Evening star., 1925-09-09
Machines Carry More People
in Heart of City Than
Public Conyeyances.
1872 PER CENT RIDE CARS;
2.9 PER CENT IN BUSES
Great Importance of Automobile in
Transportation Shown by Second
Section of Traction Survey.

Estimating that 90 per cent of the
working population of Washington
and its environs in Maryland and
Virginia travel to and from work
every day by automobile, the engi-
neering firm of Mcclellan & Junkers-
field today submitted to the Utilities
Commission hte second section of its
report on the transportation problems
of the National Capital
This estimate led the engineers 10
conclude that the private automo-
bile is very important factor in the
local transportation situation in the
District of Columbia, because of the
large PERCENTAGE of working popula-
ton using it as means of transpor-
tation."
More Drive Than Are Carried.
Another outstanding feature of this
second report is a table showing by
actual count that more individuals
pass into and out of the heart of the
city in private automobiles in the
course of u day than are carried in
the same area by the street cars,
motor busses and taxicabs combined.
In order TO gauge the relative inn
portance of the several means of con
Gordon of men around the area
bounded by Rock Creek, S street.
Union Station and Maryland avenue
and counted the vehicles passing in
and out of that central portion of the
city, together with the number of per-
sons carried in one day. Here is what
they found:
That 227.004 private automobiles
passed this boundary line. That they
fraI N.N ..-s&
1,o53,30o. That they actually carried
441,9Ss individuals, or 5s.8 per cent
of the total number of persons
counted. That they averaged 10
passengers TO an automobile.
Street Cars Carried 3o4.547.
That 1928 street cars passed the
designated boundary, having a total
seating capacity OF So ,0i2, and
actually carrying 304.547 passengers
This was 39.2 per cent of the total
number of persons, and 1919 passeu-
gers TO a car.
That 2,007 motor husses passed.
with a total seating capacity of 5S.203.
and actually transporting 22,556 in
dividuals, which amounted to 90 per
cent of the total. There were liz
passengers to a bus.
That taxicabs passed to the number
So, 800. They carried SOS persons. or
IL per cent of the total. and only s
passengers per cab.
Most of the second section is de-
voted to detailed description OF the
rolling stock, trackage and other
equipment Of the railway lines and
bus companies operating in Washing
ton. which information will be essen
tial in studying the possibilities OF a
merger.
1920 Cars in Service.
Because of the large number of peo-
pie using private automobiles. the en-
gineers made a most careful analytical
study of the total number of such
vehicles, and how many automobile
owners live in each neighborhood Of
the city.
They found that the District had is
sued 9S 900 motor vehicle tags from
January / to June 2S.
Then they eliminated duplicate tags
due TO used cars changing ownership,
and found that there were actually
S4,240 motor vehicles in service.
Next they segregated the autos ac-
cording to type, and found the follow
ing:
Private automobiles-Total, 72,4S2;
divided into 37,542 touring models.
6.235 roadSterS, 14,447 Sedans 2,693
coaches, 9.245 coupes and 2,32o mis-
cellaneous types.
Ta1icabs-Total. 553
Motor busses, S5.
Motor trucks, 1o,6
Tractors, So
Move Cars Further Out.
In order to find out how these
automobiles are spread over the
city, the District was arbitrarily di-
yided into 95 neiShborhoods and q
record made of the number of ma
chimes in each neighborhood per 100
persons.
"An examination of this ratio
says the report, 'discloses the fact
that there are a greater number of
passenger automobiles with respect
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