Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1921-04-17

ut Washington of a senatorial in
yesttEaiion into the application OF
{. Federal aid in road construction. has
stirred highway officials, engineers,
roadbuildcrs ana good road advo-
Is Gates TO seek ways and means where
by highway departments may the
:. more accurately arrive at Il justin
bic first cost Of highway constructs ion
and methods Of financing road work
that VIII tighten the burden to the
taxpayers.
Asphalt ASSOCIATION New York CITY,
former chief road economist for the
United states Bureau OF Public Roads
and tho American Automobile Assoc
citation. has come forward with u
plan which he believes, no matter
in what state il is applied will tend
to prevent Cumbersome conditions.
such as those IN Arkansas. Mr..
Pennyhack"r advocates a more care
f1t survey 10 determine justiilabic
first cost aud the application OF pr!n-
cipleS he has evolved as tnc result
OF years of study in road economies,
to determine the length of time
and the rate AT which the payments
should be maJe. In regard TO his
remedy Mr.. Pcunybackcr says:
DIFFERENTIATION OF justiiiahlc out
lay for q proposed highway improve
mcnt from anticiiGted service should
call for at least rs careful a survey
and estimate a. the cngin.cr now
provides for the engineering fca-
lures preliminary to the construction
of the highway Millions of earth
roads and thousands Of miles OF
lightly surfaced ana poorly designed
gravel and maCadam roads mpoS"
upon the highway engineers OF the
nation the task Of so parcclinc out
highway revenue that IT viii he APP
piled Ia the highways in proportion
as thcy show traffic Justification for
Improvement.
ITO, Incorporate this requirement.
into highway c-ginccrinr practic"
is to make the traffic unit
as widely used as the customary
units Of physical measurement. This
the NardSiick Of traffic does not dis
regard the profound beneficial in
iluence Of the highway upon social
life and educational development in
rural districts. but inasmuch as they
GO hand in hand with traffic develop
ment the latter may in general be
regarded as an index of both the di-
ment.
Motor vehicle traffic prcdominatcs
10 such an extent as to make logical
the adoption OF a system OF mcasur-
ing costs and iustiiiabic OUTLAY pri-
marily in units derived from This class
Of traffic Thus. while the unit com
monty used for horsc-drawn traffic is
The ton mile and applies 10 loads
rather than to vehicle. 1t is ucccS-
Sary to adopt a unit which will take
into account the 100000 passenger
automobiles now registered. and the
millions TO come and which will al
low credit TO the highway for the
saving In their operating costs. To
substitute vehicle mile" would not
fully meet this need tho lOc0. 400
trucks IN use and those yet 10 come
must be rated ms deriving greater
benefit individually than the paSScu-
ger car \ simple plan sufficiently
comprehensive to meet most needs is
to retain the ton mile" aS the unit of
measurement. but TO regard each pas
StnEcr car and each one and two
hose vehicle rs the equivalent o!
one ton. while the motor truck and
tho heavy team outfits would be re-
Eardcd as the equivalent Of the We
hiclc weight plus the load In tons
This plan would permit of rapid
traNc enumeration without complex
ity. Subdivision OF the investigation
to determine where the route is to
be for heavy truck traffic" or for
Tight traffic" would require scErr-
cation OF the heavy ana light truck
records respectively, but this would
Investigation, namely. TO ascertain
juStifiablc outlay.
''Counting the traffic on the old
road is manifcstly an Inadequate
method -! aSc"rtainiuE total ton
miles. After the highway is i'm
proved II viii divert traffic from
other highways will stimulate local
traitc SO that more miles will hc
Travelled ia given period. increase
deliveries from aud TO market points.
develop resources and finally, IL II
* on trunk lin" OF a route 10 scenic
and rccrcatiouIl regions. ii viii dr:tw
increased tourist travel These va
Tious classes Of anticipated travel
may be termed potential" ana, how
eyre difficult Of exact estimate the
investigator. ShoulR. give weight to
then! IN las r"o.EnG.Isditiou as To
justifiable outlay. II IS suggested
that for the potential loca. traffic
zone he plotted 10 include the ter
ritory which might logically bc
served by the highway after improve
mcnt- Wirhin this zone tho invcs-
tigator could make an approximate
tu'omghl!g census ana so aeGuaint
himself Win tn" business Industrial
and social factors and possibilities
OF the zone as % establish a basis
Tor estimating both the saturatlon
point In motor vehicle ownership ana
IN" average mileage per car In
short without attempting to present
here the exact detail 0f a traffic sur
Tcy do mean 10 urge the necessity
and practicability Of traffic cch-
sus which covers both existing and
potential traffic
Generating costs Of motto, vehicles
are aSeeriA4nHnl. and may y, ex-
pressed lu ton mile units costs Of
{ probation garage. chauffeur. taxes.
etc, MAKE "a substantial total How
the figures look from national
standpoint may I'D cleaned from sta
ttSticS Thus in 9?n IN" gasoline
consumed by motor cars amounted 10
sl.oo0oOo.0u0 IA prices pa.t ~ r5r
owners. Tires az, estimated hy NJ
O Eldrid=c. director Of roads uf tn.
American Automobile AesuDiufion ~
sl.00000o 600 "a year Sir EldrIdg.
says. "Ccmpar, the smop;u residence
OF tHih avenue, New YoT. with tho
rough, gritty and fin'y surfaces So
often oncoun'ored on ss'uutry roads
and try TO Imagine what a tidy sum
in tire bills would De saved IL Nc
could all travel on avenue surlsccs. f"
l.UtTICfItIgGs oils ia 4. q