Evening star., 1924-08-15
The Motor Parking Problem.

An actual count Of motor cars
parked on the downtown streets Of
this city one day last week between
the hours Of 1915 and HAS o'clock
in the morning showed, as will be
noted by an article in the news col
umns today. accompanied by a map,
S,099 machines standing at the curbs.
Unquestionably many If not most Of
these cars were "all-day parkers.' -
Yet the area in which the count was
made was that Of the congested dis.
trict in which all-day parking is pro-
hibited. Several thousand motorists
were obviously, therefore. on that day
disregarding the regulations, taking
their chances on discovery and PEN
atty. Those chances were in their
favor, because there are only 20 men
available to the traffic bureau for en-
forcing the parking rules, and there
were many blocks to cover.
The Star has heretofore pointed out
that the parking problem will not be
solved by the provision Of more space
in the streets for the accommodation
OF standing machines. At present
many car owners will not bring their
machines downtown in the morning
to remain all day, or to be used during
the day, because Of the difficulty Of
finding parking space. If more room
were assured under the present rules,
and with the present difficulty OF en-
forcing the rules, these car owners
would undoubtedly bring their ma
chimes down and simply add to the
congestion.
On the other hand, it has been
pointed out that complete enforce
ment of the parking rules would drive
machines out of the congested dis
trict into the adjacent territory. which
is largely residential, and would mill
tate against the convenience Of house
holders, who would find the street
spaces in front of their dwellings &C.
cupied all day by alien cars.
In these circumstances it would
seem that the only true cure Of the
evil is to compel the provision of stor-
age spaces off the streets, not in the
parks, as was so foolishly proposed,
but in interior spaces, probably on a
commercial basis. Solution will never
be found by simply pointing to one
difficulty after another.
1t does follow that because the
squad is small it Is impossible to en-
force the parking time-limit rule. The
20 men now comprising that squad
could clean up square by square in
a very short time, If it were sought
to make 100 per cent application
of the time-limit rule. OF course, it is
impossible to cover the entire area
every day with only 20 men. But
put 20 men on one block or two blocks
in a day and then another block or
two blocks another day and so on un-
til the area has been covered, and the
rule would be given sufficient en-
forcement to. start the process Of in
ducing a new habit of car manage
ment.
The whole trouble here is that car
owners have acquired the habit Of
all-day parking, under the encourage
ment of kindly tolerance In the past.
They are taking advantage of the
difficulty of enforcement to persist
in that habit. They will continue as
long as the authorities seek other
remedies for the parking evil than that
of absolute prohibition. When abso-
lutte prohibition is assured. facilities
for the care Of machines that must
be brought into town daily will be
provided as an economic response
to the public demand.