Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-10-19
By GEORGE W. ELLIOTT,

It Is questionable II any problem has
arisen In recent years that presents the
serious aspect that Is found today In
the conditions of street traffic facilities.
Every American community has It in
some form and In some measure, and 1t
reaches deeply and vitality into its eco
nomtc values and business life.
No person Is immune from its effects;
no business enterprise is escaping its
bl1ghttng influence, and no community
can plan for future development with
out taking 1t into consideration. It Is
In reality q Nationwide problem. yet, in
its nature. one that must be dealt with
and solved by local communities, State,
county. city or boroughs.
No problem can be ignored that Is
costing the country the value of 81 900
lives and an economic loss from acct
dents and congestion combined Of S.
100000 year, which is at the rate
Of per capita tax per annum of $24
for each man, woman and child. No
estimate can be made Of the dollar
value Of life loss, but $1,000 lives
would add materially to this S24 tax If
1t could be figured In dollars and cents.
From the standpoint of commercial
organization and of business, what an
idle folly 1t Is to spend large sums Of
money inviting people TO live in COM
munity, when they are being invited to
come where their lives are In jeopardy
Change In Traffic Study.
As the traf1c problem has become
more serious and more acute, there has
been a transition in its study and, to-
day, it is recognized that above the
| great social factor involved Is q tre-
mendouS economic factor, of which the
business men Of this Nation must take
cogniZance.
No longer can this problem be brush
ed aside as something that has come
with the growth of cities, with the
growth Of automobiles, with the growth
Of business or with the desire of people
to travel quickly. No longer can It be
| brushed aside on the assumption that
1t does not affect each individual, no
matter what his position or his eco
nomic status. If it is passed over thus
lightly, then we must be confronted with
the alternative that, growing as 1t has
In the last 10 years, 1t will stlfle business
in our large cities and In many Of the
smaller cities In congeSted areas, be.
cause, unless such communities address
| themselves to 1t, business must neces-
sarily sooner or later come to q stand
STILL
Business is predicated upon the great
| underlying factor that one man In
seeking to trade with another shall
have ready access to him, his plant and
to his goods. Naturally he seeks the
| place where he finds the least incon-
venience in reaching the other man.
| No group of business men can escape
that fact.
The real estate man cannot say as
one affected that at is no concern Of
mine," because he, in many instances,
| Is dependent for promotion Of his buSi-
, ness on the theory that property in
the central part Of cities can be used
and dedicated to certain specific uses.
# property In the center Of great
cities is worth variously from $2S, 900
to $4,000 q front foot, then obviously
| interest and profit must be made on
i, that property If that value Is to be
maintained. But II that property ID
deprecated in value because the use
| to which it Is dedicated has ceased to
be q useful occupation, and those who
would use 1t cannot get to It readily,
! then the owners and the community as
! a whole are faced with an economic loss
that is not easily measured.
Real estate men and architects are
concerned today whether they can con-
] centrate on the horizontal growth Of
| great city centers, or whether they
should concentrate on saving and sal
vaging that which has been created
| into large values through vertical occu-
pancy, and people so convenienced that
they viii not be turned away from it.
| That is a vital problem In any COM
munity, large or small.
Vertical Development.
In all American cities is found the
idea Of great vertical development. The
center areas have been piled I'D, and
vertical occupancy developed because
Of economic demand and pressure.
However, the balance between the grow
ing traffic demands and the traf1c-car-
rying capacity Of the streets has not
been maintained. Mammoth buildings
have gone into the sky with little
thought Of the adequacy Of street IA
cilitieS around them. Care has been
exercised In erecting these high build
ingS to provide adequate vertical tran
sit both by stairway and elevator. The
high building that does not accord its
population the proper elevator service
Is deemed Q failure. Is the elevator
service, which constitutes vertical
transportation and accomplishes de-
livery to the street, Of more Importance
than the horizontal transportation pro-
vided by the street itself, once the
buildings population Is delivered to the
street? That 4. the crux Of the prob
lem today.
II the city center changes, as Il must
necessarily do II street facilities are not
commensurate with traf1c demands.
then the transportation problem nee
eSSarily changes. Railroads and tran
sit companies and taxicab and bus COM
panieS are very much concerned with
the question of whether there Is going
to be q transition from the place into
which thousands Of people pour each
morning and are taken out In the eve
ming, or whether there Is going to be q
division Of those people over q greater
area, so they they will have to tap here
and tap there.
Electric light and gas companies,
known commonly as public utilities. are
equally affected by this vital question,
as their future growth depends very
largely on whether there will continue
to be vertical or horizontal Develop
ment.
There is no one who has invested
money in towns and cities or in prop
erty or business who Is not concerned
In solving this problem of trafic to the
extent that those vehicles of transpor-
tation that are used to transport pas
Sengers shall be allowed to operate and
Pedestrian Occupied.
The pedestrian Is Just as much oc-
cupied with this proposition. IF he
the man who does not operate private
vehicles excluded, then Q very vital
factor in the matter Is left out. Firstly,
the pedestrian uses the common or pub
lie means Of transportation. He arrives