The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1925-06-12
With The
Alibi Artists
Washington's Streets
Suited for Moving
and Stationary
Traffic
N. Y. Situation Cited
By DONALD McDOUGAL.

so4many neople depend on autos
now to reach the office, shop,
store or mortar bed, that al eof
des11ic of. say, spawned tires or
engine trouble would leave more
work short handed than the world
war did.
Last year. motor vehicles carr
ried four times as many people as
all the steam railroads OF the ma
ton combined. And carried them
snout the same average distance.
Police Commissioner Eeright, or
New York, found. last fall, that
parking in the downtown sections
OF the Sity was slowing up traffic
to the tune of $1,000,000 per day.
That looked to him like a pref
ty serious loss. and he imposed a
Commute limit on parking in
those parts Of the city. Then
came the deluge. Phone calls, let
tiers in basketfulls, kilograms, pro.
test meetings, INDIGNATION commit
tees, press comment. editorials
all to the effect that the 1000 900
loss was better than the parking
privilege loss.
It's only "a slight exaggeration
to say that everything is hooked
up in one way or another with
motor transportation. You stand
about as much chance OF manipu-
lating any part of it without af-
fecting half the population Of the
town as you would OF pulling a
healthy toncat out OF a clothes
closet by the tail WITHOUT knock
ing any dresses off the hangers.
When man invests a thousand
dollars or so in a car he's JUST.
fled in expecting to get q thou
sand dollars worth of use out Of
it. And having it around when
, he wants 1t, is a large part of its
use. To take away this feature
of the cars value is to deprive the
owner of substantial part of his
investment.
Commissioners Enright's expert
ence showed that he was dealing
with q very substantial part
$1,000,O0 q day total.
He withdrew the order. Now the
number Of cars has increased to
such an extent~fhat he is consid-
ering the question of re-establ
ing the Commute rule in certain
streets where it Is next door to O
physical iTnpossibility for traffic
to get through otherwise.
New York'S congested streets
are narrower than Washington's,
and the volume of traffic is be.
yond all comparison greater.
washington has no huge ocean
liners with trainloads of exports
and imports to clog the streets
every day. 1t has no fleet of
ferryboats discharging their hum
dreds OF passengers every minute
throughout the rush period to
fight their way through narrow
streets to their jobs in all parts
OF the city.
Washington, with wider streets,
has one-twelfth the population of
New York and perhaps per cent
of the hauling. 1t seems only
reasonable then that Washington
should find room for all-day park.
eFs in the congested district II
New York can find room for 20
minute parkers.
Other cities have banned or
restricted parking, but only after
every thinkable resource has been
!. tried:
All of them recognize parking
dS q N6AQ<k0AC CGOA1O1Al1C &4AA
of them exhaust every possible
expedient before denying drivers
the use OF the streets; none OF
them will agree that there is any
justification for the abolition of
parking until the economic loss
that parking induces by slowing
up traffic, is greater than the
loss incurred by abolition of
parking.
Washington Is the one large
city that has streets wide enough
to care for both moving and sta
tionary. traffic, for many years
to come. We have paid taxes on
them for many years past.
The planners of the city had
the foresight to provide us with
parking space. We should have
the wisdom to use If