London’s Hammersmith Bridge is a metaphor(隐喻、象征) for all that is wrong with British government. Closed to motor traffic and inert(停滞的、无生气的) for seven years, it is a victim of the anarchy(无政府状态、混乱) that seeps into(渗透进、蔓延到) every tier of public administration. The bridge sits today on a sublime bend in the Thames, guarded by what looks like Checkpoint Charlie(冷战时期柏林墙著名检查站) in iron curtain Berlin. With Albert Bridge also now closed, 37,000 extra vehicles seeking to cross the river have brought south London close to perpetual gridlock(永久性交通瘫痪). No one cares.
伦敦的哈默史密斯桥是英国政府种种弊病的缩影。它禁止机动车通行，七年来一直闲置，成了渗透到每一级公共管理中的无政府状态的牺牲品。如今，这座桥横卧在泰晤士河一处绝美的河湾上，守卫它的东西看上去就像铁幕时期柏林的那个查理检查站。阿尔伯特桥如今也已封闭，多出的3.7万辆车要过河，让伦敦南部几乎陷入永久性的交通瘫痪。可没人在乎。
London may be the richest, smartest, coolest place in Britain. Yet it is run like a high street vape shop(街头电子烟小店). Its buses are ever slower, homeless people are ever more prevalent(普遍的、盛行的), waiting times in hospitals ever longer. No one can decide if they want an HS2 terminus(英国高铁二号线终点站) or a Heathrow runway. A robotic Whitehall(英国政府中枢的代称) algorithm has just declared, ludicrously(荒唐地、可笑地), that the borough of Kensington’s “housing target” must be 5,107 homes a year, up from a previous target of 1,381.
伦敦也许是英国最富有、最聪明、最酷的地方，可它的治理却像街头一家电子烟小店。公交车越来越慢，无家可归者越来越多，医院候诊时间越来越长。没人能决定到底要不要高铁二号线终点站，要不要希思罗机场跑道。白厅一个机械的算法最近荒唐地宣布，肯辛顿区的“住房目标”必须达到每年5107套，而此前目标是1381套。
The first thing you notice about a city is its traffic. In other cities, it moves. In London, it crawls(缓慢移动、爬行). Its congestion is officially rated the worst of any capital in the world. Efforts to improve the sclerotic(僵化的、硬化的) traffic lights have failed. The recent installation of computer-assisted “smart” lights – the much-vaunted(被大肆吹嘘的) road time optimisers – has contrived(设法做到（含勉强之意）) to cut just 27 seconds off individual bus journeys. A Guardian investigation last month timed a series of trips, and found the average speed for a No 22 bus between between Putney Common and Oxford Circus was under 6mph, or 16% slower than a decade ago.(《卫报》上月的调查对多趟行程计时，发现22路公交平均时速不到6英里，比十年前慢16%。)
认识一座城市，你最先注意到的就是交通。别的城市，车流在动；伦敦的车流在爬。它的拥堵程度被官方评为全球首都之最。改善僵化红绿灯的努力全都失败了。最近安装的计算机辅助“智能”信号灯——被吹得神乎其神的道路时间优化器——好不容易才把单趟公交行程缩短了27秒。《卫报》上个月的一项调查对多趟行程计时，发现22路公交从帕特尼公地到牛津广场的平均时速不到6英里，比十年前还慢了16%。