New Britain herald., 1925-02-17
TRAFFIC LENDERS
 TROLLEYS CLAIMED
Usage of Streets by Automobiles
 Deplored

Washington, Feb. IA call to the 43,000,000 daily electric railway riders of the United States to rise up and demand traffic congestion relief was sounded today by J. N. Shanahan, president of the Ameri- can Electric Railway association. Addressing his organization in con- vention here, he declared failure to limit and prohibit parking. and to restrict traffic to certain channels. was playing havoc with electric rail- way and bus schedules. Four-ffths of all persons who ride are patrons of electric railway company-owned cars or buses, and practically all of them are being delayed by a small minority of riders in other vehicles | he insisted.
 Drivers Also Ride
 MT. Shannahan explained that he was not seeking to array persons not owning motor cars against own- CTS. Many car riders are motor owners who, beset by traffic conges- ton troubles, are using electric cars and buses.
 Traffic congestion is unspeak- able" he declared. Despite the best efforts of local transportation companies to provide service, 1t is virtually impossible nowadays, by reason of traffic congestion, to main- tain any respectable schedules in our city streets. The average run- ming time of an electric car or bus should be from 10 to 12 miles an hour, and yet in some cities 1t IS impossible, in the downtown sec- tions, to move at a greater rate of speed than two miles an hour in any sort of vehicle.
 "The majorty does not rule in the case of traffic congestion. Often- times one person in a single vehicle will get in front of car and delay | GO persons in 1t merely by occupying the track. Again, an unoccupied vehicle will be parked in such a position that it will stop or slow up a vehicle containing 60 persons. | Not Impossible To Solve
 "The traffic problem is not impos- sible of solution, though it admitted ly is difficult. For example there are two major steps which, If taken, would aid very m ~ch.
 First: Cease using the streets for storage. They were built to be used as passageways, and not as garages. Some people will, of course, resent not being permitted to store their cars all day long in the streets, but do not forget that when you offend one person by enforcing a no park ing regulation, you please several hundred others whose ride has been accelerated by it.
 "Second: Unscramble traffic. Es- tablish regular lanes of travel for the separate lines of traffic and com- pei the different conveyances to stick to their lanes. Let the street car run unimpetled on it's rails and make it a misdemeanor, as has been done in Cleveland and Philadelphia, for any vehicle to get in front of 1t. Glve buses and passenger automobiles the right of way on concern streets or parts of streets. Set aside certain streets for trucks and other heavy vehicles. We do not so much need new streets as the complete use oi those we now have"
 MT. Shannahan announced also that in cooperation with Secretary Hoover's accident prevention move ment, the electric railway industry is starting a nationwide advertising poster campaign. He said that &C., cidents to passengers on cars were being reduc l., but that accidents due to other vehicles striking elec' tric cars and alighting passengers were increasing.