FUTURE TROUBLES

Evening Post, Volume CX, Issue 71, 20 September 1930, Page 10

FUTURE TROUBLES

MAIN STREET DRIVING

UNNECESSARY TRAFFIC

CAUSE OF CONGESTION

."v . In the recent issue of "Community Planning," the official organ of "the Town Planning Institute of New Zealand, is a very interesting article by ;.- Mr. H. C. nays, A.M.l.Mcch./E., M,X.Z.Soc.C.E., of the Transport De- .. partmentj on the subject of "Town ; Planning and the Motor Vehicle," in the course of which he draws attention ;;'- to several causes of congestion, some of them avoidable, which very definitely apply to Wellington. Parking of •vehicles in city streets and unnecessary driving through shopping streets are particularly mentioned. After writing of the value of traffle Burveys arid of the curious traffic surges '; - flue to various causes, Mr. Hays continues: — >: In its wider aspects the traffic survey ■ should supply sufficient information for '••- a clear underctanding of the movement • of privately owned vehicles, of pas- : gangers in public vehicles, and of com- ■- modities over the city streets. It wouid necessitate an investigation of the following factors: Population, its growth and distribution, with special ; attention to the regional ownership of ■'■ motor vehicles; the traffic flow, its volume, rate of speed, character, origin, and destination; the stationary vehicle, cither parked at the roadside-or temporarily housed in a public garage; its relation to business, and possibilities far its "future disposition; methods of 3»gulation, and their actual effect upon traffic flow; street accidents, their location and cause; the existing street plan, ;.° 3md possible changes to meet increasing v •volume of traffic, or to relieve conges-

It is recorded that in one case a study of the "origin and destination" jSata showed that one-fourth of the •total number of vehicles on the 'business, streets had no business there other #han to paae from one part of the city jfo. another. It is frequently possible, •jjrithpnt sn appreciable expenditure, to &y-p?w the through city traffic around jftta congested area,, with resultant advantage to all traffic. 'Almost without exception, continues Mr; Hays,,'in so far as the cities of this are concerned, it will be admitted that the time has arrived for 8f careful and comprehensive, study of tell factors that are tending to congestion, and are causing an increase Jn'-accidents in our streets, and which, 5Ja some parts, may ultimately lead to stagnation of the-traffic flow.

CAUSES OF CONGESTION.

The fundamental cause of traffic congestion is traceable to the natural increase ia population, and the extension of the urban boundaries without the provision of corresponding or sufficient increase in. street; area throughout the 3«estricted business portion of the city. Other positive causes of congestion .Worth; mention include the concentration of wage earners and the accommodation of the day-time population in ■toll buildings, the popularity of the city flat as a dwelling,-the trend for an urban rather.than a rural livelihood, the desire for entertainment iv the iflaytime, the now marked disinclination Wf the individual to walk, even when fcne journey is relatively short, the increase in the volume of commodities tiat mast be either forwarded to or distributed from transport terminals, tne general unsuitability of many streets, and last but by no means least in- effect, comes the privately owned saotor-caa, In addition, general or 3ocal congestion may result from the nature of the traffic, and also from improper or insufficient regulation of its

ONE ROUTE—AND CONGESTED. Although there may be two equally suitable and direct routes to. or through an outlying part of a city that would serve local motorists, it is a characteristic community habit for the majority of them to use one Toute only under more or Ibbs congested conditions. In euch circumstances, it is likely that appropriate roadside notice-boards •would have .the desired effect upon sufficient motorists to secure a better distribution of the traffic. The mingling of horse-drawn aud ether slowly moving heavy vehicles •with light and fast travelling traffic is a common cause of congestion; also the inixing of tramway passenger trafiie •with motor vehicle traffle in general is the most noticeable, if not the_ most annoying, feature of congestion in tho unain streets of some of our cities. In this connection there is perhaps equal caute for complaint from both tramway men and the motor vehicle drivers.

THE PARKING PROBLEM. Perhaps the most serious cause of Congestion, in New Zealand cities is the parked motor-car. Tew civic authorities have yet faced this difficult problem/but all will be compelled to do so at- no distant date. Another ever present cans© of obstruction is the restriction of street width, either by merchants' goods; by hawkers' barrows; by builders' materials; by the loading and unloading of merchandise in vehicle lots at an inopportune time; toy the day-time opening of the road -Surface; by inconsiderate tradesmen; \>r by private corporations for the repair of a water supply, gas, or draining system, or, more frequently, by one or ■other of the departments of a public body that, in its own interest, prefers to do underground work in daylight; or by the breakdown of motor vehicles, in. many cases through inexcusable neglect of maintenance. There is yet another element in the traffic stream that retards flow, but perhaps at this stage, brief mention of it tho pedestrian—will:suffice. Lower Willis street is given special mention: in the article. '' The traffic density has increased by 34.5 per cent, in this street in the last two years," states Mr. Hays,; "and will inevitably continue to increase under present building bylaws, until congestion becomes so serious that values of abutting properties for business purposes will bo seriously affected." A sample of congestion in Willis street is illustrated, with ten tramß, but comparatively few motor vehicles in the length from Mercer. street to the Manners street corner. The entrance to the bottle Meek' in. Lambton quay, near Grey street, is also illustrated. Here also, states the writer, congestion is becoming a serious problem.' i