Evening star., 1942-04-23

THE EVENING
with less usage than when the thor
ouEhfares are more heavily Travelled
He said District gasoline consump-
ton In February. due principally 70
tire shortage was per cent under
la4i. while in March il vas S per
cent below last year
Describing the transportation
problem as very serious Mr Mer-
rtll also said doubling up" by mo-
torists Is essential in arriving az
solution Capital Transit estimate
Il would BE- necessary 70 increase the
number OF buses and stTeetcsrs In
service by third 70 handle the in
creased business accommodating over
the next year because OF tire rs-
tioning Gasoline rationinE will fur
ther comphcate the problem, he
said.
Mr.. Merrill said he Is attempting
70 arrange for priorities with the
War Production Board and hnanc-
ing from another Government agen-
cy so that his company may pur-
chase 400 additional buses and 100
streetcars Three hundred buses
were ordered in January and, II the
way is cleared. should be delivered
in four months. The remainder Of
this needed stock is not expected
until the end OF the year.
Sixty buses and 81 streetcars were
ordered last September. The buses
are expected in a month, the cars in
four months.
Mr.. Merrill said this program
was based on an estimated 30 per
cent increase in business. Allowance
was made, he said. for absorption
Of Is per cent OF automobile pas
sengers. The estimates were made
before gasoline rationing was i'm
minent.
Load Climbs Steadily.
The Capital Transit Co. had In
operation yesterday 709 streetcars
and 90l buses The new purchases
would place 627 more carriers in
operation. The number OF passengers
transported was up over last year
25 per cent in January. IS per cent
in February and "A per cent in
March.
Arthur J. Sundlun. president OF
the Merchants and Manufacturers
Association. declared the rationing
plan would be very harmful" to
Washington shops and business
establishments. He said it would be
hard on the stores and hard on
the public" A large percentage of
shoppers. he added. are dependent
upon automobiles for transportation,
and public vehicles already are taxed
to capacity.
About Two Persons Per Car.
Transportation of about rs per
cent of Washington workers is sup
piled by private cars, Director of
Highways William A. Van Duzer
stated. The last survey showed that
each car carried II passengers into
downtown Washington. This number
Of passengers, Mr.. Van Duzer
believes, has now increased to about
two per car. Further doubling up and
cooperation among motorists will be
necessary. he added. to alleviate the
transportation problem.
The American Automobile Asso-
citation estimated that motorist
travel will be reduced 81 per cent If
the car owner is allowed S gallons
of gasoline a week The average
motorist has been using $50 gallons
a year. or 1911 a week, a consump-
ton which has increased steadily
since 1927.
An association official said vaca-
tional and recreational travel over
the country already has been re-
duced from 80 to 40 per cent, be-
cause Of tire and car rationing.
Gasoline rationing will make an
other huge cut, though some motor
trips will be possible by accumula-
ton OF the weekly allowance. The
association is advocating short va
cation trips, nearer home. Motorists
are expected to pool gasoline and
take trips together.
Necessity Driving Gauged.
1t is possible to reduce the mileage
OF automobiles greatly without ex-
erting undue hardship on motorists,
1t was pointed out. The Automobile
Manufacturers Association estimates
that private cars travelled 498,00O,-
600, 900 passenger miles last year. of
which 274 900 .0oo, 900 miles is classi-
ned as necessity driving, including
trips back and forth to work. The
non-essential driving can be elm
mated without hardship and the
total cut further by doubling I'D
and use OF other transportation. It
is estimated, however, that billions
OF passenger miles will be left which
already crowded public transporta-
ton cannot handle.
The reduction of 20 per cent in
gasoline deliveries to service sta
tions, which last week was increased
to a third, apparently had small
edect on essential driving by mo-
toriSts. The A. A. A. Official said he
knew OF no service station which
had exhausted its supply in normal
hours. He added that a few "all
night" places had run short. Mr..
Wainwright Of the gasoline retail
ers said q number OF stations have
remained open at night and on Sun
day to sell their quotas OF motor
fuel.
Parking garages report that the
number Of cars using their facilities
already has been greatly reduced.
One large garage reported that in
March 1t housed 1900 less cars than
in the month last year.
Hoist Operator Is Found