Evening star., 1934-03-06
One-Way Streets and
Street Car Service
TO the Editor Of The star:


Getting to work on time In the
morning is o serious problem to the
street car patron. especially If he
eminent, which countenances not .
minutes tardiness. With annual leave
reduced from 80 to IS days and stand
ing to forfeit IS or 80 minutes of such
leave every time he Is late, or his job
If tardy too often. the importance Of
reliable street car service cannot be
too strongly emphasized.
Much the larger number Of workers
Is transported in street cars. The
street car company cannot render
satisfactory service while its right Of
way is obstructed with other trafac.
Observant persons who ride now and
then on the front platforms Of street
cars gain some idea Of the extent to
which motor vehicles impede the
progress Of these common carriers.
Between 8 and $50 a.m. and 4 and
pm, when most workers are either
going to or returning from their places
OF business, 1t takes nearly twice as
long to make q street car trip as it
does at other hours. For example, 1t
formerly required but IS or 80 minutes
for street car to 60 downtown from
Columbia road and Eighteenth street,
while today 1t takes about IS or 40
minutes to make the trip. II there
Is trafic tie-up one must finish the
journey In taxicab or afoot.
Were thoroughfares in which there
fro PkR v,a0dA - -
between 8 and $50 am. and 4 and 6
pm, street car service could very
likely be improved. There Is barely
room between the car tracks and
parked vehicles for moving motor
trafic Often this space is unavoidably
blockaded by double parking. Because
parking cannot be effectively con-
trolled it would be useless to prohibit
1t between the rails and curb. One
way streets offer a solution because
the regulation providing for such
thoroughfares requires no enforcement
or supervision by the police.
The only trafic which should be
permitted to operate two ways on
temporary one-way thoroughfares hav-
ing car tracks are street cars and
vehicles bound in the opposite direc-
tion to the tide Of uptown or down.
town travel. OF the Is thoroughfares
running up and down town between
Sixth street and Twenty-second street
northwest, for instance, only S streets
are laid with rails, Seventh, Ninth.
Eleventh and Fourteenth streets and
Connecticut avenue. There are IS
streets paralleling these thoroughfares
through which motor vehicles could
pe diverted during the tide Of morning
and afternoon street car travel.
u is contended that the business of
merchants along street car lines would
be injured by making one-way streets
Of such thoroughfares It does not
appear to have been considered that
many shops do not open until 9 or
o:15 am, and that there would be
at least one side of the street always
open to motor vehicle traffic. Shoppers
are accustomed to looking for parking
space on other streets or elsewhere
when it cannot be found in the street
where shops they patronize are
situated
With the. exception Of main traffic
arteries. practically every street Is a
one-way thoroughfare in some COM
munities, notably New York, where
the streets in quiet residential sections
rs we'll as those in commercial districts
are used as one-way thoroughfares.
Because Of the unusual width of
Washington's streets adoption of this
plan throughout the CITY NAV have
been regarded as unnecessary.
Many Of the Capitals streets, how
ever. are wide enough for only four
lanes of traffic and some thorough
fares cannot accommodate that many.
With cars parked end to end at the
curb on both sides of the street and
frequent double parking, an uninter:
rupted now Of trafnc in opposite direc-
tions on such streets cannot always
be maintained. The designation of
G. r and some other cross-town
streets as one-way thoroughfares has
demonstrated that trafic can progress
unimpeded on such streets notwith-
standing curb and double parking.
Obstructive double parking for de-
livery Of passengers and goods cannot
be avoided because of lack Of parking
space At the curb. Were all but the
main arteries Of trafic designated one
way streets it Is likely there would be
less congestion. The street car patron
with . job to hold would like to see
something done about 1t.
LEWIS L. YOUNG.