Evening Star Newspaper, January 27, 1929, Page 103

AUTOS SAVE SPACE, SAYS J.B. GRAHAM Modern Cars Decrease Street Congestion by Speed, He Explains. ‘Traffic regulation and relief has made great progress in the last year because it is no longer treated as a purely local matter by those charged with this im- portant branch of legislation and its enforcement, according to Joseph B. Graham, president of Graham-Paige Motors Corporation. ol “Perhaps the most promising develop- ment is the Hoc code for uniform v offering an ad- lation, but sim- | the problem greatly by reducing | the existing confusion caused by wide { sider their traffic as a whole, seeking through scientific investigation to ar- rive at the best solution of their prob- Jems. “But there is one agency that has worked wonders to prevent and remedy traffic conges yet has not received the credit t due. That agency is the automobile itself. “Every one will agree that, inasmuch as no city can be completely rebuilt on new plans as a means of insuring free- dom of traffic, the only remedy for con- gestion is to ease_the usefulness of the existing stre In other words, if we cannot have more space, we must make more efficient use of the space we already have. “This process of fitting more and more traffic jnto the available space has been going on for years, and it is the automobile that has done the most to make it a success. Traffic Speed Saves Space. Hope for 100 Miles To Gallon of Gas In Newest Motor STATE COLLEGE, N. Mex. ().— A new motor, built at the New Mex- ico Agricultural and Mechanical College, is expected by its inventor to make a gallon of gasoline carry a small automobile 100 miles. ‘Tom Tune, owner of a garage at Mesilla Park, N. Mex., is the inven- tor. He designed an engine which he hopes will utilize all the explosive power in fuel. Air cooled, the motor is of two- cycle construction, with crankshaft, rod and pistons and spark explosion. o TWO-COLOR SIGNAL BAINING IN FAVOR Amber Traffic Light Seems Doomed—Once Hailed as - Great Boon. Once hailed as a great boon to auto- ists, the amber trafic light seems doomed to grace the Nation's scrap heap. Perfected to protect the lowly pedestrian and to prevent collisions at intersections, the yellow rays of the automatic signals are now classed by many traffic experts as a “nuisance” and a hindrance to the rapid move- ment of vehicles. New York, Albany and Buffalo are among some of the cities that have dis- carded the amber light in preference to the combination of red and green, and automotive officials have reported the new method a success. These cities have drawn the conclusion that drivers fail to interpret correctly the yellow light and have therefore placed it under municipal ban. And they feel it will “To see how this is true, consider what would happen if all the automo- stay there. This still leaves the majority of cities employing the amber light in connec- THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, JANUARY 21, 1929—PART 8. COMMITTEE ‘WHICH ARRANGED 1929 AUTOMOBILE SHOW Left to right: Rudolph Jose, chairman; Raphael Semmes, John M. Dugan and Frank P. Stewart. recommendations on the size, shape,|that the Nation eventually will possess | report only after the committee has con- color, wording and construction of traffic | a uniform system. Each recommenda- | ducted experiments with actual traffic signs and light signals with the hope ! tion will be incorporated into the final | and conducted a sclentific investigation of the most efficient, economic and de- sirable methods to -obtain the goal of spbeedy traffic movement. |PEDESTRIANS CROWD | BOSTON AUTOMOBILES Win Right to Step From Curb and Appropriate “Parking” Space. BOSTON (#).——For years the auto- | | mobile has been steadily crowding the | humble pedestrian from the Nation's | roads and highways—but now the walker has begun a counter-attack. Increasingly, in recent years, Boston | Pedestrians have challenged unofficially the right of automobiles to monopolize | the roadways in the downtown shopping | streets, especially Washington street. But this year they have received official sanction from the Street Com- mission to step down from the curb nd appropriate a part of the road djacent to each sidewalk. This sanction is temporary, being a "oncession on the part of the Street Commission to the importance of the cnormous pedestrian traffic during the December shopping season. The com- | mission has temporarily deprived mo- torists of 5 to 6 feet of the roadway on each side of ‘Washington street be- tween Winter and West streets, and has given this space to those on foot. Gangs of men were at once assigned to mark these lanes with white lines and the 13 police were directed to enforce the new regulation barring vehicles. The innovation may or may not be significant as a new trend in regula~ tion of motor traffic in congested dis- tricts. But among private citizens the opinion now is frequently expressed that Washington street, where it passes through the shopping center, should be made a highway for pedestrians. L AT IR Of six-and-a-half million farmers, five-and-a-half millions own cars and advocate improved highways. Still “conveniently located on 14th street” and the ame set slogan of Satisfaction Plus” from smiling sales and service biles using the streets of a crowded city | tion with the red and green, but it is today. were suddenly transformed into | apparent there is a widespread diver- 1915 models in good running condition. | gence of opinion among officlals and ‘What would happen? The worst traffic | drivers as to the meaning of the amber congestion ever known, because the |signal, and a similar erence as to cars of 10 or 15 years ago required much | the combinations in which the lights more road space than the automobiles | are used. The experts reason thusly: of nowadays. If the yellow light's chief purpose is “In 1915 there were no four-wheel ; to warn of a change in the traffic flow, brakes, no balloon tires and no high- | it should be abolished, as the average powered engines as we know them today. Each of these improvements has resulted in a net saving of space on the streets, or has speeded up traffic, or has done both. “Four-wheel brakes alone have caused 8 great saving of road space because they have reduced the distance that must be maintained between running vehicles, for safe stopping; and because they permit cars to maintain the full legal speed with safety. Balloon tires, with modern shock absorbers, permit vehicles to move at good speeds over rough city pavements that would have required the old style cars to move at a crawl—another saving in space. And the present-day high-powered engines have had almost as great an effect as the improved braking—not because of ‘higher speeds, but because of more rapid acceleration. “Today’s automobile, starting even with a 1915 car after a halt at a stop- light, would be half a block away run- ning at full legal speed in high gear before the old-time car had cleared the cross street; and there is another gain of space. "'IPhe motor car itself, in fact, by its development to the point where two cars can operate where but one operated before, has delayed by years the time when ouy city streets can no longer accommodate additional traffic. Says Horses Would Do Worse. “What if thére were no motor vehicles at all? If you are one of those who think that the coming of automobiles ‘has brought about the problem of traffic congestion, imagine a modern city with only the old-fashioned means of trans- port for freight and passengers. Re- ‘member, it would require half a dozen horse-drawn wagons to.do the work of each motor truck; imagine these wagons in the streets along with the several cabs needed to replace each taxi. Add the carriages for private transportation, and the hundreds of extra street cars needed to serve the long-haul traffic that travels today in busses and private cars. That wog{l’d be traffic confusion vorse confounded. “O‘Fl maintain that it is the automobile that has so long delayed the saturation point of our city streets, enabling them to accommodate more and more ton- nage of merchandise, and more and more passengers each year; that, with- out the automobile, our cities could not have served their population and so could not have grown to their present size. And I say that, because of the good gervice the motor car has done our cities, the cities owe the motor cars a great debt, and that they should be willing, when the time comes, to make the expenditures for improvements that, had the automobile not been created and constantly improved, the c'i’Llos would have had to make years ago. NEW AUTOS TO RUN WITH LESS GASOLINE xpert Says Improved Carburetion Will Give Better Performance. That the purchaser of a 1929 model @utomobile will get improved power and performance with a smaller consump- ion of gasoline is pointed out by Oscar foolican, director of the W. A. T. A, who says that a survey of the newest cars reveals an_almost unanimous bet- terment in carburetion and manifold- ing systems. gvloie scientific design in these im- portant units, Mr. Coolican shows, will assure the user fuller and more com- Plete combustion and utilization of the “power parts” of the fuel. “Study of the specifications of the ewest cars as they have become avail- lose observation of them ‘in the flesh’ so to speak, leads inevitably the conclusion that while giving ap- reciably more power and smoother op- eration, the manufacturers at the same jime have endowed them with qualities of ece my never before attained. “Carburetors are more thoughtful in design than ever. Used in conjunction with the latest and most approved ideas #n connection with manifolding systems, they extract from the gasoline every ounce of energy-producing power. The net result of it all is finer operation at Jess cost.” According to Mr. Coolican, this is ust one phase of the improvement vhich has been wrought in the new eutomobiles, “From stem to stern they are better $han their predecessors and, regardless of price class, it will come as welcome news to all prospective purchasers that upkeep costs will be lower. The auto- mobile industry, at least partially, has achieved its goal of utmost efficiency at lowest possible cost per mile,” Mr. Coolican concludes. Sales Made in Lucky Hours. Certain times of the day are sup- autoist tends to start his car while the amber rays are sho . ‘This results in unnecessary traffic jams and ool- lisions. and increased Eedu trians. Many who have studied the op- eration of traffic signals contend red and green combination is more efficlent. Survey Is Conducted. In an effort to decide just what are thzchmd?mhtomotmm- ber ltlght, he American Engineering Council has conducted a survey of the Xm-?e cities of the country.: The results 2 - ~light combination interpret the amber rays as a caution signal;” 27 interpret it as a warning to change; 17 to clear the intersection of traffic, and 11 to give the right-of-way to the pedestrians. The three-light combination is now in use in 85 cities, out of which 76 em- ploy the amber light afi green have flashed. Eight cities have done away with the use of the amber after the red signal and employ it only after the green. The amber light in connection with the red and green is used in 18 lcme& ot ‘The employment of the yellow signal in conjunction with the’ red, .I:n in Torit of ths, experie s merask Tt 01 of 2 AN as] it be discontinued. They contend ‘that terpreted as a sig- flow of traffic, with the the intersection is not cleared when the change of lights oc- curs. In Defense of Amber. In delense of the amber al when used in combination with safe for crossing. And the advocates of the two-color plan, the red and green only, ask for the lbol!shmen& of zPe Inlxgnbex- light as unnecessary and confusing to both pe- destrian and driver. They hold that motorists driving in a city which en- forces such a traffic. light combination rapidly become accustomed to only the two colors and by their own precautions eliminate much of the congestion at intersections, with a resultant decrease in_peril to the pe 3 In the Nation at the present three cities have instituted the red and green color combination, with a short period of darkness to clear the int on for the change in the flow of traffic, How- ever, this system has come in for its share of criticism from those who maintain that the period of darkness merely replaces the amber light and neither speeds traffic nor protects the man on the street. Trying out still another method, nine cities have inaugurated the use of over- lapping red and - g § green lights in all Drafting Set of Rules. With the results of the survey- at hand, a committee of the American Engineering Council is now engaged in drafting a set of rules for presentation to cities which feel that the present sys- tem of traffic signals is sorely in need of correction and improvement. It is the hope of the committee to provide a uniform code that will clear the air in regard to the motorists’ understanding and observance of traffic signs all over the country. The committee hopes that some time, in the not far distant future, it will be possible for an autoist to tour from one coast to another without meet- ing the present divergences in traffic light rules which present themselves when a driver goes from one city to ke eport and 4 report and its accompanying set of tentative rules will be issued by the committee of traffic Tts as soon as they agree upon the details of the rec- ommendations. In the meantime, the committee has called attention to two fundamental errors in the use of traffic signals, as shown by the engineerihg council’s survey. These are: - The placing of signals at intersections before a comprehensive study has been made of traffic conditions at the par- ticular point which the lights are in- tended to rectify; and the evils resulting at one intersection from attempts made to facilitate the flow of traffic at another street crossing. The council holds that many traffic signals are placed in opera- tion at places which do not justify in- stallation. ‘The committee has this to say: “The inevitable result will be public recogni- tion of these two errors and a conse- guem disregard of all traffic signs and levices. Such fundamental errors can be avoided by obtaining e: ing advice before the in: system of markings.” State Regulations Vary. ‘With the existing variations in State laws regulating street signs and light signals, the committce feels that it is impossible to propose recommendations which could be n&plled universally until the State regulations are amended. Acting on this knowledge, the com- engineer- lation of any street traffic signs, signals or posed to be unlucky in India, according to the beliefs of certain religious groups. Automobile dealers, consequently, have to acquaint themselves with the lucky hours of the day and confine their sales efforts o those particular hours, mittee expects that every city the traffic recommendations under advise- ment will have to conform them to the individual need of each city and the limitations imj d by law. "Tha commitien's-£eport il aclids A \ N THIS MODERN CAR OUTSTANDING AMONG THE ACHYEVEMENTS OF THIS MODERN AGE It had to come. But HUPMOBILE was first to capture it. The modern flair in motor car design. The car of sleek, crisp, straightaway lines, without the traditional ornate and bulbous contours. .. The very sweep and dash of these New HUPMOBILE designs seem to reflect the “speed : ahead” spirit and verve of this modern aée. Their beauty is clean-cut, with no affected filigree. Every inch of gleaming metal and chromium has a trim, trig, and tailored look . . . 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