Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-11-04

Thts Is the fourth OF a. series OF arti-
inc the street car companies OF Wdsh-
tnoton. The hnGt article nil appear
tomorrow.
Sympathetic, of course, with the COM
plant of the street railway companies
over delays in service due to traffic
clogged streets. washington's traffic
authorities believe there is little they
can do under existing conditions to aid
in improving operating schedules.
The traction companies claim that
service must be speeded up to enable
them to win back some of the customers
lost to the private automobile and the
unregulated and cheap-rate taxlcabs,
but that traffic congestion, traffic lights
and other obstacles over which they
have no control prevent the cars from
making faster Roadway.
All Of this is admitted by, traffic ON
Gals. But" they ask, what can we
do about it?"
1t would be physical impossibility,
they point out, to keep automobiles on
car tracks, even II they wanted to, and
they have no inclination to scrap traffc
lights where there is a recognized need
for them.
TRAFFIC officials. however, do want to
be helpful and cooperative, but declare
that all they can do for the car COM
panies at this time is to offer some
advice.
Suggests Skip-StOp System.
The principal suggestion of William
A. Van Duzer traffic director, is that
the street railway companies return to
the so-called skip-stop system used
during the period of the war, when the
companies were trying to scrape enough
~ Ia
modations for all who wanted to ride.
With this suggestion Mr.. Van Duzer is
in absolute accord with experts at the
Public Utilities Commission.
Delving into statistics, Mr.. Van Duzer
estimates that every stop means loss
of at least 80 SECONDS. Suppose 80
stops have been added to a car line
since the war, he pointed out. The
running time for the trip then has
been increased at least Is minutes.
Mr.. Van Duzer also offers several
other suggestions which he believes will
permit the street cars to make better
Roadway. These include staggering the
hours for opening and closing the. Gov
eminent departments (another war
time emergency relief plan) and open
ing the public schools at $50 instead
of 9 o'clock in the morning.
He does not hold up these plans as
panacea for all traffic ills, but he does
believe they will provide more uni
form use of the streets and decrease
rather markedly the morning and after
noon ruSh-hour jams, when traffic Is
at its extreme peak. These plans, he
thinks. would inure to the benefit of
the car lines as well as the driver Of
the private automobile.
School Opening Plan.
Inspector E. W. Brown, assistant SUI
perintendent of police, who has charge
of the Traffic Bureau, also fayors adop-
ton of the $50 school opening plan,
primarily because 1t would keep school
children off the street until the morn
ing rllsh-hour traffic had passed. AS
a safety measure for children, he be-
lieves the plan is superior to any thus
far advanced Now, he points out, with
the schools opening at 9 O'Clock, the
children are on their way to school at
the same time the Government employees
are en- route to work, and are therefore
subjected to the severe hazards Of the
rush-hour traffic filled streets.
Mr.. Van Duzer, however, believes
there is another important factor which
should be considered in delaying the
opening of the schools to 9:30 O'Clock
the unfairness to the street-car rider
who cannot get seat in the morning
on account of children riding to school
on a 3-cent fare. After o'clock, the
time the children would be leaving for
school il the opening is set at $50
o'clock. he pointed out, the street cars
are virtually empty, and the children
could get seats and the adult riders
would have more seats available when
they start for work.
Traffic Study Under Way.
Aside from these suggestions, Mr.. Van
Duzer declared his Office is not in
position to take any action at this time
which might aid the car companies to
improve operating schedules. A traffic
study is now under way, he explained,
which may result in the elimination of
some of the traffic lights, but he Is
unable TO tell at this stage of the sur
ley whether these lights are ones located
along car lines
1t is Mr.. Van DuZer's plan to remove
lights at intersections where the traffic
count shows that less than 1000 We
hicleS or $50 pedestrians pass an hour.
Naturally, Mr.. Van Duzer and In
spector Brown blame some of the con-
gestion on the streets and delays to the
operating schedules of the street cars
to the multitude of taxicabS but regu-
lations now in preparation at the Public
Utilities Commission are expected to
bring about an improvement in this
condition. Inspector Brown pointed
out recent count on Seventh street
between Pennsylvania avenue and X
street showed that 80 per cent of the
yehicular trafilc constituted cruising