El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1913-09-06
MOTOR TRAFFIC
A MONEY SAVER.
Prevents Street Congestion
and Saves Money to
Vehicle Owners.

In laying out the streets in most
cities Of from 100. 900 to 5000, oGo pop
uIation the conditions which deter
mined the width of streets were en-
tirely based on vehicular traffic Of
from Is to 100 years ago. Municipal
engineers in those days had the horse
ideal" in mind, and in many cases the
width Of the streets was considered
ample for the problematical traffic
congestion which might occur at some
future period. says Motor Field
In some cases where city govern
ments were anxious to economic in
either the paving or in expenditure for
street area belonging to private own
ers the width of streets selected was
Inadequate for increase OF pOpulaIlou
and traffic, which practical municipal
engineers would have had the fore
sight to have allowed for.
The consequence OF pa-rslmonlous mu-
nicipaI engineering in laying out
streets is that in many cities, especial
" those cities from 100000 up, the
streets have been greatly outgroWn and
cannot begin to accommodate the pres
ent day vehicle traffic without lnVolV-
ing inordinately large delays in getting
through congested lines Of vehicles.
Delay Costs Millions.
Those who have made serious
study Of motor transportation know
that the traffic delays incident to NOV
inc merchandfse in every city of 1OO.-
600 or more populations runs into NIL
lions of dollars every year The sltua-
ton, instead OF showing any relleI, De-
comes more aggravated from year TO
year as the teaming requirements OF
large firms demand more and more We
hicle equipment and as the aggregate
number OF vehicles in service Tor Dus-
mess and pleasure increases
In all of our large cities traffic re-
form legislation has been agitated
during the past ten years, but the
betterment is of relative insignificant
value While the restriction of bust
ness traffic to certain streets IN con-
gested centers does effect some relleI,
the fact is that it is impossible to
get other than temporary relief De-
cause there is a. physical limit to the
number of vehicles that can be &C
commodated in any given width and
length Of street
wider streets. which is obviously i'm
possible at this day in the archltec-
turaI development Of cities, or IN
changing the motive power OF the
vehicle The latter solution OF Ura1Ilc
congestion is the only sensible, prac-
teal and permanent solution OF the
growing evil AS the length or the
vehicle is most important FACTOR IN
preventing traffic congestion OUTSIDE
of its speed. naturally the relief must
come through the general utilization
of self propelled vehicles. In using
morse
''WheelbaSe" of the motive pOWer-Jne
horses-is nearly equal TO that of the
vehicle in other words. space IS pc
coming such a premium IN large cities
that economically speaking, the use
of horse drawn vehicles is bringing
about d collective and individual
economical loss for which we all must
pay a tax. This tax appears Indirectly
as one of the principal factors IN the
present high cost Of living
If the econ OulV IN street space was
the the only ground on which the bust
ness motor vehicle could base Its claim
for effecting traffic reforms this alone
would Justify its more general use by
the business public.
Lose $1,000 Each Year.
If the two horse vehicle, which, with
its drivers, general upkeep, deprecla-
ton, maintenance. interest on invest
ment etc. costs S12 per day, is held
up by delays in traffic and in loading
and unloading by crude labor (Which
could be accomplished with the motor
truck by its own mechanical power
three hours per day, the owner Of the
vehicle suffers a direct monetary loss
of s. per day, or $1,000 per year OF 800
average working days. This amount
is sufficient to more than pay for the
cost of a good double team and wagon
with all the necessary auxiliary equip
ments- If every user OF double
horse team in New York suffers a
direct loss averaging $500 per year due
to delays incident to traffic congestion,
which are unavoidable by the driver,
the aggregate loss, figuring total
of sc. 900 teams in that city. runs into
$50, 600, 900 per year. This sum OF
money invested in motor trucks, fig
uring that the average business firm
has principal need for a two ton We
hicle, would mean that these marchants
could supply 1900 trucks without
making any outlay which could be
entered as capital charge on their
books In five years the team owners
of New York city could invest in So 600
trucks, which would have displaced
nearly all teams Continuing the Illus
trations still further in eight years
time the entire business vehicle traffic
in New York could be motorized with
out the owners taking anything out OF
their business TO accomplish this des-
ideratum-
It has been generally conceded by
those at all familiar with traffic con-
ditions that the adoption of motor
driven commercial vehicles is doing
much to relieve street congestion in
the movement of merchandise