Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-03-31
SUGGESTS
SM|LE SUBWAY
Only Way in Which Street
Cars Could Be Removed
From Avenue, He Says.
lcontlnued Prom First Pages

Continued From First Page.)
and the Utilities Commission be given
broader powers to facilitate the i'm
provement Of public transportation.
Text OF Letter.
Gen. Patrick's letter to Mr.. Britten
follows:
In further reply to your letter of the
goth of March, this commission is In
hearty accord with your desire to make
Pennsylvania avenus q dignifsd thor
oughfare worthy Of the Nations
Capital.
"a number of studies have been made
Of the transportation problems which
this Avenue presents, and particularly
with reference to the conditions which
will exist after the completion Of the
Triangle development and the Munich
pal Center.
when these projects are finished,
many thousands of workers will be con-
centrated in the area adjacent to the
Avenue between Fifteenth and Sixth
streets northwest. If ONCE hours are
unchanged. practically all Of them viii
try to time their travel so that they win
be somewhere within this area In the is
morning, and the great majority Of
them vii be seeking to leave 1t between
400 and 5 o'clock in the afternoon.
And many Of them must use public
transportation.
Sees Need Of $50 Buses.
"These workers will come from all
directions, of course, but recent studies
indicate that to supply needed trans
portation along the Avenue in the max
imum 15-minute period Of the morn
ing rush" there will be needed some IS
street cars going east and some IS cars
going west, about 10 cars both direc-
lions. To perform the same service
would take about one hundred and nifty
Q50) buses.
Assuming the eastbound riders would
require no less than one hundred (lOOl
buses, these would occupy q road
length of some five thousand feet
$4,000, while the length of the Ave-
nue. from Sixth to Fifteenth street Is
only about four thousand $4,000 feet.
II these travellers were compelled to
make part Of their journeys in cars and
then transfer to buses. the congestion
at the transfer points would be newt
able and there would be delays, which
would lengthen the total travel time OBJ
jectionably.
There is no possible route other
than on the Avenue which street cars
could follow and serve adequately those
employed in the area In question.
Finds Plan Impractical.
For these, among other reasons, this
commission is of the opinion that 1t is
entirely impractical to substitute buses
for street cars on that portion OF the
Avenue mentioned in your letter and
described as above.
ut may be added that this commits
sion understands studies made by others
also indicate that where large numbers
Of people are to be transported to and
from small areas street cars o1er the
greater and better facilities.
I'm the opinion of this commission,
there is but one way in which street
car tracks can be removed from the
Avenue, and that is by the construc-
ton of a subway in which the cars
may run. London, Paris, Boston and, of
course, New York, are served by such
underground systems The building OF
such a subway along the Avenue is
possible. but 1t would be costly under
taking, one which certainly would not
be sufficiently remunerative to attract
private enterprise. No reliable estimates
Of cost are available.
ITO prepare them would take time,
a careful study Of all Of the conditions,
of the type of structures and other re-
lated matters. - Probably the length of
such a subway need not exceed miles,
and, as a rough guess, its cost would
not exceed about four million dollars
per mile.
ITO provide for any such a solution
of this problem, legislation would, no
doubt, be necessary. Fur shermore. the
improvement of public transportation
in the District of Columbia would be
facilitated by legislation which would
broaden the powers cf the District Com
NILSSON end of this commission so
that each kody in It's cwn sphere, or
jointly. could deal with such matters
and take final action thereon"