Evening star., 1926-06-15
STREET CAR USED
| MORE IN SHOPPING
Congestion in Streets and
! Difficulty in Parking Are
Main Factors.
EY !. c. ROYLE.

Erecial Dispatch to The star.
NEW YORK. June l5.-The number
kf persons who 80 from their homes
r. the shopping and business districts
IN private automobiles has dropped
hr around o5 per cent in some cen
ters in the last two years.
This has beer caused by increasing
xraffic congestion and dlthculty OF
finding parking space. It has meant
b. direct gain to the street car systems
er many cities, and has increased the
number of pedestrians appreclablN
N'he extent of the congestion in the
sarce cities has Just been exempilhe1
kv the approval by municipal author1
ties here Of an elevated express high
Eay along the Hudson River.
A survey just completed by retail
merchants in Cleveland in conjunc-
sion with the Cleveland Railway Co,
furnishes q striking example or me
trend. and is taken by transportation
ynen As accurately renecttns cohul
tcns in other cities.
Travel on Street Cars.
The count shows that ha per cent
rf the shoppers travel on street cars
about 10 per cent on motor husses'
20 per cent in private automoblles
and FIVE per cent on foot The count
Involved a to\l of COS 355 shoppers.
and was gathered in - stores In the
downtown section of the city. A
check on the same traffic two years
ago showed that of 10000 persons
counted, 53.8 per cent came down :
scwn in street cars and 46.2 per cert
tr automobiles. This compares with
-
s-e busseS or use private cars,
Both stree railway and bus serV :
ice throughout the country nave
increased. according to Lucius ;.
Storrs, managing director of the
American Electric Hallway Assocl-
alton, but the latter has not sup
planted the former. Storrs says
electric street railways still carry
about one-third of the riders of the
metropolitan area. More than 3oo
electric railroads now are operating
subsidiary busses, BIT few or these
are operated IN congested districts.
although the routes covered exceed
1880 miles. Street cars are carry =
ing about 100000 passengers day
IN this country. while the buses
transport around 100000.
Truck Aids Congestion.
The truck as we'll as the bus has
PLAYED its part in traffic congestion
There were 497452 trucks produced
IN the United States and Canada IN
the last year, with a retail value ol
9606 ,0OC 900. This was an increase OF
81 per cent over the previous year
There are now 81 railroads using
trucks as part of their freight
TRANSFORMATION service. and all of these
factors have tended to increase con
gestion in cities. The congestion has
been reflected in the automobile IA
talities of the Nation, which in the
last year ran up to 22,500. an increase
of 1900 over the previous annual
period. Excluding collisions with
street cars and railroad trains. these
deaths totaled 19.soo. as compared
with 1850 in 1924. It is estimated
there are about 80 nonfatal accidents
for each fatal case.
Thus these factors, although con
rected with mechanical transporta
t1on, are causing an increase in this
number of people who walk. This 1.
more noticeable in the cities than ir
the suburban or rural centers. To city
merchants It is by no means a disap
pointing development. For a pedes
trlan, they say, is more likely to be.
come a customer than person who
rides, since the window displays have
chance to register their appeal to
the foot passengers.