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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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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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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 %.
The number of motor vehicles entering and leav-
ing District No.3 in 1930 was 666,218, and in 1937,
854,254, an increase of 28.2 %.
The number of motor vehicles entering and leav-
ing District No.4 in 1930 was 303,181, and in 1937,
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.
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~ 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
LOS ANGELES METROPOLITAN AREA
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. :.: . .'.... .
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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
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TR AFFIC SURVEY
LOS ANGELES METROPOLITAN AREA
ENGINEERING DEP ARTMENT
AUT OMOBILE CLUB OF SOUTHERN CAL IFORNIA
1937
l- I- Iii
- ':
" :~w " "w~ " '
.~~ .:~
~ . . .
~~'"~ g
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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
ENGINEERING DEP ARTMENT
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
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TR AFFIC SURVEY
L O S A N GE L ES METR O PO LI TA N AR EA
ENGINEERING DEP ARTMENT
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 _
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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~
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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.
The total number of inbound vehicles entering
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
24,112. The total outbound during the hour 5 to 6
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.
The total number of inbound vehicles entering
District No. 5 during the hour 8 to 9 A. M. was
3,709. The total outbound during the hour 5 to 6
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-
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" "\ """"""\) /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.
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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
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TYPI L P RKING LOTS CENTRAL BUSINESS
DISTRICT LOS
I GELES
I
AGE ]
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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
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//
/----,,.-Jo
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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
~~ ~ " ~ ~~ ~ ~
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C MPUS UNIVERSITY
OF LIFORNI T LOS NGELES WESTWOOD
P G
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LO KHEE
AIRCRAFT
ORPOR
nON O
RBA:\ K
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SEARS ROEBUCK AND CO
ST
OLYMPIC BOULEVARD LOS ANGELES
P G ]
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\ TR AFFIC SURVEYLOS ANGELES METROPOLITAN ARE A
ENGINEERING DEP ARTMENT
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
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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 .
ENGINEERING DEP ARTMENT
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
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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.
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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
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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.
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''''' ~ SA IITA
';1'"", .•".1/11.".,111,-:..
TRAFFIC SURVEY
LOS ANGELES METROPOLITAN AREA
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
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n I' :: ' . : . : ' : ' 1......... (3,. " (;
t
C-~l
TRAFF IC SUR VE YLOS ANGELES METROPOLIT AN AREA
ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT
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 .
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COMPOSITE PHOTOGR PH MOTORW Y RIDGE OVER TYPIC L COMMERCI L
STREET
P GE
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OGD
o I I 0
TRAFFIC SURVEY
LOSANGELES METROPOLITAN AREA
ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT
AUTOMOBILE CLUB O F SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA1937
r
R M P T OMO TO RW V
I
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R MP FROM MOTORW Y
i
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WA
AL
r
R MP FROM
MOTOR
W Y
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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
ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT
AUTOMOBILE CLUB
O SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
1937
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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
G G J ] Q ] G [ 3 ] E ] ( ] [ j [ G ] t][ [J E J [J E J ] E J ] L J [J E J E J E JE J E J [ ] E ] L J ] L J E J E ] E ] E J
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'===~~ -- Ie"'~~ ••• _ R AMP FROM••• _::::::~::::-..--:: MOTORWAY
] D O D E l
] DB D El
] ElO DO] D O D ID
D B o D D O D O D O D D D O D O D O D O D O D O D D I D O ID D D O D O D OD E I D O D O D O D O D O D O D O D O D O D O D D 0 01 01 1 01IDID00 DO D E]D O S O o D O D I JO D ID D O D O D O D O D O D O O D lIO l ID I ID IO01] DD O E iD O E lD D O D ID D D 0 0 D O DO DD D O D O D O DD iD D D O IDOl[]I] 1 E I 1 D 1
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]
] D O D O D O D O D EI DO
dk *#ffld~~] 0 0 po D J ; J J J r t r J D El B E l D O E ] O E l· E l
~UUUL~
~Yl't"'FFIC JiiWM ~
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
~~ODD[
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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
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