Traffic and Traffic Regulations

Co-ordination.

At the root of the traffic problem in great centres of population lies the difficulty that the present local government boundaries usually have no relation whatever to the wider traffic region upon which the welfare, the work and the very existence of the city depend. Concerted action for the common good is defeated by the multiplicity and divergent in terests of the small administrative units which encircle the city. In the aggregate the resources of the greater community forming the traffic region are amply sufficient to provide the remedies which are admitted to be necessary, but the application of these resources to the desired purpose is difficult in the absence of some public body empowered to determine the best means of promoting improvement schemes and to apportion the cost over the traffic region which ultimately benefits. Until this power of apportionment can be exercised there are insurmountable obstacles to the execution of vital improvements in poverty-stricken admini strative areas, where local conditions often generate traffic delays reacting injuriously upon the whole traffic region. An authority exercising control over such a traffic region would naturally be charged with the duty of co-ordinating the different traffic agencies and means of transit, so as to eliminate wasteful competition and the congestion to which it gives rise. Certain routes would be reserved for trams or trolley vehicles, others for motor-buses, others for underground railways. The number of vehicles plying on various routes would be restricted to the needs of the travel ling public instead of being dependent upon the varying fortunes of the struggle between rival undertakings. It is indeed question able how much longer the interests of the citizen can tolerate the use of the public highway as the arena for unrestricted traffic competition. The London and Home Counties Traffic Advisory Committee in their report for 1926-27 reiterate their view "that the co-ordination of passenger transport services with a common fund and common management with the elimination of unneces sary, wasteful and uneconomic competition is essential before any substantial improvements in travelling facilities can be effected." The need for additional resources is acutely felt by congested suburban railways constructed in the days of steam traction.

Electrification of such lines is often the only means of increasing their carrying capacity and great activity prevails in the applica tion of this remedy. As an instance may be quoted the electrifi cation of the London suburban lines of the Southern Railway, involving the conversion of 65o m. of track, at a cost of nearly Ri,000,000. The traffic flow of a railway being governed in large measure by its terminal capacity, the aim must be to enable the largest number of trains to enter and leave the terminal. It has been claimed that thanks to electrification the capacity of termi nals can be increased by i 5o% so that five trains would run where two ran formerly (see RAILWAYS : Electrification).

Future Developments.

Casting a prophetic glance forward one can discern certain directions in which the development of civic, social and industrial life may be fundamentally affected by the pressure of the traffic problem. There is already a tendency towards the creation of self-contained satellite towns of moderate size where the citizen can live within an easy walk of his work and yet within sight of the green fields. Such development will be fostered by the North Orbital Road which is being planned to sweep in a curve 75 miles long through the counties of Essex, Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire, at a distance of about 20 miles from Charing Cross. The administrative centres of capital

cities can be relieved by moving to the open outskirts of towns certain offices and departments which do not require an absolutely central position. As open spaces in central districts become rarer and rarer we may see legislation promoted to safeguard such squares and gardens as have escaped the builder.

It is conceivable that the high rental value of office accommoda tion in the heart of great cities and the increasing closeness of business contact between countries of every latitude may lead to the continuous use of offices throughout the day and night, with the result that the volume of passenger traffic to and from the suburbs would be better distributed. It is perhaps significant that several London restaurants should remain open throughout the 24 hours. A time may indeed be in sight when the problem of transport will be the dominating influence in moulding the life of the citizen in every highly developed industrial community.

See also MOTORING, Laws and Regulations. (H. MY.) The rapid increase in motor driven vehicles on the city streets and country highways has created problems of traffic control which have required a great variety of treatment for their solu tion. The maximum density of vehicular movement occurs princi pally in large cities where, owing to the relatively narrow thor oughfares, the higher speed of modern vehicles, frequent stops and conflicting cross-routing, conditions result which were never anticipated in the planning of our city streets. Not only has the traffic in cities produced these problems of congestion, but also on the important highways between cities vehicle traffic has increased to a point where its speed and density both require drastic regulation. A comparison of the two largest American cities is given in the following table, indicating most clearly the causes of vehicle congestion as shown by the growth of vehi cles at a much higher rate than the simultaneous increase in population.

Major street crossings in large American cities handle from 4,000 to 6,000 vehicles and 20,000 to 40,000 pedestrians in a maximum hour. These heavy intersections, by reason of the time required for handling the cross traffic, necessarily back up and slow the whole movement on the main thoroughfare. For many years, at isolated points, traffic officers were able to direct the traffic during the congested periods of the day. During the period from 1918 to 193o, various expedients such as traffic towers with signals operated by hand were installed in many cities—not ably on Fifth avenue, New York. The problem, however, became too complicated as control at many other points in the city street system became necessary, so some co-ordinated automatic control was required. Systems of signals displaying red, green, and yel low lights at certain intervals, operated from a central con trol point, have been developed along a number of different lines. A general classification of fixed time signals would be as fol lows: I. Independent signals 2. Simultaneous system 3. Progressive system Independent signals are used at isolated intersections where crossing traffic requires regulation. These are usually oper ated on a fixed time interval or are traffic-actuated by cars driving over a contact plate on the highway of lesser traffic.