Jun-04.pd - Local History Archives

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For some, commuting is a breeze,
our countrywide survey showsfor
many others it bites three
solid weeks of time out
of every year
Lafayette, in California's Bay Area, has doubts
about its proposed rapid-transit system, however:
"Many homes will eventually have to be vacated
for track and stations." But the planning engineers
in this area say that a freeway system with
the same peak-load capacity woula eat up four
times as much land as the proposed rail system
(1,360 acres as against 325), besides costing
five times as much. A four-lane freeway occupies
about 15 acres of ground per mile of road, not
counting the extra space needed for interchanges
and approaches. The city of San Francisco itself
is thoroughly fed up with state-built freeways
that have invaded its streets on huge elevated steel
structures "while the shining city slept" and obstruct
("deface" is the local word) the view of
many historic structures.
THE MOST PRACTICAL immediate relief for
some of us appears to be in the direction of
tax-supported rapid-transit radiating from the
central city to suburban stations or the subsidizing
of existing rail service where heavy local traffic
to and from the city seems likely to continue.
Elsewhere, especially where job locations are becoming
widely scattered, the automobile will have
to do the commuter hauling, along with buses.
For the future, some highly interesting prospects
are almost within reach. These eventually
may bring about great changes. Engineers are
working on an automated highway, on which cars
can be electronically controlled to move at high
speeds without driver attention till they arrive at
the side roads leading to their destination. Increased
use of water courses, with hydro-foa-type
high-speed vehicles, is another improvement to
come. Our Highland Park publisher reports that
the Chicago & North Western is already selling a
summertime ticket which provides a boat ride on
the Chicago River to enable east-of-the-Loop
commuters to reach the station pleasantly. Helicopters
and short-take-off planes will be cheaper
and facilities- for them more widely available.
Upcoming, too, are ground-effect machines. They
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Suburbia Today. June 1964 9