Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1955-08-14
DISTRICT:
What About
Replacing
Transit?
BY HECTOR MCLEAN

about replacing Capital Tran
sit?
A long-range answer ap-
parently must be found in the
near future. regardless Of
whether President Eisenhower
signs the company's pending
death sentence, and city off,
Gals hope the solution is in
the works already.
With the current streetcar
and bus strike in its 45th day,
the best hope for a well-con-
sidered blueprint Of the city's
future transit system lies in
a 100000 study of the over
all transportation problems Of
the entire Metropolitan Area.
The study, launched months
ago, is just now beginning to
get out of low gear. It should
produce answers to a lot of
questions, including these:
. What kind of a transit
system does Metropolitan
Washington need?
. Should it be a single. area
wide system? If so, should it
be privately or publicly owned?
Or should the several private
companies continue to oper-
ate?
. How should the system be
regulated? BY the regulatory
commissions Of Virginia, the
District and Maryland, as at
present, or by a single. area
wide commission? Or should
a single. public authority be
Self-regulated?
Q Should Washington have a
subway system? Use mono
rail cars? Depend entirely on
private automobiles?
. Should high-speed street.
car tracks be laid in the me-
dian strips which separate the
divided highways now pro-
posed or under construction?
Or should the area plan on us
ing buses only?
. Should downtown auto
parking be encouraged, or dis
couraged to make people use
transit?
. What about reserving some
streets for buses only? Or
maybe just the curb lanes of
some streets?
Q Do we need more bridges?
Where? How about airports?
Railroad service?
Q How adequate is mass
transit service now? How rea-
Sonable are the rates?
Answers Due Soon
Answers to all these ques-
tions and many others should
start to come out in about
four months. First reports in
the two-year study are due
then for presentation to Con-
gress in January and to the
Virginia and Maryland Legis-
latures.
Every transportation posi-
bility will be studied-"even
helicopters," one staff worker
cracked-to make sure no con-
ceivable solution is missed.
Because of the three-way
jurisdictional problem, me-
chanics of the study are COM
plicated. 1t is being run by
the National Capital Planning
Commission and the Regional
Planning Council. Harland
Bartholomew, st. Louis plan
ner, is chairman of both.
In more direct charge is the
Joint Steering Com mittee,
which is composed of two
members from the commits
sion, two from the council and
three nonvoting m m bers
from still another body called
the Joint commission-a po-
litical group designed to pro-
vide liaison between the Dis
trict and the two State Legis-
latures.
District Commissioner Rob-
ert E. Mclaughlin, former
chairman of the Public Utili-
ties Commission here, is chair
man of both the Joint Steer
ing Committee and the joint
commission. which also is re-
ferred to as the Tri-State
Commission.
Other District members of
the Tri-State Commission are
Mr.. Bartholomew and Engi-
neer Commissioner Thomas A.
Lane. Maryland members are
State Senator Edward S.
Northrup of Montgo merry
County. Delegate Perry o.
Wilkinson of Prince Georges
County and Frank Harper of
the State Public Service Com
mission.
Virginia members are State
Senator Charles Fenwick.
Delegate Maynard Magruder
and Judge H. Lester Hooker
of the State Corporation Com
mission.
Steering Committee
The Steering Committee is
made up of Mr. Bartholomew
and Gen. Lane from the Ma
tional Capital Planning Com
mission, Herbert w. Wells of
Prince Georges and William j.
Cox of Loudoun County from
the council and Mr.. McLaugh-
lin, Mr. Hooker and Judge
Harper from the joint COM
mission.
All this complex machinery
grew out of efforts some three
or four years ago to force
closer coordination of routes.
schedules and transfers among
the Virginia buslines and
Capital Transit, and to COM
bat CAPITAL Transit's service
cutbacks in Maryland.