THE STREET TRAFFIC PROBLEM.

Marlborough Express, Volume XXXVII, Issue 222, 19 September 1903, Page 5 (Supplement)

THE STREET TRAFFIC PROBLEM.

4MYEL SCHEME TO KiKVE Til COttCESTIOM. London is not the only city vrhert the street traffic problem has become ac»te. They are experiencing a similar difficulty in New York, but un-.

like o\w= authorities; the

Americans

do not waste time over Commission* - Directly- a -problem / presents iteelJ they-begin, by practical experiments, to find out "the best Just fit present, according* to, " Harper'e .Weekly," the great problem in .New .York is how, to connect a Manhattan .terminals of three great bridges ovet

the Bast River, in order to rejiev« ;the congestion on the present Brooklyn Bridge. There have . been suggestions of a special subway and .elevated railwa.v •loops, with an enormous exp«odi*ure lor v&w street openings, but ,«w«tly how to make the ntw brifees of the gmrtptt we < in, transit vraric and at Ism* cost .has /yet to be sailed. The newest proppsitionr'the one thai, seems to flnd.mo«t'ffaTour *ith pfefce authorities,. - emtoodtea a .ayotein |of moving pavemente.or sittowfrlfcs as pboy are called in America. | Broadly speaking, the proposed sysItem is simply an improvement ok bthe continuous trains and electric .stairways that have been soon at [different cxhititions in England, ano ftthat exist at certain seaside resorts .to enable people to ascend and descend in comfort to and from the shore. The plan proposed in New York is to dig a subway under certain streets from 25ft. to 30ft. wide Stations will •be t opened every twe streets. The continuous trains art ..simply flat platforms with seals on one side and a space on the other, so that one may accelerate his speed by walking if he wishes. There will be no more congestion than on the pavement of an ordinary .street, for the reason that there will be no waiting for (rains. There are no heavy locomotives or motors to be

hauled, and no housing for the cars. The tunnel will be' lighted and will also be heated moderately in winter. . The plan is to, charge a halfpenny in rush hours, and a penny at other hours for transit. It will require something like 10,600 cars or platforms, all looped together to make up the great train. The method of operating them platforms is well known. There ar« two so-called " stepping-piatforiwr " running alongside the train platform iTheogiMsenger steps on one platform moving at the rate of three raHas an horn. He then steps on one moving at the rate of .six xuHes an hour From that he stops on a**nun going at- the rate of nine miles an hour, ■where -he finds a seat. These seats are to hold say four poraons, and are to be 3ft..apart. To alight from the train the passenger simply step? from one platform to another of diminishing speed, and finally gets ofl at his station. There is a great elasticity of carrying capacity, ~ and the cost of operation is declared to Jbo much lower than in the ordinary kind of municipal,, transit. It is estimated that the system as planned, and now "before'the New 3fork authorities, no less than ;60,000 seated could be carried at a,speed of nine inijes an hour.. .■ ■ :.^.: : -;:''-V. v\;;- ':: '. ; '."-/