ consumerism
• Led to rapid road building (e.g. Mersey Tunnel, 1934)
• Road deaths - 1934 Road Traffic Act introduced 30mph speed limits/ pedestrian crossings/ driving tests
• New car workshops/ garages/ petrol stations - helped by engines becoming more reliable
• Became a leisure activity - travel guides/ excursions

How far did car ownership fuel the post-war consumer boom?

• Production interrupted by the war/ petrol restrictions until 1950
• Post-war models were plagued by problems/faults - exacerbated by poor labour relations (e.g. Ford's Dagenham plant)
• Became synonymous with faulty/poor-quality - favoured imports (Germany/Japan)
• Not equally spread - middle-class accesibility caused a 'white flight' (less racial in the UK)
• Decline in journeys by bus/coach - which grew with holidays

What was the relationship between car ownership and road building?

• Dramatic expansion of the road network
• Preston bypass (1958), M1 connected London and Birmingham (1959)
• High speed roads impacted quality of life (environmentalists/ home owners next to motorways)

What was the impact of greater car ownership on the railways?

• Didn't itself result in a decline in the use of the train network - it was more rising operating costs (wage levels caused huge losses of £300,000 a day)
• Led to Beeching to prioritise the road network
• The Beeching axe (1963) - controversially reduced railways by 5,000 miles
• Opposition came from isolated/ those who looked to rail's national pride
• Caused irreversible damage - caused more pressure on roads
• Cuts were inevitable 
• Suggested investment to profitable inter-city services/ modernisation of freight

• Grew significantly in the 1960s - cheap foreign holidays
• Partly due to difficulties in taking cars abroad (roll-on roll-off ferries came in the early 1960s)
• Early companies used converted wartime aircraft - low demand, short-lived
•  Less subsides offered (than places like France)
• 1924 Imperial Airways amalgamation with governnment subsides
• Interwar period was renouned for glamourous air travel, despite low demand
• 14m passenger journeys in 1970 - cheap holidays e.g. Laker Airlines (6/66) who were charter only.