Evening star., 1935-05-31

now on.
ing difficulties. It must be increased"
A special study will be made of the
reduction of the number of stops be-
fore the commission issues an order.
The cost of installing and main
tanning street car loading platforms
should be split between the District
and the company, the commission
said. but 1t did not make final Sug-
gestion as to the division.
An inter company arrangement be-
tween the Capital Transit Co. and
the Alexandria Bancroft Washington
Transit Co. and the Arlington and
Fairfax Motor Transportation Co. was
proposed. The commission found the
suburban busses heavily loaded in
bound in the morning and outbound
in the evening, their lightly loaded
buses operating in the direction of
heavy passenger movement on lines of
the street car company, serving the
area along Fourteenth street south OF
Independence avenue.
Mass transportation will be aided
by Improvements in the highway sys-
tenn, the commission went on. Con-
struction of a roadway in the present
bed of the c. g. o. canal. with bridges
to carry north and southbound traffic.
would materially relieve congestion in
Georgetown, it said. Opening Of Pros
pect avenue and widening of Twenty
ninth street in Georgetown: replace
ment of the K Street Bridge over Rock
Greek: completion of the Rock Creek
and Potomac Parkway and extension
/ of the Mount Vernon Boulevard to Key
Bridge all would further improve mass
transportation, the commission as
serted.
| No real service can be afforded car
and bus riders, however, without rigid
enforcement of the prohibition against
parking, particularly on the flow
side of such arteries as Wisconsin.
Georgia and Connecticut avenues, and
Eighteenth, Fourteenth and Eleventh
streets in rush periods, the commits
sion declared. 1t listed also F street
from Seventh to Fifteenth; H street
between Fourteenth street and Con-
necticut avenue: U street from Sew
enth to Eighteenth street; M street
and Pennsylvania avenue from Sixth
street to Wisconsin avenue. The COM
mission voiced approval of the adop-
ton OF one-way traffic movements in
rush periods on Sixth, Twelfth, Thir-
| teenth and Twenty-second streets.
Subway Possibility Studied.
The commission said it had given
long and serious study to the possible
use of subways to make street car op-
Grafton satisfactory. 1t did not fatty
reject the idea. but suggested that the
necessarily huge expenditures put the
program into the distant future. 1t
did say there was question as to
whether the cost OF subwayS here
would prohibit their adoption. The
commission said it has the very def
mite opinion that it would be unsound,
both financially and from an operat-
| ing viewpoint, to consider a subway
system unless 1t be of substantial
length" asserting that "the value of
tunnels for short distances is highly
conjectural"
1t held that rerouting street car
service, supplemented by busses, stag
gered hours of Government employ
ment and effective regulation of traffic
should be given reasonable trial be-
! fore a resort be made to costly
subways.
Comment was made on the favor
able effect in increasing patronage OF
the use of the weekly street car and
bus passes.
The general discussion of the street
car problems contained criticism of
the plan for Federal buildings in the
Federal Triangle.
Concentration of Federal activities
has resulted in an increase in the tax
burden of the citizens of the District"
the commission said. This occurs
through the maintenance of traffic
arteries, increase in the hazards of
travel and diminished opportunity to
effect economies in providing public
transportation that would. under
other circumstances, tend to lower
| its cost.
Furthermore, the placing of Gov
ernment buildings south of Pennsyl-
vania avenue caused greater concen-
/ tration of commercial activities ada
cent thereto, north Of Pennsylvania
avenue, condition which still further
increases the problem of operating
public and private vehicles"
The order and statement were
signed by Riley E. Elgen, chairman;
Richmond B. Keech, vice chairman.
and Engineer Commissioner Dan I.
Sultan, members of the commission.
Approval to the rerouting order was
given today also by District Commis-
sioners Melvin c. Hazen, George E.
Allen and Col. Sultan, who is chair
man of the joint board.
Among those who appeared before
the commission on rerouting and track
changes. the commission listed Corpo-
ration Counsel E. Barrett Prettyman.
Hinman D. Folsom. special assistant
corporation counsel, assigned to the
utilities body; Raymond D. Sparks,
assistant corporation COUNSEL Peoples
Counsel Roberts, G. Thomas Dunlop
of the Capital Transit Co., George P.
Hoover of the Washington Rapid
Transit Co. and William NICK. Clay
ton, representing the Federation OF
Citizens Associations.
The commission had the benefit OF
an array of plans submitted by John
A. Beeler and William H. Ahearn OF
the Beeler organization, Fred A. Sa-
ger, chief engineer of the Utilities
Commission: Harland Bartholomew,
appearing for the National Capital
1