San Antonio light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1911-1993, 1924-03-02
Education Counted On to
Solve Many Traffic
Problems.
RECKLESS ARE JAILED
Kansas City Judge Estab-
fishes School for Vio-
III SO. lators.
By J. c. ROYLE.

New York. March 1.-Education Is
counted on today to solve many OF
the problems Of traffic congestion
which threaten the business activity
Of the cities Of this country. Experts
are coming unanimously to the opin-
ion that cooperation between automo-
bile drivers and traffic policemen is
q necessity.
In Kansas City. for example, vigi-
liant committees Of citizens have been
formed to I'D the police in apprehend-
ing violators Of traffic rules. One po-
lice Judge in Kansas City, Kan, has
established q school for traffic viola
tors and convicted motorists are COM
pelled to act as traffic cops for time
In order TO familiarize themselves with
the gravity Of the problem the police
have to face.
One of every three policemen In
Kansas City Is on traffic duty and
jail sentences are imposed on the Mis-
souri, side Of the state line for care
less and reckless driving. Parking IN
the business section is prohibited in
the rush hours and only one hour
stops are allowed at any time. The
notice have arranged with q private
concern to haul cars Of parking viola
ton from the streets and such ma
chimes can only be recovered by pay
ing q towing and storage fee as well
as a fine. The first two items COM
hined average about S. in each case.
Parking fees in private garages there
run from % to 90 cents for periods
under twelve hours.
Police Are Educated.
In other cities, it is the police who
are being educated. In some centers
every traffic policeman is expected to
have driven a car himself for at least
a week in the city, so that he is thor
oughly familiar with the difficulties OF
drivers. -,
The problems encountered In the
larger cities are by no means absent
even in the less thickly populated re-
gions. The great open spaces OF Texas
are in striking contrast with the mar
row streets of some Texas cities. The
old-fashioned plaza" u relic Of Span.
ish and Mexican occupation, has served
.
spects, but the streets leading to these
public squares often are narrow and
uneven.
The Texas state highway department.
is conducting an educational campaign
in both urban and rural districts for
strict right-hand driving and cooper
alton by motorists. The department
has raised the speed limit in the coun-
try to IS miles an hour and the city
limit to % miles, which has helped
to speed up traffic. A uniform method
of overhead signaling has been ar
ranged by traffic experts of Houston,
Dallas, Fort Worth and San Antonio.
Problem in the West.
Some effort has been made in Hous-
ton to regulate pedestrian traffic SINH
larry, but as no stringent rules have
been put in force, many walkers cross
streets regardless of signals. In that
city, vacant lots In the business dis
trict are utilized for parking at a
charge Of fifteen cents, but these are
largely patronized only at night when
theatrical performances are in prog
ress.
In the intermountain West, wide
thoroughfares are rather the rule. In
spite of this, however, the problem
of parking is acute in places such as
Z Denver, Salt Lake City, Cheyenne and
Casper. In Denver, various systems
have been tried. Center parking and
angle parking proved uneconomical Of
space and parallel parking is now the
rule. Two big automobile hotels are
projected for the Denver business dis
tricts and many open air garages have
been established on vacant lots in the
business section and in the rear yards
of business establishments. A charge of
% cents a day is usually made in
these locations.
1t is noticeable that many business
men in the West, as well as in east
ern cities who formerly drove their
automobiles to business now arc leav-
y ing them at home and patronizing the
street cars.