Evening star., 1934-01-20
AIRPORT PROXIMITY
HELD BEST IN i. s.
Terminal 1872 Minutes Near.
er Than Average, Fig
ures Disclose.
From the standpoint of the proximity

From the standpoint OF the proximity
OF its civil air terminal to the heart OF
the city washington is more fortunate
ly situated than any of the large cities
Of the United States and leading Euro
pean cities.
Few cities have an airport within 10
miles of the downtown section OF the
city; many are handicapped by haVlng
to 90 IL to IA miles or more away from
the center of population. washington
Airport, only miles from Pennsylvania
avenue is held to have an advantage
which makes up for many deflclencles
in other respects.
The world famous airports OF the
European capitals-Croydon at LONDON,
Tempelhof at Berlin and LIE Bourget at
Paris. are from 10 to II miles out.
Transportation time from the down.
town districts to the airportS there, ac-
cording to official reports received mere,
ranges from 80 to so minutes. WASH
ington Airport is 10 minutes by taxicab
from the heart of Washington.
These facts have been pointed out by
former Senator Hiram Bingham, presl-
dent of the National Aeronautic Asso-
citation and former chairman OF the
Joint Congressional Committee on an
airport for the National Capital.
Condition Unusual.
"As Is we'll known. the time it takes
q taxi to go from the air terminal to
the White House is not any greater
than from the railroad station TO the
White House" said Bingham. This is
the only great city in the country where
this condition exists. 1t would be most
unfortunate if this land were sold for
industrial purposes and we were to lose
the benefits of this situation. Most of
the great municipalities in the country
have gone to considerable expense to
provide themselves with airport facili-
ties.
Cleveland has spent considerably
more than sl,000,000 in developing her
airport, although it is a considerable
distance from the city New York City
port. Baltimore has spent S2,000.000."
The Joint Congressional Committee,
which was headed by Senator Bingham.
had engineers examine every available
tract of land within a radius of 25 miles
of the Capital" Their reports, Bingham
pointed out, showed no tract at present
suitable for airport purposes nearly as
close as Washington Airport.
The commission he said came to
the unanimous conclusion that the
Washington-H Hoover Airport site offered
the most favorable and unprecedented
ground facilities for a very fine air
port"
Sixteen Minutes Nearer.
According to information which has
been submitted to Congress. travel time
between Washington Airport and down.
town Washington is 16l2 minutes less
than the average travel time between
the airportS of the larger cities of the
and tho pitioS thoJv
The travel-time survey lists travel
time from downtown Washington to
Washington Airport at minutes, while
times for other cities were listed as fol-
lows: ST. Louis. 35 minutes: Chicago. 80
minutes; New York. 81 minutes: Los
Angeles. % minutes: Detroit. % min
utes: Miami. 25 minutes; Pittsburgh, 20
minutes; Cleveland. Is minutes; Allan
tic City, minutes: Philadelphia 18
minutes: Baltimore. % minutes; Kansas
City, minutes; Indianapolis, % min
utes: Boston, 25 minutes; Columbus, 16
minutes, and San Francisco. 40 minutes
The average time was % Il minutes. This
time schedule was prepared by the
Washington Chamber of Commerce.
The vital importance of proximity Of
an airport to the city which it serves is
pointed out in report on file before
congressional committees from William
P McCracker jr former Assistant Sec
yetary of Commerce for Aeronautics
The distance of site from the busi-
ness center Of the city measured in
time required to reach the site from
this point,)" McCracken said. should
play very important part in the Sc
lection of the site as a suitable loca-
tion for the development Of the munich
pal airport.
IF a considerable portion of the time
saved by air travel is consumed between
cir terminals and ultimate points of
destination, the advantages of air trans
port are greatly reduced or practically
lost hence the importance of develop
ing air-terminal facilities that may be
reached in the shortest possible time
from the bushes. center of the city"