Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1936-05-21
SCHULTZ TO URGE
|. BILL ASKING SEAT
FOR ALL RIDERS
Joins Hull in Demand for
Probe of System of
Transportation.
PEDESTRIAN CONTROL
LEAVES HAZEN COOL
Value of Tunnels for Walkers
Also Held Doubtful by
Commissioner.


as a means of speeding up mass
transportation in the District vas
promised today by Riley E. Elgen,
chairman of the Public Utilities Conn
mission, as Representative Schultz.
Democrat, of Indiana announced he
planned to introduce a bill that
would provide a seat for every street
car and bus passenger.
The skip-Stop expansion. Elgen said,
will be ordered soon He made the
statement in commenting on recon-
mendations adopted by the House
District Committee yesterday in an
effort to improve traffic conditions.
The Skip-stop plan was one OF many
specific suggestions Endorsed by the
committee on recommendation of the
| Carpenter subcommittee.
Schulte's plan to provide a seat for
all riders was announced as he Joined
Representative Hull, Progressive, of
| Wisconsin in demanding an exhaus-
tive investigation of the Washington
transportation system. The Indianan
declared the measure would be de-
signed to prevent the transit company
from collecting fares from passengers
who had no seats.
Some Bills Endorsed.
Responses by District officials to
other District Committee proposals
were varied. Some were Endorsed, with
the proviso thta appropriations could
Ho oh niY
Commissioner Hazen looked askance
at the direct suggestion of the House
Committee for adoption of a regula-
ton for pedestrian control. The Board
OF Commissioners twice in the last two
weeks has laid on the shelf such a pro-
posal made by Traffic Director William
A. Van Duzer
While Hazen was inclined to sup.
port Van Duzer's jaywalking ban re-
quest, he ran into opposition from the
other Commissioners, who doubted
whether the public would obey the ban
and whether the police coul enforce it.
Hazen said there were many good
ideas in the committees report but
he promptly questioned the advisability
of building pedestrian tunnels. as pro-
posed by the committee, at Fifteenth
street and New York avenue and at
Fourteenth and Twelfth streets and
Pennsylvania avenue, or at other ZAP
propriate" places.
Tunnels might help a lot if the
public would only use them" said
Hazen. But the public won't even
make the proper use of the pedestrian
walk lights installed for their p'o-
lection at Twelfth and F streets. II
the public won't obey the walk lights
: how can we expect them to go down
Is or 20 steps in pedestrian tunnels?
The cost also is to be considered"
No Direct Answer.
Hazen made no direct answer when
asked if he would revive the Jay
walking ban, but shook his head and
made the statement about The peaes-
trian lights.
The commissioner said that later he
would go over the report item by item
with Van Duzer and then consider &C
ton by the commissioners. Because
he is suffering from carbuncle on his
neck he has been spending minimum
number of hours at work al this week.
Hazen revealed, however, that Direc-
tor Of Highways H. C. Whitehurst now
is preparing estimates of the cost of
building a viaduct or overhead road
way for automobiles along the line of
Water street from Rock Greek to Key
Bridge. This might be suggested as a
substitute for the committee proposal
for building a Georgetown bypass
along the line of the old Chesapeake
81 Ohio Canal.
Utilities Chairman Elgen said the
commission now is ready to act on a
three months survey of possible
changes in street car and bus stops.
Commission Chief Engineer Fred A.
Sager was directed today to bring in
: for action recommendations for stop
changes one line at a time.
Stops to Be Eliminated.
Predicting that many present stops
would be abandoned, which would
mean extension of the skip stop plan,
Elgen said the commission would
eliminate all stops not found necessary
IOr pubic convenience.
J Elgen again Endorsed the proposal
that the commission be given legiSla-
tive authority to reduce the number
of taxicabs which may be licensed.
There now is no limit. Some weeks
: ago the commission sent to the Senate
Subcommittee on the District APP
preparation q legislative rider to &C.
complish that end. 1t has not yet
been adopted.
Elgen said additional study would
be needed before the commission
could act on the committees proposal
for building underpasses for street
cars at Dupont and Thomas Circles.
If this is done. commission members
are now convinced, the underpasses
might be the full width of the street
and provide for automobile as well as
street car and bus traff1c.
"Otherwise," said Elgen, "there
would be created traffic bottlenecks
at either exit of an underpass, which
would cause additional automobile
congestion"
Elgen revealed that the commission
more than year ago tentatively had
, planned underpasses at the two circles
as part of its rerouting plans, but
: eliminated them because engineers
could not predict accurately what
, would be the effect on automobile
! traffic near the exits of the under
. passes. Z