Evening star., 1924-04-26
CITY PLANNING
and Transportation

ahOPoA ShsAoh
City planning and civic development
cannot Keep abreast of the rapid de
Selopments IN transportation in our
great metropolitan centers unless city
Planners ioci far ahead and map out
,ntlr pr"grams of development with
hhoWiedSc of the changes that are
@ @nound TO come in the wake of i'm
proved and Increased TRANSFORMATION
facilities. The great cities OF the ma
% eioL anu the nation itself suffer from
RECOMMENDATION, increasing length
OF passenger haul creating many
otner coiiatera! problems. Mere big
than an asset and American cities
must spread out laterally instead OF
horizontally II congested conditions
IN our great centers of population are
business suffocation.
These are the conclusions reached
by j. Rowland Bibbins, consulting en-
gineer of Washington, who has lust
concluded comprehensive study of
transportation in modern cities and
the many co-relating clements that
enter into the transportation of great
numbers Of people with direct rela-
tion TO the planning of urban centers
so that the population may be trans
ported without discomfort or great
loss of time
In proper city planning Mr.. Bib
bins insists that all transportatior
agencies, rail, water, motor, road and
trolley, must be reckoned with in any
transportation plan worthy Of the
name. This broad conception is still
In lts infancy, he declared Most cities
are extremely deficient in adjusting
themselves to the first element of The
plan--an adequate thoroughfare sys-
.en wlth scientific classification of
streets Tor the traffic they are 10
carry. me most pressing need OF
many modern cities today. thr en.ri
hCtr adds. is to schedule and budect
nNe-Near program Of street recon
ultIonllIG 10 develop flll roadway ca
paclty, arteries and relief streets
Washington has not kept pace mo-
Wlthstanding its wide streets and
ample facilities, in the development
OF It's transportation possibilities, Mr.
biboins says. Washington stopped
planning with respect to transporta
ton hundred years ago, although
today it is city with approSi
mately 10000 residents and IOe 00O
registered motors.
The second element of city plap
ming with respect to transportation.
according to Mr.. Bibbins, deals with
local transportation, routing and
operation by various means, includ-
ing the motor coach auxiliary and
suburban service with all the agen-
cies adjusted 10 the combined needs
OF the community, with the principlr
ever set before the city planners that
maximum speed and convenience are
essential TO adequate service and
thal the public deserves and will sup
port the best service il can secure.
Traffic system and Control.
system of traffic organization and
control scientifically worked out.
follows logically after these major
f,04u rf 49, ~
have been thought out, the engineer
points out. Although temporary meas
ures are often necessary, an elabo-
rate traffic control system should fol-
low rather than precedc the other
studies. as il is the point of final
adjustment--the last resource.
One of the essentials of the well
planned transportation units in a
modern city is proper development
of railroad and terminals, as com
mercial freight trucking, Mr.. Eib-
bins says, has become large part
of downtown congestion. This prob
lem cannot be worked out by itself.
he SAYS. adding that port terminal
and waterway Developments are ex-
tremeiy important parts OF the cit!
terminal problem and integral with.
not separate from, railroads, ware
housing and city trucking. Scientific
carriage control has barely begun.
MIR. Bibbins claims. and what has
happened in rail terminals will he
duplicated in air transport unless
efficient unificatlon is planned and
executed.
All these elements. the enginecr
concludes-rail. water, trolley, rapid
transit and air transport-must be
thought out together and properly
adapted to the city and metropolitan
plan and the general public welfare
so that development work may be in
practicable steps and adjusted TO the
purchasing power of the city for pub
lie improvements in line with the
increasing revenues from property
taxation.
Details to Be Decided.
Many important details have nor
yet been worked out by city planners
Mr.. BibbinS says. such as segre eating
city traffic horizontally and vertically.
developing higher efficiency of traffic
signals, determination of actual park
ing time needed the economic design
of traffic roadwayS, more convenient
man transfers between main lines and
feeders, with prepayment loading ter
minals at heavy points; ventilation OF
double-deck streets. the economic
possibilities of night delivery and col
lection to relieve passenger streets i'll
the daytime and the development OF
the arcade plan of roadway widening
Turning to railroads, he emphasized
the oHtrack type of freight stations
with motor deliveries and fuller de-
velopment of terminal air rights III
the downtown districts. terminal re-
ceSston, both passenger as well as
freight, and the economic location Of
belt and switching lines with respect
TO the city plan and residential areas.
As to the steps necessary to work
out all these factors, Mr.. Bihbins de
clared that organized fact-finding is
the only proper basis of analysis, de
Of
traffic transit and terminal movemen;
by road, rail and water are essential
for proper planning, he said. The
problem of transportation is largely
one of financing peak loading, not
only for the city, but for the business
of marion