Evening star., 1927-11-06
GOTHAM TRAFFIC
SOLUTION SOUGHT
Street Capacity Exhausted.
Officials Despair of
New Plans.

That street capacity in New York is
becoming so exhausted under present
conditions that a straight line no
longer is the shortest distance be-
( tween two points. is pointed out by
recent observers, who have declared
that traffic congestion in the metrop-
oils rapidly is approaching a crisis.
F. Police, officials of the motor vehicle
commissioners staff and others are
said to be agreed on this point. Re-
garding n possible solution to the
problem it is stated that apparently
they feel that while something must
be done, any change could only be for
the worse. The great difficulty, as
they seem to see it. is a fundamental
one. That basic difficulty is that New
York has outgrown it's thoroughfares.
Are Too Antiquated.
Progress, this time in the form of
the automobile, has made these
streets just one more of New York
City's anachronisms. They were laid
out in the period of the horse and
buggy. Hardly had the first automo-
bile poked its nose into view than sky
scrapers began to spring up. The
channels designed as facilities were
soon metamorphosed into half facili-
ties and half limitations. The city
can dynamite new street widths
through Carmine street or Sixth ave.
nue. tenements. but the police appear
dubious about dynamiting through
Fifth avenue or Broadway.
Meanwhile, the new Holland tunnels
are about to open, promising to throw
1n ef,r -
the lower West Side. More automo-
hiles are being purchased yearly. More
pedestrians are learning to drive.
Where will it all end? The police
shake their heads and merely say
through set teeth:
Let 'em come-well move 'emv'
The police say the worst traffic con-
gestion in the city is now to be found
in the Thirties. west of Seventh ave.
nue., which has recently been taken
over by the garment trade as it's in.
dustrial center. The tremendous in.
crease in motor traffic there, as pro-
duced by the many new loft build.
ings housing the manufacturers, has
made the streets, at time and in places,
literally impossible. To make matters
worse, some of the craftsmen have
taken to putting passenger cars to
commercial use by utilizing them to
make deliveries. The parking abuses
that have followed in the wake of
this custom, police say, is unduly
aggravating the congestion.
Many ''Bad Spots"
The garment district may be the
worst" but motorists report many
other bad spots. For example, they
suggest trip any morning along
West street, just south of the
Cunard Line piers, and on past West
Washington Market. Fifth avenue is
also being avoided during rush hours
by expert taxi drivers, wherever
possible in the stretch from the Wal
dorf-Astoria to Forty-second street,
They say they always detour to
Madison avenue and use it as a by
pass.
Deputy Police Commissioner Philip
D. Hoyt says 1t is the experience of
New York City traffic police that by
far the greater number of motorists
try to live up to the regulations and
Commissioner Charles A. Harnett, in
his study of conditions throughout
the State, estimates that fully 81
per cent never in any one year get
into the slightest difficulty with the
law" Both seem agreed that it is
the minority of incorrigibles, domi-
mated by negligence, recklessness or
selfishness, who are giving the bitter
edge to the traffic crisis.
Mr.. Hoyt selects as two cardinal
offenders among this minority the
driver who parks his automobile
overtime and the road hog" who in
sists upon holding to the middle of
the road, no matter how slow his
80 80
behind him. Both are being made
objects of special attention by the
traffic police. More than 1890
summonses have been served upon
the road hog" alone for failure to
keep to the right.
Procedure Changed.
However. the preponderance Of CO.
operation, which the police say they
receive from the motoring public has
enabled Mr.. Hoyt to introduce a new
and milder disciplinary procedure in
dealing with minor first offenders,
which seeks to make law observance
more of a personal matter to the
motorists and less of burden to the
police. Under this new dispensation,
instead OF serving summonses upon
first offenders in minor violations, the
u 6iAS AlblSlOl 10 IdhA11S AIlC I|CIiSE
mum GER and sending a warning letter
to the owner.
The letter explains wherein the
driver was at fault, describes the
particular phase of public safety, con-
venience or economy which has in
spired the structure in the police code,
and appeals for personal cooperation
In the future, as expressed in the
welcome form of not repeating the
error. The letters have been a pro.
bounced success, says Mr.. Hoyt. They
establish a personal contact which
tends to quicken a sense Of personal
obligation on the motorists part;
especially IL the motorist is an en-
ploye. A truck driver who may not
quail before policeman or magis-
trate is likely to quail before an irate
employer.
Furthermore. the letter is the means
Of calling an employers personal at.
tention to the traffic problem as a
whole; a problem which otherwise
might not come within his purview