The Waterbury Democrat., 1942-07-10
New "Swap Ride Stations" Help Auto Town Save Tires
RURAL STOREKEEPERS IDEA IS BIG FACTOR IN SUCCESS OF PONTIAC MICH, "LET"S RIDE TOGETHER" PLAN
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By NEA Service

that the government might have to seize all private cars tires to jog this highly industrial community into positive action to conserve them.
 Back in March, the Michigan State Highway Department, facing the nationwide fact that if Amer jeans continued driving as usual" some 20,000000 cars would be off the road within a year, decided to test a program for wartime trans portation conservation. The "Pon- tiac Plan," as this program is now called throughout the country, con- tains e-conservation seeds worth planting in any American com- munity.
 PROGRAM TAKES
 HOLD QUICKLY
 When the Pontiac Plan was in- augurated, some 26,000 workers were employed in this city's ten most important war plants. Of this number only 4,500 rode busses to and from work. Into the fac- tory parking lots each morning rolled over 15,000 cars and every ten cars carried only 13 workers.
 The problem, obviously, was to persuade (since the plan was and is entirely voluntary workers to take busses or to bunch up and ride to work several to each car.
 To add space to bus capacity, non industrial concerns were asked to stagger their paydays through out the week to equalize shoppers need for bus transportation.
 These various methods cut peak morning bus loads by one third. But large majority of Pontiac's workers lived in areas not served by bus, so that the second phase of the plan-the Let's Ride Together" aSpect-Was far more important.
 To get it under way, the plan was explained and promoted to unions, luncheon clubs, womens clubs and through press, radio and posters. First step in the share the ride" program was the regis tration in thep lants of every em- ploye Factories in the city posted county maps on their bulletin boards, zoning and nubering diff ferent areas where workers lived. Men were requested to fill out cards stating on which shift they worked, what method of transportation they used, if they drove, how many pas sengers they carried, and where they lived.
 EXECT TO DOUBLE
 SHARE RIDE" RESULTS
 With these cards indeXed, 1t was much easier to persuade workers living in the same neighborhoods and working the same shifts to pool their cars and to use noly one car per day where formerly three or four were used. To make it even easier for employees to get to- gether, some factories zoned their parkin gareas to conform with resi- dential zones, so that men living in one section also parked in one section.
 Today, figures show that every ten cars entering Pontiac parking lots carry 19 passengers Qnclud- ing driver). /
 We expect to double that fig ure," says David E. Edstrom, local Pontiac administrator of the plan.
 It was the proprietor of small shoe store in rural Walled Lake a village near Pontiac-Who fur nished the idea for the most ef- fective part of the Lets Ride To- 2ether" program. John Burke for some time had wondered what would happen to his business if transportation to Pontiac plants failed. Most of his customers lived in Walled Lake and worked in Pontiac, and if they lacked trans portation they would move to Pon- tiac.
 In a letter to the State Highway Commissioner, Burke stated that he had arranged in his store a swap ride station"-a place where workers could register for rides from their homes to Pontiac. The idea was well, he said, and he won- dered if the scheme couldn't be in- into the share -the-ride" plan. It was and other store owners were quick to follow Burke's idea.
 Today, there are approximately 60 of these swap ride stations" throughout the county in which