1937 Traffic Survey Los Angeles Metropolitan Area

8/20/2019 1937 Traffic Survey Los Angeles Metropolitan Area

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HARRY J. BAUER, President

ALEXANDER B. MACBETH, First Vice-President H. W. KELLER, Second Vice-President

STANDISH L. MITCHELL, Secretary and General Manager RALPH REYNOLDS, Assistant Secretary

C. E. MCSTAY, Field Secretary

IVAN KELSO, General CounselE. E. EAST, Chief Engineer

JOHN J. SHEA, Chief Auditor HARVEY A. ALLEN, Manager Finance Department

H. W. KELLER W. L. VALENTINEHORACE G. MILLER

A. C. BALCH

HARRY CHANDLER

ALEXANDER B. MACBETHG. M. WALLACE

HENRY S. MACKAY, JR.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

HARRY J. BAUER

JOHN F. FORWARD, JR ..

DWIGHT MURPHY .

J. B. GILL

FRANCIS H. THROOP

W. A. CHALFANT .C. E. BROUSE

DICKSON F. MADDOX.

ALFRED HARRELL .

ALLEN P. NICHOLS

W. F. PRISK .S. R . BOWEN .

MILTON M. TEAGUE

. San Diego County. Santa Barbara County

. San Bernardino County

. San Luis Obispo County

Inyo-Mono County. Riverside County

. Tulare County. Kern County

Los Angeles County (Eastern) Los Angeles County (Western)

Southern Orange County

. Ventura County

Presented to ~ T .8. H arris


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Traffic

s . t . R . T . D . U B R A R Y

SurveyLos Angeles Metropolitan Area

Nineteen Hundred Thirty-seven

Engineer ing Depar t ment

E. E. EAST, CHIEF E NGI NEER

H. F. HOLLEY, ASST. CHIEF E NGI NEER


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Table of Contents

EXTENT OF SUR VEY

THE METlWPOLITA N AR EA

PR ESENT A ND ESTIMATED FUTURE POPULATION

MOTOR VEHICLES

AUTOMOBILE PARKI NG .

THE STR EET AND HIGHWAY TRAFFIC PROBLEM

OF THE Los A NGELES AR EA


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PHOTO

PHOTO

PHOTO

PLATE 1

PHOTO

PLATE 2

PLATE 3

CHART

PLATE 4

PLATE 5

PLATE 6

PLATE 7

PLATE 8

PLATE 9

PLATE 10

PHOTO

PLATE 11

PHOTO

PHO'rO

PHOTO

PHOTO

PLATE 12

PLATE 13

PLATE 14

PHOTO

PHOTO

PLATE 15

PLATE 16

PLATE 17

PHOTO

PLATE 18

PLATE 19

List of Plates and Photographs

DESCRIPTION

Motor way Thr ough a R esidential District

Motor way Thr ough a Business District .

Wilshir e Boulevar d at Bonnie Brae Street

Incorpor ated and Unincorpor ated Territory in the Los Angeles Area

Alvarad o Street at Wilshire Boulevard

Distribution of Po pulation, 1924

Distribution of Population, 1936

Motor Vehicle Fatalities, 1921-36

Traffic Flow, District 1,1929 and 1 936

Traffic Flow, District 2, 1929 and 1936

Tr af fic Flow, District 3, 1930 and 1937

Traffic Flow, District 4, 1930 and 1937

Traffic Flow, Los Angeles County Line, 1930 and 1937

Traffic Density, All Distr ict Bound aries

Or igin of Park ed Automo biles

Parking Lots, Centr al Business Distr ict

Relative Tr affic Densities, Principal Str eets and Highways

Parking at the University of Califor nia at Los Angeles

Parking at Lock heed Air craft Corpor ation, Burbank .

Curb Parking on Pacific Boulevar d, Huntington Par k

Parking at Sear s, Roebuck & Co., Los Angeles

Land Use Along U. S . 101, Cala basas to Orange County Line

S pread of Population and Business in the Los Angeles Metr o politan Ar ea

Driving Time f rom 7th and Br oad way in 1930 and 1936

Fletcher Drive at Riverside Dr ive in 1927

Fletcher Drive at River sid e Drive in 1937

Location of Pr oposed M otorways

Tr eatn\ent at Inter section of Two Motor ways

Treatment at Intersection of l\lotor way and Str eet

1 \ 1 1 otorwa y Bridge Over Typical Commerci al Street

Design of Motor way Through Business Districts .

Alternate Design of Motor way Thr ough Business Districts


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F

T H E directors of theAutomobile Club of Southern California

early in January 1937 instructed its Roads

and Highways Committee to undertake a

comprehensive traffic survey in the metro-

politan area of Los Angeles for the pur-

pose of formulating and submitting rec-

ommendations for the betterment of street

and highway traffic conditions therein.

The data accumulated during the course of

this survey, analysis of same and recom-

mendations based thereon are the subject

matters of this report.

'

STANDISH L. MITCHELL

General M anager

AUTOMOBILE CLUB OF SOUTHER N CALIFORNIA


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OFFICERS

HARR Y J. BAUER , PRESIOE NT

ALEXANDER B. M ACBETH. 15_'"VIce PRESIDENTH. W . ...:E LL E. R, 2 N _O'Vlce PRESIDENT

ST ANDISH L. MITCHELL. SCCRETARV& GEN'L. MAN AGER.R ALPH REYNOLDS, AS,ST.SECRETARYC. E. Me;:: STAY, FIELD SECReT ARY

DIRECTORS

HARR Y J. BAUE:R H.W. KELLER

W. L.VALENTlNE

HOR ACE G. MILLER

A.C.BALCH

HARRY CH AN OLER

ALEXANDER B. MACBETH

G. M. 'W ALLACE

HENRY S.MACKAY,vR.

ADVISORY BO ARD

W. A. CHALF ANT, INYO-MOND COUNTies

ALFRED HAR RELL. K ER N CO. ALLEN P.NrCHOLS,Lo5 ANGEL.ES CO.


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TRAFFIC SURVEY

By

ENGI NEER ING DEPARTMENT

AUTOMOBILE CLUB OF SOUTHER N CALIFORNIA

E. E. EAST . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C hie f Engineer

H. F. HOLLEY . . . . . . . . . . . Assistant Chie f Engineer

Extent of Survey

For mer studies of the ever -growing street traffic

pr oblem of Los Angeles have been confined , in gener al,

to the area included within the city's bound aries and in

particular to the centr al business d istr ict. With the

rapid growth and spread of population and business

activity d uring r ecent year s, the problem has not only

gr own in intensity within the city pro per but has

s pread far into contiguous terr itor y wher e in manysections str eet congestion, traffic d elays and hazar d to

life and property are as gr eat as in the central traffic

d istrict of the City of Los Angeles. This stud y d eals

with the tr af fic problem of Los Angeles and its con-

tiguous ter r itor y.

The Metropolitan Area

The Los Angeles metr o politan area as outlined

for the pur poses of this sur vey is bound ed on the nor th

by the foothills of the San Ga briel Mountains, on the

east by the Los Angeles County line, on the south and southwest by the Pacific Ocean and on the west by the

west city limits of the City of Los Angeles. It has an

ar ea of a bout 1,235 sq uare miles, or 31 % of the

county total, and is that portion of Los Angeles

County gener ally refer red to a s the coastal plain.

This coastal plain r egion occu pies a strategic position

in the trans por tation net-work of California. Lying

as it does between the Pacif ic Ocean on the south and

the San Ga briel Mountains on the nor th, and having

a width of a bout twenty miles at its narrowest point,

it f orms a veritable bottleneck thr ough which all

north and south travel must pass. The traffic pro blem

of this ar ea is, ther ef or e, not only a local problem but

one of consid erable concern to the state as a whole.

Ther e ar e forty-thr ee incorporated cities in the

Los Angeles ar ea. These cities have a combined area

of 716 square miles, or a bout 58% of the total. The

r emaining 42 % of the metr o politan area, consistinglar gely of d isconnected parcels var ying in size, is

under county jurisdiction.

The metro politan ar ea as herein def ined and the

incor por ated and unincor porated ter ritor y ther ein is

shown on Plate No.1.

The land comprising the Los Angeles ar ea is

divid ed into relatively small parcels by some 11,316

miles o f str eets and highways. Due to lack of for e-

thought on the part of subdivid er s in the planning and

laying out of subdivisions and lack of co-o per ation be-

tween the many governmental bodies in planning and constr ucting streets and highways, the pattern of the

metropolitan area resembles in appear ance that of a

cr azy q uilt.

The d evelopment of the Los Angeles ar ea was not

planned . It just gr ew by the piecing together thr ough

the years of numerous subd ivisions. Land use has been

determined lar gely u pon the individual owner 's guess

as to the most profita ble use that could be mad e of his

holdings. This guess, conf used by the wid e-spread use

of the automo bile as a means of individual tr ans por ta-

tion, has pr od uced a chaotic intermingling of the var i-


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WILSHIRE BOULEVARD AT BONNIE BRAE STR EET-

TYPICAL OF CO NGESTIO N O N EXISTI NG MAJOR STREETS

ous land uses thr oughout the area. In general, land

abutting on the principal str eets and highways is de-

voted to commercial and other uses, which directly or

indirectly retards the movement of vehicles. There is

little sta bility in either business or residential districts

and the str eets and highways are congested out of all

pr opor tion to ser vice render ed. Blighted resid ential

as well as commercial districts are numerous through-

out the ar ea and the pr ocess continues.

Transportation Facilities

Transpor tation of per sons within the Los Angeles

metropolitan ar ea is divided between street and in-

ter ur ban rail lines, motor buses, taxicabs and passen-

ger automobiles. The tr ans portation ser vice rend er ed

by these facilities can be ex pr essed in terms of operat-

ing statistics for the calend ar year 1936, which ar e asfollows: '

THE Los A NGELES RAILWAY CORPORATIO N

Miles of tr ack oper ated

Car miles operated

Total passenger s carr ied

( all classes)

Aver age haul per passenger

( estimated )

Total passenger miles

P ACIFIC ELEcnnc H. AILW AY COI\IP ANY

(entire system)

Miles of tr ack operated

Car miles o per ated

Total passenger s carried

( entir e system)

Average haul per passenger

(estimated )Total passenger miles

10 mile~64 7,104,OOC


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L O S A N G EL E S M E TR O PO L I TA N A R E A

MAP S HOWING

INCORP ORA TE D A ND UNINCORP ORA TE DTERRITORY

LOS ANGELES METROPOLITAN AREA


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Bus LINES

Los ANGELES MOTOR COACH COMPA NY

Mil~s of street oper ated upon

Bus miles operated

N um ber of passenger s carried

(all classes)

Average haul per passenger (estimated) 5 miles

Total passenger miles 126,114,395

PACIFIC ELECTR IC RAILWAY Bus LINES

( enti re system)

Miles of street oper ated upon

Bus miles operated

Number of passenger s carried

(all classes)

Average haul per passenger

(estimated )

Total passenger milesPASSE NGER AUTOMOBILES

The total estimated street and highway travel in

Califor nia during 1936, based upon gasoline con-

sumed in motor vehicles, was a bout 17,862,326,250

vehicle miles. Of this amount, a bout 41 % , or 7,323,-

553,762 vehicle miles, occur r ed in Los Angeles

County. As determined by the California Highway

Tr ansportation Sur vey, buses and other commercial

vehicles account f or a bout 18 % of the total street and

highway use. Ded ucting this item from the a bove

leaves about six billion passenger automo bile miles.The average number of persons per passenger auto-

mo bile, as d eter mined fr om a large num ber of o bser -

vations thr oughout the ar ea, is 1.448. This applied to

the passenger automo bile miles as noted a bove gives

8,688,000,000 passenger miles, which represents the

tr ansportation ser vice r ender ed in the Los Angeles

metr opolitan ar ea thr ough the med ium of passenger

automobiles and 11,316 miles of streets and highways.

SUMMARY OF PASSE NGER TRA NSPORTATIO N SER VICE

R E NDERED BY RAIL A ND Bus LI NES A ND

PASSENGER AUTOMOBILES:R ail lines 1,857,021,055 passenger miles

Bus lines 337,628,415 passenger miles

Passenger automo biles

8,688,000,000 passenger miles

117

7,989,299

211.09

7,569,770

10 miles

211 ,514,020

Present and Estimated Future Population

The population of Los Angeles County increased

from a total of 170,298 in 1900 to 2,690,428 in 1936.

Of the total county population in 1900, almost 100 ' 7 0

lived within what has been designated herein as the

Los Angeles metropolitan area, and 75% of the total

lived within the ten incor porated cities as of that date.

Of the total county population in 1936, as determined

from the 1936-1937 registration of voter s, 99.6 %

live within the metropolitan area and 87.2 % of the

county total live within the for ty-three incorporated

cities, all of which are in the so designated metropoli-

tan area.

The area of the incorporated ter ritor y increased

from about 112 sq uare miles in 1900 to 716 square

miles in 1937. The increase in urban population

during this per iod was 1735 %, while the increase in

area of incorporated ter ritory was 539 %. The in-

crease in population in the r ural por tion of t he Los

Angeles metropolitan area between 1900 and 1936

was 450 % . We have pIa tted the po pula tion growth

of the Los Angeles area from 1890 t o 1936 and pro- jected this cur ve to 1950. The population indicated

in 1950 is 6,500,000.

It is recognized that in estimating the population

of the Los Angeles area at any f utur e d ate, one guess

is as good as another . In a community or state where

po pulation growth is determined by the numer ical dif-

ference between births and deaths, the population at

any f utur e time can be estimated with reasona ble ac-

cur acy. On the other hand, in a growing community

where po pulation growth is inf luenced largely by im-

migr ation, the rate at which population increases isdetermined by economic cond itions and the a bility of

such growing community to assimilate new people.

The Los Angeles area will ultimately include

some 2,000 square miles of ter ritory, all of which is

highly suitable for human occupation. Allowing twelve

persons per acre, the area will accommodate in excess

of fifteen million inha bitants without undue crowd ing.

Given this capacity to assimilate new people and the

urge to come to California to live which is found

among peo ple thr oughout the United States and many

par ts of the wor ld, we feel that our estimate of 6,500,000 inhabitants by 1950 is cons.er vative. The

growth and directional trend in population between

1924 and 1936 is ind icated on Plates No.2 and

- No.3.

Motor Vehicles

Fee paid motor vehicles in Los Angeles County

increased f r om 50,853 in 1914 to 960,416 in 1936.

For California as a whole the increase was from 148,-

225 in 1914 to 2,336,845 in 1936. The 1936 regis-

tr ation in Los Angeles County equaled 40.6 % of the


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state total. Accurate information is not available as to

the d istribution of these motor vehicles as between the

metropolitan ar ea and remaining county ter r itory,

but it is assumed that this distr i bution is in about the

same ratio as population distr i bution. On this basis

we have estimated that there are, including exempt

vehicles, buses, taxicabs and vehicles from other Cali-fornia counties and other states, not less than one

million motor vehicles in use d ur ing some part of each

day upon the streets and highways of this ar ea.

Motor vehicle r egistration in the Los Angeles

area d uring 1936 exceed ed total state registration in

all but seven states. These states were Califor nia,

New York, Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, Pennsylvania

and Texas. The ratio of population to motor vehicles

in the Los Angeles area, based upon the 1936 estimate

of population, was 2.8 persons to each registered ve-

hicle. This ratio in Chicago, Detroit, N ew Yor k and

Philadel phia was 8.2, 4.4, 11.6 and 9.0 to 1 respec-

tively. It is believed that the density per square mile

of automobile use is greater, particularly in the con-

gested por tions of the Los Angeles area, than in any

other locality in the United States.

We have estimated that in 1950 there will be 2,-

155,000 motor vehicles registered in Los Angeles

County. Based upon our estimate of population theratio of population to registered motor vehicles in

1950 will be about thr ee persons to each registered

motor vehicle.

There wer e 18,092 motor vehicle accidents re-

ported in Los Angeles County during 1936. This was

49.8 % of the state total. These accidents resulted in

death or injur y to 34,288 persons. Of the total num-

ber of motor vehicle accid ents occurring in that year

in Los Angeles County 16,110 occur r ed in city terr i-

tor y and 1,982 in rural ter r itor y.


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DISTRIBUTION OF POPULATION

LOS ANGELES METROPOLITAN AREA AS OF 1924


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DISTR IBUTION O F P O PULA TIO NIN

LOS ANGEL ES ME TR OP OLIT A N A REA


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In the six year period from 1931 to 1936 inclu-

e, a total of 103,044 accidents were r epor ted in Los

ngeles County. This is 50.8 % of the total fatal and

rsonal injury accid ents occurring in the entire state

r ing that period and when compar ed with a motor

hicle registration in Los Angeles County of 40.6 %

the state total, reflects the effect of traff ic conges-on upon the accident toll. Of the 103,044 fatal and

rsonal injur y accidents occurring in Los Angeles

ounty fr om 1931 to 1936, 70,937 or 68.8 % oc-

rr ed in Los Angeles City, 21,389 or 20.8 % oc-

rr ed within the boundar ies of the other cities of Los

ngeles County, and 10,718 or 10.4 % occurred in the

incorporated areas of the County.

In the period from 1931 to 1936 a total of 5,383

r sons were killed and appr oximately 145,258 were

ured in motor vehicle accidents in Los Angeles

ounty, a total of 150,641 men, women and child r enled or in jured in six years. This is 641 more than

e population of the City of Los Angeles in the

ar 1905.

Growth of the Los Angeles Traffic Problem

The transpor tation plan of the str eet and inter-

urban rail lines and the physical featur es of the Los

Angeles area were, in large measur e, res ponsi ble for

its tr affic problems of today.

The rail lines of the Los Angeles R ailway Cor po-

ration and the Pacific Electric Railway Company

were extended outward f r om the central business dis-

trict like the spokes of a wheel into all par ts of the

area, thereby encour aging develo pment along radial

lines. Thirty-nine of the forty-two incor por ated cities

of the area, exclusive of Los Angeles, owe their ear ly

growth to the transportation ser vice of the Los An-

geles and Pacific Electric Railways. All but thr ee of

these cities lie within a r adius of 25 miles of Seventh

and Broadway.

The Los Angeles area is completely surr ounded by rugged mountains, low hills and the sea. Entrance

to the area by land is from the east, southeast, west

and northwest through nar row valleys, mountain

TRAFFIC SURVEY

LOS ANGELES METROPOLITA N A RE A

ENGINEERING DEPARTMENTAUTOMO B ILE C LUB QFSOU THERNCALIFORNIA

1937

DIAGRAM 5HOWING

NUM B ER O FPERSO NS K IL LED IN MO TOR VEH ICLE ACCI D ENTSIN LOS ANGELES COUNTY

1921 TO 1936


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passes and along narrow benches border ing the sea.

'V"ithin the area are many low r anges and hills and

other physical barriers limiting lines of communica-

tion to, and in most cases wid ely separ ated, natural

passes.

The social and business life of the inha bitants of

the Los Angeles area was fir st adjusted to rail tr ans-

portation. The ear ly use of the automo bile ther efor e

was in lar ge par t competitive and occasioned a d irect

loss to the r ail lines. This is evid enced by the rapid fall-

ing off in number of passenger s carried by the rail lines

since 1924, the year in which the automo bile came to

be r ecognized by most o bserver s as a tr ans por tation

vehicle rather than a luxur y.

Early str eet and highway development in gener al

followed the rail lines, skirting or passing thr ough

physical barr ier s, but always conver ging toward a

common center . Conseq uently, and natur ally, ear lyautomo bile travel in the metr o politan area was along

somewhat d evious but r ad ial lines, converging toward,

and terminating in, the centr al business district. This

character istic of automobile tr avel in the Los Angeles

area was clearly shown by a sur vey made dur ing the

ear ly days of automobile develo pment.

The Automobile Club of Southern California in

June 1920 made a check of all automo biles and truck s

enter ing the City of Los Angeles between the hours

of 8 A.M. and 6 P.M. The total number of vehicles

enter ing during this per iod was 21,664. From an an-alysis of the data secur ed thr ough this check it was

determined that the immediate destination of 97 %

of the total was the centr al business distr ict.

The po pulation of the Los Angeles area more

than d oubled d ur ing the d ecade 1920-1930. The in-

crease was 135.84%, or more than one and a q uar ter

million. Dur ing this decade, also, ther e was a phe-

nomenal gr owth in manufactur ing and commerce.

From a position of 27th place among the counties of

the United States in value of manufactured goods in

1919, Los Angeles County had moved to sixth place

in 1930. Accor d ing to the United States Census, manu-

factur ing in 1919 employed 61,665 peo ple and the

value of manufactured good s was 417,808,804.

By 1929 the number em ployed had incr eased to

105,859 and the value of maunf actur ed goods t o

$1,176,775,207, an incr ease of 7 1.6, /0 and 181.6%

r espectively.

Tonnage passing thr ough the Port of Los Angeles

is an index to the increase in commerce. This tonnage

incr eased fr om 3,528,280 tons during 1919 to 25,-

920,159 tons d ur ing 1930. During this per iod, also,

oil was discovered in the Los Angeles basin. The

growth of the motion picture ind ustry was stimulated

by the d evelopment of talk ing pictures. Street and

highway use increased f rom a bout nine hundred mil-

lion vehicle miles to a bout f ive billion vehicle miles

annually.

The rapid growth in the popular ity of the auto-mo bile as a unit for ind ivid ual transportation dis-

cOUl-aged the extension of rail transpor tation lines.

As new d istricts were developed to accommodate the

r a pid ly increasing po pulation, the area became more

and more dependent upon the a utomobile for

transpor tation.

Rail tr ans por tation forces centr alization by con-

fining business, ind ustr ial and resid ential development

to ar eas ser ved by such lines. Individ ual transpor ta-

tion, on the other hand , encour ages decentralization,

which in turn increases congestion and street and high-way hazard. The wid ely scatter ed and intermingled

sho pping, industrial, cultur al and residential districts

of metr opolitan Los Angeles, a condition for which

the automobile is directly res ponsible, make the area

peculiarly and vitally depend ent u pon the automobile

f or the ma jor part of its transportation ser vice.

Today, at least 80 % of the daily transportation re-

q uirements of the area is su p plied by the automobile.

The 1937 Traffic Survey

A knowledge of the number of vehicles passinga given point on a given street or highway d uring a

given per iod of time is of interest but in itself of little

value to the develo pment of an efficient trans por ta-

tion svstem. The essential infor mation to be obtained

is wher e d oes each vehicle come f r om, where is it go-

ing and ar e the transit and ter minal facilities adeq uate

for efficient tr ans por tation. O bviously, the collection

of these data becomes more and more dif f icult as

tr af fic density increases until finally it becomes neces-

sary to deal with mass movement and component

par ts rather than with the individual vehicle. Under

this method, origin, destination and other required

data ar e obtained through cordon counts and samples

selected at random throughout the area.

The traff ic sur vey made by the Automobile Club

of Souther n Califor nia in 1920, which it i s believed

was the first automobile tr affic sur vey to be made in

the United States, esta blished the boundaries of two

checking distr icts. The first, or inner distr ict, desig-

nated as the central business distr ict, was bound ed by

Figuer oa, Sunset, Maple and Tenth, and the second,

or resid ential d istrict, included the built u p section of


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the city pr o per . The volume of traffic entering and

leaving these districts and the basic data for which

the origin and destination of tr affic was determined,

was secured through checking stations located on the

bound aries of these districts.

In the 1929 sur vey the central busines~ distr ict

was extended south to Washington Boulevard and east to San Pedro Street and three ad d itional distr icts

established. These districts, which were used in the

1937 survey, ar e designated and bound ed as follows:

DISTR ICT NUMBER 1. The centr al business dis-

trict, bound ed on the north by Sunset Boulevard, on

the east by San Pedr o Street, on the south by Wash-

ington Boulevard and on the.west by Figueroa Street.

DISTR ICT NUMBER 2. The outer congested dis-

trict, bounded on the north and east by the Los An-

geles R iver , on the south by Jeff er son Street and on

the west by Hoover and Alvar ad o Streets.DISTR ICT NUMBER 3. The resid ential district,

bounded on the north by Los Feliz Boulevard and a

line extending from Los Feliz Boulevard at the Los

Angeles River bridge southeasterly to the inter sec-

tion of Garvey Avenue and Atlantic Boulevard , on

the east by Atlantic Boulevard , on the south by Slau-

son Avenue and on the west by Arlington and Van

Ness Avenues.

DISTRICT JUMBER 4. The sur bur ban d istrict,

bounded on the north by a line extending easterly

from a point near R oscoe to an inter section with thenorth extension of Rosemead Boulevard , on the east

by Rosemead Boulevard , on the south by Compton

Boulevard and Redond o Beach Boulevard , and on the

west by Redond o Road and a line extending norther ly

from its intersection with Manchester Avenue to a

point on Laurel Canyon Boulevard west of R oscoe.

DISTR ICT NUMBER 5. The metr o politan area, or

the coastal plain of Los Angeles County, bound ed on

the north by the San Ga briel Mountains, on the east

by the Los Angeles County line, on the south and west

by the Pacif ic Ocean, and on the west by the Los An-

geles City limits.

Diagr ams of these districts, showing the number

of motor vehicles entering and leaving each, between

the hour s of 6 A.M. and 10 P.M. of an aver age week-

day, as determined by the 1929 and 1937 surveys, are

shown in Plates No.4 to No.9 inclusive.

The number of motor vehicles enter ing and leav-

ing District No.1 in 1929 was 531,474, and in 1936,

573,008, an increase of 7.8%.

The number of motor vehicles entering and leav-

ing Distr ict No.2 in 1929 was 618,721 an d in 1936,

727,237, an increase of 17.5 %.



854,254, an increase of 28.2 %.



463,591, an increase of 52.9%.

The num ber of motor vehicles entering and leav-

ing District J0.5, or the metropolitan area, as herein

designated , in 1930 was 57,930, and in 1937,71,322,

an incr ease of 23.1 '/0.

The increase in number of vehicles entering and

leaving District No. 1 in 1936 over 1929 f r om the

north was 6.5 %, from the east 3.2 %, from the south

14.4 %, and f r om the west 8.8 %. The incr ease in

Distr ict No.2 from the nor th was 25.9 %, from the

east 30.1 %, f r om the south 9.9% and from the west

15.9 %. The increase in Distr ict No.3 f r om the north

was 66.7 %, f r om the east 40.1 %, from the south

17.8 %, and f r om the west 20.6 %. The increase in

District No.4 f r om the north was 47.8%, from the

east 58.1 %, from the south 18.7 % and f r om the

west 68.8 %. The increase in the metr o politan area

in 1937 over 1930 was f r om the east and southeast

17.6%, and f r om the west and northwest 54.5 %.

The number of vehicles remaining in each d is-

trict, or the d i ff er ence between the number entering

and the number leaving, at the close of the check at10 P.M. was f or District No.1, 14,476, Distr ict No.

2, 5,799, District No.3, 9,432, District No.4, 589,

and District No.5, 80.

The number of vehicles enter ing the central busi-

ness d istr ict in each hour exceeded the num ber leav-

ing in the correspond ing hour from 6 A.M. to 2

P.M. at which time ther e had accumulated in the

district 46,156 vehicles. At noon the accumulation

was 44,497. The number of vehicles in the centr al

d istr ict at noon on the day of the count, as d eter mined

by an aerial photograph and a ground count, was53,456. The d if f erence of 8,959 we assume to be

made up of vehicles which had accumulated in the

d istr ict pr ior to 6 A.M. and those vehicles which are

used exclusively within the distr ict.

Of the total number of vehicles accumulated in

the d istrict, as deter mined by the cordon count,

32,000 occur r ed between the hour s of 6 A.M. and 9

A.M. It is inter esting to note in this connection that

it is estimated 80 % of the purchases in the r etail

shop ping distr ict ar e made between the hour s of 11

A.M. and 4 P.M.


19/63

~ u ~ u : u ~ u : ; ; u ~ u l i ' i u l i ' i u : ; ; u ~ L~ ~ g a ~ ~ ~ ~9 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ * ~ ~Q ~ V ~ I ~ ~ z I ~'--------~S~U."J NSET '--B-LV-O-.--------'

CCOMMERCIAL ST.

TRAFFIC SURVEY


ENGINEERING DEP ARTMENT

AU TOMOBI LE CLU B OF SOUTH ERN CALIF OR NIA

1937

1929 h:;:;;;;/~ 76.586

1936 81.571

NORTH BOUNDARY -INCRE ASE 6.5%

ST.

I

: : : = J __ ~I

5TH ST.

--~

6TH ST.

I

§i929~209498'r 193 - cc7886

WEST BOUND ARY-INCREASE 8.8%

1 ~ : ; ; ~ " iW ; 8 3 ; ~ SE AST BOUNOARY-INCREASE 3.2%

WILSHIRE BLVDO-NO.STREET

1.4975

7TH ST ., . . .8TH ST. :.: . .'.... .


20/63

30TH STE. OF SEVERANCE ST'[

::J "O,,"'''! !; .In n ~ n n n n n n m n ~ ~ f lln n i

RESERVOIR

SUNSET

TEMPLE

BEVERLY

3RD.

6TH

WILSHIRE.

7 TH

8TH

9TH

OLYMPIC

11 TH

12 TH

PICQ ST,

WESTLAKE

TR AFFIC SURVEY

LO S ANGEL ES M ET RO POLIT AN A RE A

ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT

AUTOMOBILE CLUB OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

1937

,NOTE: INI';JZ9 ALL TRAPPICENTERING DISTRI CT

NO. 2 ON BROAOW A Y CROSSED THE LOS ANGELES

RIVER ON THE BRO ADW AY BRIOGE. I N 1936 NORTH

FIGUEROA STREET WAS PARTLY COMPLETED AND

TR AFFIC U5EO BOTH FIGUERO A STREET AND

NORTH BROADWAY, COMBINING AT SOLANO STREET.

r : , c : ' A . : : ~ : = ; ~ ~ ; ~NORTH BOUNDARY -INCREASE

0- NO STR.EET 1 6 TH

139'31 ,~~~---~

"'"!~28328 ~

~~".;:::'.'::'.~:::'''.''.....;.\~;·:r :.~·':...:,.:::.:.;,.:... OLYMPIC BLVD.

I~'~;~:~~~~~;;.WEST BOUNDARY -INCRE ASE 15,9%

R6_1~~~:~

E AST BOUNDARY - INCRE ASE 30,1%

. J \ l , Z : ~ .186,4661936 204 ,933

SOUTH BOUNDARY - INCREASE 9.9 %

LEGEND

1929 COUNTS ~

193& COUNTS _

DIAGRAM SHOWING

NUM BE R OF M OTOR VEHICLES ENT ERING AN D LEAV INGT H E O U T ER C O NG EST ED D IS T RI CT

( C OR D ON CO U N T D ISTR ICT N O . Z)ON AN AVER AGE WEEK DAY FROM 6A.M.TO /0 P,M.

IN 1929 AND IN 1936


21/63

TR AFFIC SURVEY



AUT OMOBILE CLUB OF SOUTHERN CAL IFORNIA

1937

l- I- Iii

- ':

" :~w " "w~ " '

.~~ .:~

~ . . .

~~'"~ g


22/63

FOOTHILL

I0 1 COLORADO

: ;"

HUNTINGTON

ISAN PA SOUAL ST.

IDUAR TE

IL AS TUNAS

IBR OADWAY

I

1719

. "M ANCHESTER AVE. 0 ·o-NO STREET

_ _ _ _ _ _ ~ Ia : 4685IMPERIAL HW'{.O -,.

1 0 ···1861EL SEGUNDO BLVD. g . , . 1045

I~~:~~~~-R -O-S-E-C-R A- N-S--A-V-E-I·· ._ 1

0

,,,, ,r =~ ~E L~ ~ . . . .. , . ! ~ . ~ ; ~ ": ~ : ~ ; ~ . , . ; ~ : ~ .; ~ ~ ~ : ~ : ~. ." ! ~ , . ~: ~ : ~ ; ~ ; ~ ; ~ ; I l ' ' ' 'I

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Z ~ ~ ~ ~ 5I ~ ~ > ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ v ~ ~ ~ g ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

TR AFFIC SURVEY

LOS ANGELES METROPOLITA N AREA


AUTOMO BIL E C LU B OF S OU THERN CALIFORNIA

1937

II::;~= ~ : : ~ : ~NORTH BOUND ARY - INCRE ASE 47.810

: : " E ; i .

~ l t :

~,~·r ti:rfi

Q: ! . DM~·o;t'·1': I

;~;~

:~:~~TOTAL DISTRICT - INCREASE 52.90/ 0

NOTE: 5 STREETS, C ARRYING 1338 C ARS

PER DA Y I N [930, AND 29f,9 CARS IN

1'337 NOT SHOWN IN GR APH OF WEST

BOUNDAR Y,

l"lt . ::~~= ~ ~ ~ ~ ;SOUTH BOUNDARY - INCREASE 18.7%

NOTE: 3 STREETS, CARRYING 737 CARS PER

DAY IN 1'3) 0 A ND 22:35 CARS IN /937, NOT

SHOWN IN GR APH OF SOUTH BOUND ARY,

DIAGRAM 5HOWING

NUMBE R O F M O TO R V E H IC LE S E NTE RING A ND L EA VI NG

T HE S U BU RB AN D IS TR IC T(CORDON COUNT D ISTRICT NO.4)

ON AN AVERAGE WEEK D AY FR OM 6 A.M. TD 10 P.M.

IN 1930 AND IN 1937

LEGEND

1930 COUNTS

1937 COUNTS


23/63

TR AFFIC SURVEY

L O S A N GE L ES METR O PO LI TA N AR EA


AUTDMOBILE CLUB OFSDUTHERN C AliFORNIA

1937

TOT AL VEHICLES ENTERING

AND LE AVING COUNTY

INCRE ASE 23.1 %

~~ COUNTY-

-------- -

-----------,COUNTY I

II

1i l ' ! ; ;:: J ::J00VV

I

I,

I1319 i1016 .• \

~\~

S AN~ SUSAN A P ASS

~.'..'.., ~~264552. AVE

::..::3173

5882.

BLVD.

1'-"2463

IMPERI AL HWY. 1 490

C·l D

LA MIRADA RD. ~84-

/ ". S8Z3 I 5530

BLVD~

ARTESIA 850 -- ~

ORANGElHORPE AVE •. ""

AVE ~ z 5 < i i 9 ' " " ,I 0"" ORANGE COUNTY /' "

SPRING ST. ~8-3- •.

ST~T~~350 ROAD UNDER eONSTRUCTlON • /930

AN AHEIM ST. :1;':1-'7 4477

OCE AN 8i-va ' ; " ' J , . : 45Zp782

DIAGRAM SHOWING

NUMBER OF MO TO R V EHI C LES EN TER IN G AND LEA VIN GL OS A NG ELE S C OU NT Y

ON A N AVER AGE WEEK D AY FRO M 6 A. M. TO 10 P.M.IN 1930 AND IN 1937

LEGEND

1930 COUNTS =1937 COUNTS _


24/63

TR AFFIC SURVEY

LO S A N GE LE S M ET R O P OLIT A N A R E A

E NG INEE RING DEP ARTM ENT

AUTOMOBILE CLUB OF 50UTHERN CALIFORNIA

1937

1930 ~

19 371

llJ

>«

'"'"llJZ

Z

«>

*'"0N

oJ

" ''"uJc <uz,

> -

' "' "az::l0

1930 193 7 ~V)

oJ3 ::

llJ>«

T OT AL Dls T. NO.4

1930 - 303.181

1937 - 463.591

INCREASE 52.9%

19 3 7 _ 147 .8Z 4

NORTH BOUND ARY-INCREASE 66.7" ' / 0

00

< :< Y

§- '

0 it

"'oJ -q-V1 -q-

; 'i 0Q' 1 72.7731937 . B6.397

SOUTH BOUNDARY INCRE ASE 18.7%

o"oJV1

«IU en5 co

" en, r-

III:;; 1930 1937

' "oJ

0

~"~

> '! ii

"OJ «' "

< ! J

Z

uS «

' " V1

'"UJ" "

- ' ". . . .< :

~~Q'

0aa~


25/63

In addition to the cord on count districts a bove r e-

f erred to, the ar ea was d ivided into four quad rants,

using Figueroa Street as the north-south axis and

Olympic Boulevard and East 9th Street as the east-

west axis. The total number of vehicles cr ossing the

north-south axis outsid e the centr al business distr ict,

including Washington and Sunset Boulevards, d uringthe period 6 A.M. to 10 P.M. was 315,976. The

total number crossing the east-west axis d ur ing the

same period , including Figueroa and San Ped r o

Streets, was 387,040. The total east-west, nor th-

south movement outsid e of the centr al business dis-

trict was 703,016 vehicles. The average d aily number

of vehicles crossing Figueroa Street on Sunset Boule-

vard was 25,844. The average number crossing

Figueroa Str eet on Wash ington Boulevard was

31,099. The aver age number of vehicles cr ossing

Olympic Boulevard on Figueroa Str eet during anaver age weekday and between the hours 6 A.M. and

10 P.M. was 2 5,234. The average number crossing

Olympic Boulevard on San Pedro Street on an aver -

age weekday between the hour s 6 A.M. and 10 P.M.

was 23,509. The highest number crossing Olympic

Boulevard was 26,656 on Western Avenue, the next

highest being 26,472 on Alamed a Street. The high-

est number crossing Figuer oa Street was 31,099 on

Washington Boulevar d, the next highest being 25,844

on Sunset Boulevard. The total number cr ossing

Olympic Boulevard west of and including Figuer oa

Street during the period above mentioned was

242,342. The total number crossing Olympic Boule-

vard and East Ninth Str eet east of and including San

Pedro Street was 144,,698. The total number of

vehicles crossing Figuer oa Street north of and in-

cluding Sunset Boulevard during the period a bove

mentioned was 89,434. The total num ber cr ossing

Figueroa Street south of and including Washington

Boulevard was 226,542.

The maximum f low of tr affic into each of the

cordon count districts occur r ed between the hours 8

A.M. and 9 A.M. and was a bout 10.4% of the 16

hour total. The maximum f low outward f r om each of

the d istricts occur r ed between the hour s of 5 P.M.

and 6 P.M. and was about 12.6~~ of the 16 hour total.

The 16 hour flow, that is, the total movement between

the hours 6 A.M. and 10 P.M. was a bout 9 0 0 /0 of the

24 hour total. Of the total movement between 10

P.M. and 6 A.M., 79 % occurred between the hours

10 P.M. and 1 A.M. For the state as a whole, as

determined by the State Division of Highways,

87.3 % of the 24 hour movement occur s between the

hours of 6 A.M. and 10 P.M. Of the total state

movement between the hours of 10 P.M. and 6 A.IV!.,

60 % occurs between the hours of 10 P.M. and 1A.M.

The total number of inbound vehicles entering

District No. 1 during the hour 8 to 9 A.M. was

30,517. Outbound during the hour 5 to 6 P.M. was35,093. The maximum in and out movement occurr ed

dur ing the hour 5 to 6 P.M. and was 54,501 vehicles.

The total number of inbound vehicles enter ing

District No.2 during the hour 8 to 9 A.M. was

38,078. The total outbound during the hour 5 to 6

P.M. was 45,328. The maximum in and out move-

ment occurred dur ing the hour 5 to 6 P.M. and was

69,544 vehicles.


District No. 3 during the hour 8 to 9 A. M. was

44,864. The total outbound during the hour 5 to 6P.M. was 53,080. The maximum in and out move-

ment occurred during the hour 5 to 6 P.M. and was

81,612 vehicles.

The total number of inbound vehicles enter ing

District No.4 during the hour 8 to 9 A.M. was


P.M. was 29,090. The maximum in and out move-

ment occurred d uring the hour 5 to 6 P.M. and was

44,424 vehicles.


District No. 5 during the hour 8 to 9 A. M. was


P.M. was 4,776. The maximum in and out movement

occurr ed during the hour 5 to 6 P.M. and was 7,129

vehicles.

In add ition to the traffic counts, both moving and

parked cars were sampled throughout the metro poli-

tan area to supplement data on origin and destina-

tion of vehicles. The analysis of these d ata ind icate

that the r elation which formerly existed between the

home and place o f occupation has almost, if not com-

pletely, disa ppeared and that there are few points of

origin and d estination common to any a ppr ecia ble

number of vehicles found in any section of the Los

Angeles ar ea.

A number of locations where samples were tak en

of park ed automo biles were n oted on a map of the

metropolitan ar ea and a line drawn fr om these par k-

ing locations to the residences of the owners of each

automobile o bser ved, as illustrated on Plate No. 10.

This is indicative of the innumerable tr affic conf licts

resulting fr om these intersecting paths of tr avel.

A lar ge number of samples were tak en fr om auto-


26/63

" "\ """"""\) /i::"~~' "• . . .::/

""'t SA II T A

~t''''''"""11•.!.tt"~-:."

TRAFFIC SURVEY

L O S A N G E LE S M E TR O PO L IT A N A R E A

DI AGR AM SHOWING

ORIGIN OF PARKED AUTOMOBILESNOTED AROUND SCHOOLS,M ANUFACTURING PLANTS,ANDRE.TAILSTORES AT VARIOUS LOCAT/ONS THROUGHOUT

THE LOSANGELES METROPOLITAN AREA

NOTE: POJNT AT WHICH PARKED C AR W AS OBSERVED IS I N-

DIC ATED BY A CIRCLE. STRAIGHT LINE RADIATING FROMCIRCLE TERMINATES AT HOMEOF OWNERANDINDIC ATES APPRoxIMATE. ROUTE FOLLOWED.


27/63

mobiles crossing the east side Los Angeles R iver

bridges dur ing the mor ning and evening r ush hour s.

These samples ind icate that of the total of east bound

vehicles crossing these bridges during the mor ning

rush hour , 45.6% pass directly through the central

business district, and of the total of west bound ve-

hicles crossing d ur ing the evening r ush hour 50.5 % pass d ir ectly thr ough the centr al business distr ict.

The 1937 sur vey discloses a d istinct change in the

di rectional movement of tr affic. A r ectangular tr affic

movement has been su per -imposed upon the original

and greatly augmented radial movement, resulting in

a crisscrossing of traffic and a street and highway con-

gestion and hazard without parallel. The r ectangu-

lar network of 11,316 miles of streets and highways

upon which the motor vehicles of the area o perate

pr oduce over one million intersections, all of which

ar e points of traffic conflict and hazard. This r ec-tangular movement is illustrated by the flow of traffic

on the pr incipal streets and highways of the ar ea as

shown on Plate No. 11.

Automobile Parking

An aer ial photogr a ph was made of the central

business d istrict to determine the num ber of automo-

biles par ked at one time a t the curb on parking lots

and moving u pon the street. The number par ked in

gar ages was determined by gr ound counts. In addi-

tion to the picture of the central business district,several spot photogra phs were taken at var ious

points throughout the area showing par k ing condi-

tions as existing outside the central business d istr ict.

The photograph of the central business district was

taken between 11 :30 A.M. and 12 :30 P.M. on a

clear day and at an elevation suf ficiently low to clear ly

show all automobiles in the d istrict visible f r om the

air . As determined f r om the photograph, the total

number of automo biles parked at the curb was

10,915, on park ing lots, exclusive of f or -sale cars,

28,764 and moving on the streets, 3,675. The aver-

age number parked at one time in garages in the dis-

tr ict was 10,102. The number of pu blic garages in

the central business d istr ict incr eased fr om 111 in

1929 to 124 in 1937. The number of public parking

lots increased from 346 in 1929 to 609 in 1937. Curb

park ing has been considerably reduced since 1929 by

ord inance restrictions. Curb space in the central busi-

ness d istr ict is utilized to capacity. The estimated

capacity of the par k ing lots is 43,864 car s. The ca-

pacity of garages in the central business district is

estimated at 13,309.

As pr eviously stated, the num ber of vehicles en-

tering the centr al business d istrict in each hour

exceeded the number leaving in the correspond ing

hour f r om 6 A.M. to 2 P.M., at which time there

had accumula ted in the d istrict a total of 46,156 ve-

hicles. The com bined of f-str eet park ing capacity in

the d istrict is 57,173 vehicles. It should be noted,however , that these off -street par king facilities are

s pread rather evenly over the entir e d istr ict from

Sunset Boulevar d to Washington Boulevard and from

Figuer oa Str eet to San Pedr o Str eet. Many parking

lots and pu blic garages are located some d istance

from the principal retail business area which is

bounded by Fir st, Ninth, Figuer oa and Main Streets.

In this smaller area the combined ca pacity of par king

lots is 15,344 cars, and of public garages, 7,458 cars,

a total of f -street par king capacity of 22,802 vehicles.

The spot aerial photogr aphs tak en at v ar ious lo-cations in the metr opolitan ar ea show that the park-

ing pr o blem is not peculiar to the centr al business

d istr ict but exists in almost, if not equal intensity in

ever y r etail business center thr oughout the area. The

photographs of par k ing in ind ustrial areas and cul-

tur al center s ind icate, in addition to the area req uired

f or park ing automo biles, the extent to which the

automo bile ser ves the trans por tation req uir ements of

the Los Angeles ar ea.

A stud y was made to determine the relation

between the time in which an automo bile was in active

service and the time d uring which it was parked.

Fr om this-study we conclud ed that the ratio of active

to inactive service is about as 1 to 11. As automobile

density increases and the area develops it is becoming

more and mor e dif f icult to f ind room for parking the

automo bile d ur ing the per iod of inactive ser vice.

Dr iving tests show that inter section inter fer ence

accounts for the ma jor par t of all tr affic d elays, con-

gestion and hazard . However, inter ference occur ring

between inter sections, which increases rapidly as the

use of abutting land changes from low to high in-

tensity, is apprecia ble. This class of inter f erence is

characterized by pedestrians crossing the path of

moving vehicles, str eet car operation including the

loading and unloading of passengers in or near the

center of the str eet, and automobiles leaving parking

lots and par king space at the curb.

The incentive to locate retail stores, schools,

chur ches, theaters and other establishments d epend -

ent u pon pu blic patr onage ad jacent to main lines of

travel is as old as civilization. The r eason is obvious.

Futile attempts have been made from time to time to


28/63

TYPI L P RKING LOTS CENTRAL BUSINESS

DISTRICT LOS

I GELES

I

AGE ]


29/63

I ~-------------r.------------~ / /I I ciI /r

o_ ••-.:: : ~: ('

I I I I

: : : I

I I I ,---~

I I I I

I I , II I I tI I I I

, I 1 I I

I r - - - - - - - - - - - - - t - - - - - - - - - - - - - ' ~ : j / __ LJ! ! .« - _ -\ i

~ ~~- "--------~~~~~::_, ·"0. ~ N,,

,I,I

,--,,,

I

I

I,,,

~,

"~I - - - - - 1 '1,-- _...,I

i JjI,

" ', r o

> r

I

//

/----,,.-Jo

/.-J

iL .,l ,

_ ___ _ __ _ .lo.

TRAFFIC S UR VEYL O S A N G EL E S M E T R O P O L I T AN A R EA

ENGINE.E.RINGDE.P ARTME.NT

AU T O M O BI L E C LU B O F S O UT H ER N C A LI FO R NI AS~,6.LEIHi'Le.s 1937

DIAGR AM SHOWING

RELATIVE TRAFFIC DENSITIESON THE

P R IN C IP A L S TR EETS A N D H IG H W A Y SINTHE

LO S A N G E LE S M E T R O P OL ITA N A R EA

B ASE.DONTRAFFIC COUNTS BYAUTOMOBilE. CLUB OFSOUTHERNC ALIFORNI AAND STATEDIVISION OF HIGHWAYS IN 1 936-1937

(~ AM~~~ ~p~~T~~~CEA~'i~E;y ~~;~ ~~~~~E~\~~~ _ 30000

~~ ~ " ~ ~~ ~ ~


30/63

C MPUS UNIVERSITY

OF LIFORNI T LOS NGELES WESTWOOD

P G


31/63

LO KHEE

AIRCRAFT

ORPOR

nON O

RBA:\ K


32/63


33/63

SEARS ROEBUCK AND CO

ST

OLYMPIC BOULEVARD LOS ANGELES

P G ]


34/63


35/63

~GIR ARD

:

~

~n n

~0 : : V;Q~rU OR:ENCINO DO

~!Io'\.

n n ~ SHERMAN OAKSnOn

0000

~\

~\

\ TR AFFIC SURVEYLOS ANGELES METROPOLITAN ARE A


AUTOMOBILE CLUB OF SOUTHERN C ALiFORNI A

1937

LEGEND __ BUSINESS EST A8L1SMENTS

o [J a RESIDENC.ES AND OTHER NON-BUSINESS EST ABLISHMENTS

© MILE AGE FROM WEST CITY UMIT OF LOS ANGELES

DI AGR AM SHOWING

RIBBON-LIKE. OEVELOPM'7,.~~2~ BUSINESS EST ABLISHMENT3

ST ATE HIGHWAY ROU~;n%O. 2, U. S. ROUTE NO.IOI

WEST CITY LIMIT OF L OS ANGELES TO L OS ANGELES -ORANGE CO.LINE.

TYPICAL OF

T RE NO IN ABUTTING LANO USE A LO NG ANYMAJOR STREET OR HIGHW AY


36/63


37/63

LEGEND

* 7TH STRE ET A ND B RO ADWAY. LOS ANGELES~ GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION OF CITY ORTQWN

• 1930 TIME LOCATION IN REFERENCE TO

1930 DRIVING TIME LINES (MINUTES)

o 1936 TIME LOC ATION IN REFERENCE. TO1936 DRIVING TIME LINES (MINUTES)

NOTE:

DRIVING TIME. FROM 7TH 5TI:!E.El' AND

BRO ADWAY, LOS ANGELES IS THE AVER AGE

FOR OFF-PE AK TRAFFIC PERIODS ON

WEEK DAYS IN 1'330 A ND 1 '3 36 .


AU roMOBILE C LU B O F S OU , HE RN CALIFORNIA

1937

DIAGR AM SHOWING

GE O G R APH IC AL AN D D R IV IN G T IM E L OC ATIO NOF

PRINCIPAL CITIES AND TOWNS IN THE

LOS ANGELES ME TRO POLIT AN ARE A


38/63

The Street and Highway Traf f ic Problem

of the Los Angeles Area

For the purpose of this discussion the following

assumptions are made:

1. All existing streets and highways in the Los

Angeles area have been develo ped pr imar ily to ser veadjacent and tributar y land.

2. The use of existing streets and highways in

the Los Angeles area is now or will ultimately become

pr ed ominantly local in character .

3. All street and highway use is made up of

through and local tr avel.

4. The total daily use of each automo bile is

made up in part of local travel and in remaining par t

of through travel.

5. Parking areas for automobiles are as essen-

tial to the use of the automobile as ar e streets and highways.

6. Land ser vice streets in lar ge centers of popu-

lation are inadeq uate for ef ficient automobile use and

with the continued use of such str eets for both local

and through travel, congestion and accidents will in-

cr ease rapid ly as population incr eases.

ing thr ough traf f ic, second , increasing the efficiency of

the land ser vice streets, and thir d , pr oviding adequate

par k ing facilities for automo biles. It is obvious that

the solution of the f irst pro blem will not be found

thr ough pr oviding more land service streets and high-

ways, for such streets only add to the number of in-

tersections and increase tr af fic conf licts. It has beenobserved that with the opening of each major street

and highway in the metropolitan ar ea, a change in the

use of adjacent land has immediately set in. The new

use is invaria bly commercial and of such nature as to

interfer e with moving traffic. As the change in use

continues, tr affic movement becomes more and more

sluggish until finally the street becomes of little or no

value to through travel. The building of new land

ser vice streets and highways is not only f utile from

the stand point of improving tr af f ic conditions, but

effects the economic str ucture of the entire area in thatesta blisher d commer cial districts are r ob bed to mor e or

less extent to suppor t the new ar ea, and large sections

of land made unsuita ble for resid ential purposes. The

solution of the pr o blem of providing adequate facili-

ties f or thr ough tr affic will b e f ound in provid ing a

network of tr affic routes for the exclusive use of

The street and highway traffic pr oblem of the Los

Angeles ar ea may be divided into thr ee par ts. Fir st,

the problem of provid ing adequate facilities for mov-

FLETCHER

DR IVE AT

RIVERSIDE

DRIVE I N

192 7

motor vehicles over which ther e shall be no cr ossing

at gr ad e and along which ther e shall be no interfer -

ence f r om land use acti vi ties.


39/63

The solution of the second pro blem, that of in-

creasing the efficiency of land ser vice streets, will be-

come more and mor e a pr o blem of traff ic direction

and contr ol if s pecial motor routes ar e provid ed , new

str eets and highways being req uir ed only as new resi-

d ential ar eas are developed to accommoda te new

people. Ther e are at the pr esent time may locations

throughout the Los Angeles area where the efficiency

of the land service streets and highways can be greatly

increased by physical impr ovements such as filling in

ga ps on and extending ma jor str eets and highways

and separating grades of intersecting ma jor thor ough-

f ares. This latter is of vital importance f r om the

standpoint of permanent im provement in traf f ic condi-

tions upon land ser vice streets.

Cur b parking not only red uces the capacity of the

str eet for moving tr affic and creates a substantial

hazard for both vehicles and pedestrians in businesscenters, but is a source of continual annoyante in resi-

dential districts ad jacent to shopping centers and

destroys values ther ein. By contr ibuting to street

congestion, prematur e decentralization of business is

encouraged which again has the effect of decreasing

proper ty values. If the automobile is to continue as an

FLETCHER

DRIVE AT

RIVERSIDE

DRIVE I N

1937

tiative, such areas will be provided only when and

wher e such facilities will show immediate profit. At

such time, land values will have incr eased because of

im pr ovements with the result that the cost of auto-

mo bile park ing will continue to incr ease to the point

where it will seriously affect the use of this vehicle.

The immediate acq uisition of off street parking facili-

ties throughout the metropoli tan ar ea should be en-

couraged by grad ually r estr icting curb park ing until

ultimately no curb par king will be pr ovid ed in or ad -

jacent to a ny commercial center and there will be a

minimum of such parking in resid ential d istricts.

Recommendations

1. MOTORWAYS.

It is recommended that a network of motorways

be constructed to serve the entire metropolitan area of Los Angeles as defined in this r e port. The location

of these motorwa ys as ind icated by traffic movement

and po pulation tr end is illustrated upon Plate No. 15.

These motorways should be develo ped upon a right-

of -way of not less than 360 feet in width through r esi-

dential territor y and not less than 100 feet in width

important f actor in the tr anspor tation of persons and

commodities in the Los Angeles area, off street park -

ing facilities must be pr ovid ed. If lef t to pr ivate ini-

thr ough esta blished business d istr icts. In r esidential

territor y the center portion of the right-of-way should

be paved to accommodate f r om f our to six lanes of


40/63

traff ic, as r equired , with a physical bar rier extending

the full length of the motor way dividing opposing

lanes of tr affic. The remaining land on each side

should be planted to tr ees and shrubs. There should

be no cr ossing at gr ad e at any point. Second ar y str eets

should cross underneath or a bove motor ways as con-

ditions dictate. At points wher e motorways or a mo-tor way and a major str eet or highway intersect, a

str ucture generally ref erred to as a clover leaf should

be installed . These structur es provid e not only f or

se parating the paths of inter secting tr affic, but per -

mit of an interchange of tr affic between two motor -

ways or a motorway and a ma jor str eet. Access to

motorways should be provid ed where requir ed be-

tween cloverleaf inter sections by means of a ramp

f r om a dead end street. In districts where the land

is generally flat, the motor way section would be r aised

or d epressed toward s the center as conditions dictateto pr ovide head room f or gr ad e separ ation structures.

Thr ough hill countr y, grad e separations can be pro-

vid ed at r elatively low cost by taking advantage of

natur al featur es of the land.

Through business districts a right-of -way 100 f eet

in width should be acquired thr ough or near the center

of the block . On this land the so-called motorway

building should be constructed . In gener al, the first

and second floors of this building would be devoted to

retail business, the third floor to the motor way pr o per ,

the f ourth and fifth floors and as many additionalfloors as r eq uired to par king and the remaining floor s

to office space. Parking floors would be reached by

means of ramps and all floor s pr ovided with elevator

service. Surf ace str eets would be cr ossed on br idges

connecting motor way buildings. Access to sur f ace

str eets would be pr ovided at convenient inter vals.

These motorway buildings should be self -liquid ating.

Motor bus o per ation should be permitted but all load-

ing and unloading should be at points outsid e of

• the motor way. These motor ways would be located

thr ough terr itory where the value of land and im-

pr ovements is r elatively low. It is f elt that the motor -

ways, which will always be fr ee of inter f erence, will

anchor both r esid ential and business districts, gr eatly

incr ease pr o perty values and raise the efficiency of the

automo bile to close to its rated capacity.

The average cost of motor ways outside of busi-

ness distr icts is estimated at $2,000,000 a mile. The

motor way buildings, including connecting br idges, are

estimated at $4.50 a squar e f oot of f loor area. The

gener al plan and cr oss-section of the pr o posed motor -

way thr ough r esidential territor y is shown on Plates

No. 16 and No. 17 and the plan and cross-section of

the pr oposed motorway building is shown on Plate

No. 18. Plate No. 19 shows an alternate d esign of a

motor way build ing in which the motor way and park -

ing floors are arcaded a bove and along an existing

surf ace str eet.

2. LAND SER VICE STREETS f \ND HIGHWAYS

Land ser vice streets and highways will always

f orm an essential par t of any transportation networ k.

However , as routes ar e provid ed for the exclusive use

of moving vehicles, these streets and highways will

f unction largely as terminal facilities, with the result

that the d ensity of use will be substantially less than

und er present dual use. The eff iciency of these land

use streets and highways can, it is believed , be greatly

increased by classification, physical improvements, re-

moval of unnecessar y o bstructions and traffic regula-

tion, and with this purpose in view the following

r ecommendations ar e made:

a. Classif y all land ser vice streets and highways;

exclusive of state highways, as commer cial or r esi-

dential, the basis for this classification to be the pre-

dominant use of a butting land .

b. Remove all str eet railways fr om both com-

mercial and r esidential streets and state highways

within a stated reasona ble period of time.

c. Esta blish an ad eq uate metropolitan motor

bus tr ans portation system with off -str eet terminal

f acilities.

d . Separate grad es of intersecting commer cial

streets and highways wherever pr actical.

e. Install wher e required as rapidly as practical,

an inter-connected system of tr affic signals on com-

mercial streets and highways. These signals to be of

uniform design, sus pended over the center of inter -

sections and to carr y the names of inter secting

streets and highways.

f . It is r ecommended that no ad ditions be mad e

to the state highway system as now designated in theLos Angeles metr o politan ar ea until existing desig-

nated r outes have been developed to ad eq uate stand-

ards, includ ing gr ade se par ations wherever practical.

Future add itions to this system in the Los Angeles

area to be made with the view solely of bettering

terminal or through r outes for traff ic originating on

the state highway system outsid e of the metr o politan

area.

3. MOTOR VEHICLE PAR K J NG.

a. It is recommended that curb par k ing be pr o-

hibited on all commercial streets and highways.


41/63

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';1'"", .•".1/11.".,111,-:..

TRAFFIC SURVEY


MAP SHOWING

G E N E R A L L O C A T I O N O FPR OPOSED MOTORWAY S

IN THE

LO S ANG ELES METROPO LITAN AR EA


42/63

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43/63

n I' :: ' . : . : ' : ' 1......... (3,. " (;

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TRAFF IC SUR VE YLOS ANGELES METROPOLIT AN AREA


A UT OMOBIL E CL UB OFS OUT HE R N CA L IFOR NIA1937

P LA N OF PROPOSED MOTORWAYSHOWING

TYPICAL TREATMENT AT STREE T O R

HIGHWAY INTERSECTIONS

NOTE: SEE PLATE NO. FOR CROSSSECTIONS OF

MOTORWAY AND TYPtCAL TR E AT MENT AT I NTER-

S ECTION OF TWO MOTORWAY5 .


44/63

COMPOSITE PHOTOGR PH MOTORW Y RIDGE OVER TYPIC L COMMERCI L

STREET

P GE


45/63

OGD

o I I 0

TRAFFIC SURVEY

LOSANGELES METROPOLITAN AREA


AUTOMOBILE CLUB O F SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA1937

r

R M P T OMO TO RW V

I

I

R MP FROM MOTORW Y

i

I

R MP

WA

AL

r

R MP FROM

MOTOR

W Y

I

I

R MP TO

MOTOR W Y

R MP

I

PLAN

OF

FIRST PARKING FLOOR ABOVE

MOTORWAY

PLAN

Of

PARKING FLOORS

ABOVE fl RST PARKING FLOOR.

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.

NOTE:

PARK ING F LOOR S

TO

BE

PLACED ABOVE

OR BELOW

MOTORWAY

AS CONDIT IONS WARRANT

VEHICULAR CONNECTIONS FROM PARKING FLOORS TO

SURFACE STREE TS

TO BE.

PROVIDED AS REQUIRED

TR FFI SURVEY

OS

NGELES

METROPOLIT N RE


AUTOMOBILE CLUB

O SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

1937


46/63

D B E J L J ] [ J D J E ]E ] G ~E JE J L J rJO L J 0 /,1 E ] ~ ~

D BE] 0 E J ] [ 3E ] B J [ E ] [ E ] E J E J E ] E ] E J G

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47/63

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D B D O D O D O D O o D D O D O D O D O D O 1 0 10D O l D O O D D E l l [ 1[ 1)S[]D D B E l I E ID D O 1 01 0D O O D D O D O D D D O D O D O D ID lI D lIC IIi :l lE liD D B DDO BIB DO DO DO DO 00 D D D [] D O D O [10 m J l ID l ID lID D Df ] DB El~D O E m IE lD B IO IDIE ID O 00 ID O m I D I D O D O D O D O D O B ID D E I D B ~ ~

t : t i e : : 3 E : f j E : f j E d E d E d ~ i daD IE IIDBB D D E lI D I D D D ID D O D O 00 00 D O 1 1 ;]]10D B 1 01 1 0!O lD ~ I D I 01 01

J 00 D O 00 D O D O DE lJD O DO D O DO Bl] D EI

JO El DD 100 DO DEI DEI] D O D E l D O D O D D E lElJ o iii D E ] D B D O D E l D O] 00 0 0 D O D El D O E1 D] D O U U D O D E I DO O J]

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SKETCH SHOWING

M E TH O D OF C ARR Y IN G M OT OR W AYSINT O O R T H RO U G H B U SI N ES S D I ST R IC T S

I N A R C A D E SA L O N G AN D AB O VE EX I S T IN G S U R F A C E S T R E E TS

NOTE'PARKING fLOORS TO B E. P L ACI:D ABOVE. OR BE.LOW

MO TO RW AY S AS CONDITIONS WARR ANT.

VEHICULAR CONNE:CTIOHS FROM P ARKING FLOORS TO

SURF ACE STREETS TO BE PROVIDE.D AS REQUIRED.

BRID GE S OVER SURF ACE STREETS AT PA RKING FLOOR

tTri~k~~~ ~ ~ G T R 1 0 D5 ¥ ~ FtE C R ~T ;~ ~ ;~ ~ ~ gFB ~ ,::C ~ -1101'1 OF V E.HICLES USING MOTOR WAYS •

P ASSE-NG ER E.LEVATORS TO B E: L OC A.TED AS

REQUIRED fOR COMVENIEHT SERViCE: •

EliJ m[10 Dl

E10B[

0ElD~E 1 D [ ] [ODm

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48/63


49/63


50/63


51/63

TABLE No.2TR AFFIC CHECK S AT BOUNDAR IES OF OUTER CO NGESTED DISTRICT

Distr ict N o. Z

Counts Tak en by Automo bile Club of Southern Califor nia In 1929-30 and In 1937

FIGUR ES I NDICATE NUMBER OF MOTOR VEHICLES

COUNTED PER 16-HOUR WEEK-DAY - 6 A.M. TO 10 P.M.

1929-1930 COUNTS

In Out Total

NORTH BOUNDARYGlend ale Blvd . south of Alvar ad o......................... 7.593Br oadway at Los Angeles R iver Brid ge.... 13,670Br oad way a t Solano. . . . . . . . . . . .SPI'ing Str eet a t Los Angeles Hive,' Br id ge.. . .. . . . . 9,325Main Str eet at Los Angeles HiveI' Brid ge.. 6,792

EAST BOUNDAR YMacy Str eet at Los Angeles River Br id g·e.Aliso Str eet at Los Angeles R iver Bridge.

1st Str eet at Los Angeles River Brid ge .4th Str eet at Los Angeles R iver Bridge .6th Str eet at Los Angeles River Brid ge .7th Str eet at Los Angeles River Brid ge .Olympic Blvd. at Los Angeles R iver Brid ge ."\Vashington Blvd . at Los Angeles River Br id ge.

Sub-total East Bound ar y.Per Cent Incr ease ...

14,4163,1785,7763,809

Santa Fe Avenue north of 26th Str eet.. . .Alamed a Str eet

Documents

1937 Traffic Survey Los Angeles Metropolitan Area