Herbert Alker Tripp
Sir Herbert Alker Tripp (c1885-1954)
1954 Obituary [1]
ON Monday last Sir Alker Tripp died at the age of seventy-one years.
Sir Alker joined the Metropolitan Police Force 1n 1902 and from 1932, after he had been appointed an Assistant Commissioner at Scotland Yard, he was closely concerned with the traffic problem in London. As head of the rapidly growing traffic department he directed his energies to the study of traffic control and road safety. Sir Alker saw the need for a co-ordinated traffic policy in London and a master plan for highway development. In this connection he presented a paper, "The Design of Streets for Highway Traffic Requirements," to the Institute of Transport in 1933, and for this paper he was presented with the gold medal of the Institute.
From 1933 to 1947 Sir Alker served as a member of the London and Home Counties Traffic Advisory Committee. He made a close study of traffic conditions in large cities abroad and in 1938 he published his well-known textbook Road Traffic and Its Control.
In 1942 he published another book entitled Town Planning and Road Traffic, in which post-war reconstruction suggestions were combined with the results of his investigations and practical experience in traffic control. That same year Sir Alker became a member of the Royal Academy's Planning Committee for the architectural redevelopment of London.
In addition to his official activities, Sir Alker was also a well-known yachtsman, artist and author. He was made a C.B.E. in 1935 and was knighted in 1945.