Evening star., 1959-11-15
Accent on Transit

The net effect Of the voluminous
testimony recorded by the House-Senate
Committee on Washington Metropolitan
Problems during the last six days is TO
give a real lift to hopes for q mod
ernistic transit-freeway system in the
washington area, at least partially fol-
lowing the ambitious lines proposed by
the Mass Transportation Survey
The most impressive single thing to
emerge from the testimony was vir-
tually unanimous agreement that the
Nations Capital should look to some
revolutionary for washington - form
Of rapid rail transit. In part, this STEM
med from well-founded concern that
unlimited superhighways will deface
the Federal City. and remove great por-
tions Of 1t from productive use. More
basic was the logical conclusion that 1t
Is futile to expect that travel demands
can continue to be met by automobiles
alone. This conclusion has been obscured
In the past by preoccupation with
today's congestion problems It has be-
come truly evident only with full consid-
Grafton Of the stupendous traf1c outlook
Of the future, as developed so commend
ably last week by Senator Alan Bible and
his committee.
This does not mean that expreSsways
many Of them-will not be needed.
Washington's sprawling suburbs, dis
persed circularly around spread-out
central employment area, are not con-
ducive to the mainline railroad COM
muting patterns Of many cities. Only
certain areas, in other words, are densely
populated enough to support electric
trains. Others must be served by express
buses as well as automobiles, and free
ways are essential for this. The need Is
no less great If rail transit is to be located
in the center strips Of new highways, as
the planners propose.
Not so clear-cut is the matter OF how
the region will pay for the needed transit
facilities. AS practical matter, we see
no alternative to Federal financing
possibly through combined program Of
grants and loans-especially for the ex-
pensive portions within the District. The
White Houses reluctance to commit it
self on specific share Of expenditures
at this time is understandable. Indeed,
1t would be premature. However, the ad-
ministration fortunately has acknowl-
edged a Federal responsibility both to
participate in the financing and to take
the first big organizational step toward
the formation of an agency to refine
both the physical and the fiscal dimen-
sions of transit program. General con-
currence by State and local governing
officials in at least the initial move in
this direction augurs well for its success.
These bright prospects easily could
founder, however, in controversy over
the form of the proposed new agency,
particularly as to its powers and author
ity. The immediate job, therefore, is to
develop legislation for its creation which
will be acceptable in detail to the admin
istration, to area officials and to Con-
gresS, which must, Of course, establish
any such agency. The way to accomplish
this, it seems to us, is to avoid unilateral
decision making at the outset, to make
the drafting of this legislation joint
enterprise between the Budget Bureau,
the Bible Committee and officials Of the
region-all of whom already have repre-
SentativeS who are intimately familiar
with the problems involved.
In taking this step, the visionary
plan submitted by O.iRoy Chalk need not
be brushed aside, nor should 1t be.
Private enterprise should be given the
fullest consideration, and clear deter
mination of its role in the future transit
program is one of the most crucial deci-
Sions to be made. This extends as well to
the smaller operators of suburban bus
companies, who thus far have been vir-
tually excluded from serious attention.
Since rapid transit construction
realistically is years away under any
scheme, Congress also should give imme-
diate attention to two other needs. The
first is the proposal to reserve transit
rights of way in new freewayS, many of
which already are taking form on draw
ing boards or on the ground. The other
is swift congressional ratification of the
interstate compact to establish a regional
regulatory commission to improve exist
ing tranSit-the first real stride toward
area cooperation which has been made
in This most critical of all urban
problems.
Peace in the Galleries
If the Irish Sea has strangely un-
familiar calm over il these dayS the