Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1913-03-29

that can be accommodated in any given
width and length of street.
The problem is one of either making
wider streets which is obviously i'm
possible at this day in the architectural
development of cities, or in changing
the motive power of the vehicle. The
latter solution Of traffic congestion Is
the only sensible. practical and per-
manent solution Of the growing evil AS
| the length Of the vehicle ia a most i'm
portant factor in preventing traffic con-
gestion outside Of its speed, naturally
the relief must come through the gen
| eral utilization Of self propelled vehi-
cles. In using a horse drawn business
vehicle, the wheel base" Of the mo-
tive power-the horse-is nearly equal
to that Of the vehicle. In other words
space is becoming such a premium in
large cities that, economically speak
ing, the use Of horse drawn vehicles is
bringing about a collective and indi-
vidual economical loss for which we
all must pay tax. This tax appears
indirectly as one of the principal fac
tors In the present high cost OF living.
OF all things, transportation efficient
and economical, constitutes one of the
biggest items in the expense OF mer-
chandise distribution. To put the MAJ
ter in more concrete form, let us an
! alyZe briefly the ratio Of the space
occupied by a horse drawn vehicle and
motor truck. single horse delivery
wagon. for illustration, has an overall
/ length OF about 1S feet and occupies
| 80 square feet Of area. To house this
! horse vehicle demands ia square
| feet of ground space. The business
motor vehicle which on an average
| could do as much work as two OF the
| one horse delivery wagons has an over
all length of about 10 1-2 feet or a to-
| tai of so square feet Of area, whether
on street or In a garage. Here is a
! saving Of valuable street space Of prac-
tically 33 Ia per cent and approximate
lily 60 per cent for dead storage. For
larger capacity vehicles. the comparison
is more startling. A five-tOn horse truck
needs 25 feet on the street or 200 square
| feet OF space; the stabling area OF the
same horse equipment represents PSI
square feet. A five-ton motor truck Of
| equal capacity and doing as much work
in some cases as half a dozen two
horse teams takes up only 176 square
feet on the street or the garage.
Truck Worth Millions.
| If the economy in street space were
the only ground on which the business
motor vehicle could base its claim for
effecting traffic reforms, this alone
would Justify it's more general use by
the business public. Economy in val
liable street space is however, but one
of the many ways in which motorized
transportation can eliminate an enor-
nous waste which we suffer from the
delays i'm getting our merchandise used
over city streets to-day. 1t can be
proven to the satisfaction of any skep
tic that a good motor truck can do rs
an average two and one-half times as
much work in an equivalent time as
the horse, which increased rate OF speed
of doing work economies street space
to an extent Of approximately 70 per
cent In favor OF motorized traffic as
against horse drawn vehicles. n other
words. the same amount of VIC K can be
done with about one-fourth OF the
street congestion or quadruple the pres
ent volume of traffic can be aceommo-
portation before we will have outgrown
in most Of our cities the present street
llayouts and highway movement Of mer-
chandise.
This may sound theoretical but
little practical reasoning will readily
show that our argument is based on
actual facts which, while they arc
known to the average business man,
they are accepted like many other of
the matter Of fact things which bring
about in the United States economical!
wastes reaching into the billions OF
dollars every year If, for illustration.
the two-hcrse vehicle which. with it's
drivers. general upkeep, depreciation,
| maintenance, interest on investment,
etc. costs Sl2 per day IS held up by
delays in traffic and in loading and
unloading by crude hand labor (Which
could be accomplished with the motor
/ truck by its own mechanical power)
/ three hours per day. the owner OF the
I vehicle suffers a direct monetary loss
of 81 per day, or $1,000 per year Of
I 500 average working days This
Z amount is sufficient to more than pay
for the cost Of a good double team
and wagon. with all necessary auxiliary
| equipments.
: enormous importance. becomes rela-
: lively insignificant in comparison with
I the Indirect loss due 10 failure 10 live
up TO contracts and to retain the good
. viii of business firms clientele and
I customers. In some businesses this in
Z direct loss is far more serious than in
/ others. as IL is not a question in GER
I tain businesses as to the cost of the
( transportation, but a question of get
[ ting the goods delivered promptly auG
/ eNppditousIy. and the cost of accom-
I pliShing this is not regarded as of any
Z consequence. II every user of a double
I horse team in New York suffers "A di-
/ rect loss averaging $500 per year. due
I 10 delays incident 10 traffic congestion.
I which are unavoidable by the driver
/ the aggregate loss figuring q total Of
! oil. 0O0 teams in New York. runs into
! $50. oUU. 600 per year This sum of mon
I ey invested in motor trucks. figuring
] that the average business firm has prin-