rival. It presents problems which are of the utmost complexity and which have such an intimate bearing upon the life of the entire region that there is a pressing requirement for their solution. This district is not only the center of the retail, wholesale, administrative and terminal facilities of the community, but its streets must, in addition, carry a large volume of through street traffic moving from one part of the city to another.

The field of the Survey, therefore, as outlined comprises two major divisions, (1) the Chicago Automotive area within a forty mile radius, (2) The Chicago Urban area, and within the latter the business centers, the principal routes of travel, and the Central Business District.

SUBJECTS COVERED BY THE STUDY

In designing the Survey an attempt has been made to include within the investigation the principal conditions which bear upon the use of the public streets. The first step has been to get a clear picture of the present use of the streets of the city, with information as to the volume and speed of traffic, locating, where possible, conditions which have resulted in congestion or in accidents.

The second step has been an attempt to analyze the effect of present conditions, both as they relate to the economic life of the city and the safety of the citizens.

The third step has been a consideration of methods of relief which might be obtained through minor or local physical improvements.

The fourth step has been a consideration of methods of relief to be obtained through laws regulating street use.

Finally attention has been given to the problems of administration, and the requirements for a suitable and effective enforcement of traffic rules, through the functioning of public officials, the police and the courts.

THE PURPOSE OF THE SURVEY

The entire purpose of the Metropolitan Street Traffic Survey has been to find facts, and on the basis of these facts to draw warranted conclusions as to the manner in which existing street facilities can be used to their fullest extent. No attempt has been made to enter the

field of city or regional planning. The city is already supplied with agencies for this purpose.

The Chicago Plan Commission, an official body created by the City Council, has set the pace for other cities of the nation in planning matters both as they affect facility of traffic and general community health. Without the improvements which they have sponsored during the past quarter of a century, it is fair to say that Chicago would be an almost impossible city from a street traffic standpoint. Upon the functioning of the City Planning Commission depends to a large extent the ultimate solution of the street traffic problem in the future.

The Chicago Regional Planning Association, although recently organized has already made substantial contributions toward an increase in traffic facilities in the Chicago Automotive Area. The plan which this organization now has under way and the cooperation which it has obtained from public officials insure future relief.

The Street Traffic Committee of The Chicago Association of Commerce recognizes the fact that the most basic solution for street and highway congestion lies in the provision of greater street area. At the same time it realizes that many of these improvements, because of physical and financial problems involved, are not immediately available. Traffic conditions have become so pressing that immediate relief is necessary. Believing that there is at the present time an urgent need for better street use, the Committee has turned its attention through the Survey to a consideration of ways and means to insure the maximum convenience and greatest safety to contemporary street users, and to insure that new facilities as they are provided will render the greatest amount of public service.

STREET USE IN THE CITY OF CHICAGO

Before it is possible to understand the weight of the traffic problem in the city of Chicago, it is necessary to know something of the volume and character of the traffic that moves over the streets. The streets are the basis upon which the city is built. An analysis of the traffic which moves through them gives an index to the industrial and social life of the metropolis.

THE EXCHANGE OF TRAFFIC BETWEEN THE URBAN AND METROPOLITAN AREAS 1

An indication of the important part which the city of Chicago proper plays as a focal and origin point for street and highway traffic is shown by the fact that approximately 125,000 vehicles pass the city limits every day, through thirteen highways which are paved at the

TABLE No. 22

VOLUME OF TRAFFIC EXCHANGED BETWEEN CHICAGO AND ADJACENT REGION AT PRINCIPAL GATEWAYS

1 For data on this subject the Survey is indebted to Major George A. Quinlan, Superintendent of Highways for Cook County, and to the excellent study known as a "Report of a Study of Highway Traffic and the Highway System of Cook County, Illinois," prepared jointly by the United States Bureau of Public Roads, and the Cook County Highway Department. (Chicago, 1925.)

2 Cook County Highway Report, p. 25.

present time. Fig. No. 2, indicates the location of some of these gateways and the relative amount of traffic carried by each. Five of these thirteen roadways carry a total daily average of 78,446 motor vehicles, or approximately two-thirds of the total traffic exchanged between the city and the adjacent region. Experience at these points is indicated in Table 2.

The above table indicates that the average maximum traffic exchanged between the city and the surrounding region is substantially more than twice the average daily traffic. This large maximum is typical of average Sunday density, and is illustrative of the importance of pleasure and recreational traffic originating in or destined to the city.

The volume of traffic which enters the city from the county or from adjacent communities is of such size that it would make a considerable showing upon the streets even though there were no intra-city traffic. Traffic originating outside of the city, especially that of a commercial character, does not merely touch the city streets, but penetrates very largely to the heart of the community.

Table 3 shows clearly the inter-relation between highways and the streets of the city, and the manner in which the problems of the city are tied up with those of the surrounding region.

Section 1. District bounded by Halsted Street, North Avenue, Roosevelt Road and Lake Mich

District bounded by Halsted Street, North Avenue, Western Avenue and Roosevelt

Section 3.

District north of Roosevelt Road exclusive of Sections 1 and 2.

Section 4.

Section south of Roosevelt Road.