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The horse and buggy days: a transport poster from the Vancouver Archives

The horse and buggy days: a transport poster from the Vancouver Archives

A poster about transportation from the B.C. Electric files at the Vancouver Archives.

Here’s another gem I found in the B.C. Electric paper files at the City of Vancouver Archives, along with the classic transit ad I posted before. (The brown streaks are glue—the poster came out of a paper scrapbook.)

Unfortunately I do not have the exact item number, but it’s from some time in the 1950s I believe… and the message is still one that rings true in many ways today! If you can’t see the text, it reads:

Don’t laugh. Actual tests in some of the very large cities on this continent show that the average speed at which traffic moves through congested areas is less than it was during the horse and buggy days.

When you think of the effort and money put into traffic planning and control, parking schemes, new bridges, widened streets—it’s mighty discouraging.

Unless we profit from the experience of bigger cities where it has become dangerous and impractical to drive a car in the congested areas, we shall be faced before long with intolerable conditions.

Let’s get where we are going faster… let’s help hold down taxes and prevent more accidents. We can do this by taking our cars into congested areas only when vitally necessary.

By freeing the limited street space for commercial vehicles and transit vehicles, we make it easier for people to get to and from our business districts. We encourage the economic growth of our metropolitan area.

And just look at that list of sponsors endorsing the message from across the region!

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