Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-11-20
SEEK LEGAL RIGHT
TO BAR contested
AREAS TO BUSES
District Commissioners Ask
Corporation Councils Of
flee for Opinion.
ACTION FOLLOWS REQUEST
FROM UTILITIES GROUP
Xeeoh Declares Traffic Is 0bstructed
and Parking Space Is
Absorbed.

With q view to prohibiting the big
interstate motor buses from entering
Washington's congested business area,
the District Commissioners, it was
learned, have sought from the corpor-
ton counsel's Office an opinion as TO
whether the trafiic act gives them au-
thority to regulate the routes OF these
vehicles through the District.
The action of the Commissioners fol-
lowed requests from both the Public
Utilities Commission and Peoples
Counsel Richmond B. Keech Tor CO.
operation in q concerted effort to keep
the big buses out OF the congesIeo
zone or else force them to provide
terminal facilities by forbidding the
loading and unloading of passengers
On the public streets.
The legal opinion, however, was re-
0uested by the Commissioners as re-
suit Of q point raised by Keech as TO
the authority vested in them by the
trafic act. This act, he said, was not
intended to be limited to the regulatlon
Of local vehicles, but gives the Com
nissioners authority to regulate the
course to be taken by the interstate
buses as well as the points at which
they are to lay over, in the interest OF
safety and acceleration OF tratnc.
AUUGAAGu
Both Keech and the Utilities Com
mission, appealed to the Commissioners
for corporation In regulating the in
court ruling which made impotent the
Commissions attempt to regulate the
interstate carriers.
Keech explained that in the Nevin
Bus Line case the court held that the
commission was without authority to
regulate the course to be taken by any
interstate bus within its jurisdiction
because of the peculiar phraseology OF
paragraph / of the public utilities act
Of 1913, providing that the commission
should have Jurisdiction merely OF
freight or property from one point to
another within the District Of Co
lumbia"
Keech told the Commissioners that
washington has become q mecca" for
interstate buses, which, because of their
sire, obstruct trafic, constitute trafiic
hazards and absorb parking space on
the public streets, which indirectly af-
fects the business of merchants in the
vicinity Of the street corner terminals.
Necessity for the regulation Of these
vehicles goes without saying" Keech
declared. THE authority and means
Of bringing about correction Of this
condition, If possible, are the things
now to be considered That these
vehicles Notwithstanding that they are
engaged In interstate commerce are
subject to reasonable regulation by the
municipal authorities cannot be ques-
toned. The Supreme Court Of the
United States has held repeatedly that
both State and municipal authorities
are vested with power to see to 1t that
Qfoba ~ inf
state commerce, are reasonably regu-
lated so as to render the highways and
streets safe"
Congestion Cause for Action.
Congestion within the downtown
area" Keech continued, renders 1t es-
sential that those in authority exert
all Of their facilities to render the high
ways and streets Of the District of
Columbia more passable by removing
things and obstacles which impede
progress, and to see that certain streets,
more particularly those within the
strictly business district, are relieved of
all cumbersome vehicles both in move
uaent and at rest, which must not, of
necessity, make use Of them. Most
notable among these are buses used In
the transportation Of persons from one
jurisdiction to another.
their desire to more keenly compete
with the steam and electric railways,
endeavor to route their vehicles so as
to pass through the heart Of the down.
town section, making calls at the pri1-
cipal hotels and ultimately reaching
fixed point designated as depot. Be-
cause of their size and especially on
streets where right angle parking is in
vogue. streets are rendered practically
useless for the purposes for which they
IRE intended, TO wit, the movement TO
and fro Of trafic. It has often been de-
creed by courts that the Kings high
way Is not q stable In some instances
not only are the number of lanes Of
trafic lessened, thus tending to form a
bottleneck for trafhc, but at certain
times and points these buses are so
parked as to render the movement of
trafIlc in one direction impossible with
out the risk Of having 1t run head-on
to traffic flowing In the opposite direc-
ton.
Held Menace TO Safety.
''This condition Is found to be par
ticularly bad where the depot Is located
on highway where there are street
car rracks. Such q condition as this
Is superbly demonstrated in connection
with the bus terminal located on the
south side Of New York avenue between
Thirteenth and Fourteenth streets.
"Other examples of the impractica-
bility Of permitting these buses to have
their terminal within the congested
area are those at 1871 Pennsylvania
avenue. 18th street just north Of
Pennsylvania avenue.
These are q few examples, and do
not constitute the only instances where
trafnc Is either tmpeded or temporarily
1T least. brought to . standstill due TO
the utilization Of public space for prt-
vate ACKNOWLEDGEMENT.
These vehicles are menace to safe
~. while In movement just as they OBJ
strlct the free movement Of trafic while
parked. The berthing Of these buses,
and departures from base, Is q constant
hazard TO all upon the highway, whether
they be on foot or in some other We