Automatic Age

upkeep, and brought in an addi­
tional $50,000 up to Jan. 1, 1941,
for use in the Traffic Engineer­
ing Department.
“Grand Rapids, entering its
third year of use, collects about
$100 per day for meter parking
and, since the devices have been
in service, has taken in over
$150,000.
“Based on the favorable reac­
tion of the driving public, Sagi­
naw's enthusiastic police asked
the City Council to add 200 addi­
tional meters to the 318 now in
operation. They had taken in
$20,700 in their seven and one-
half months of use from May,
1940, up to the first of the year.
“Highland Park after using
meters for a period and then re­
moving them, has now voted to
reinstall them.
“Pontiac reports a revenue of
$42,000 from the meters in 1940.
The 1941 budget estimates an
income of $46,000 from this
source. They bought nine traffic
patrol automobiles and five
police motorcycles with the
money.
“The same story is repeated
in dozens of other cities through­
out the country, so although
there have been a few abandon­
ments due to legal difficulties or
other local factors the record of
past and present performances
seems to justify without much
doubt a protracted test of the
plan.
“Despite this record of finan­
cial practicability let me hasten
to explain that the revenue de­
rived from meter parking is
purely secondary. The fact that
it pays its own way is, of
course, no inconsiderable item,
but it is expected that the prin­
cipal value of the plan to this or
any other city is through its con­
tribution to the solution of the
ever-present traffic and parking
problem.
“It is anticipated that it will
greatly facilitate the work of
the police in regulating time
parking on the street. Whereas,
now, under the old system, an
officer must walk along with a
piece of chalk in hand and mark
the tires of each car to identify
it and to time its use of that
space, under the new plan an
officer on a motorcycle can ride
along and merely glance at the
meter indicator to detect over­
time parking violators. Obvi­
ously he can cover much more
ground than a man on foot, and
with one-tenth the effort.
“Effectively administered, the
proposed installation will elimi­
nate or at least minimize such
common traffic abuses as all-day
parking, overtime parking and
usurpation of desirable parking
space near stores by those who
arrive early and park all day,
thus preventing prospective cus­
tomers from utilizing the space
during shopping hours.
“It cuts down on cruising in
search of openings during rush
hours, for the more strictly en­
forced parking time limits make
August, 1941
© International Arcade Museum
spaces available with greater
frequency.
“Bearing these things in mind,
then—that they pay their own
way; that they greatly facilitate
the work of the police; that they
substitute mechanical perform­
ance for fallible human methods,
thereby increasing the likelihood
of detection of violators; that
they eliminate or minimize such
common traffic abuses as all-day
parking,
overtime
parking,
usurpation of desirable space,
cruising in congested areas, and
that they make openings avail­
able with greater frequency—
we feel that a test installation of
parking meters in the business
sections throughout the City is
fully justified.”
&
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Beginning of the movement of
the wheat crop into the Fort
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ter coin business.
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AUTOMATIC AGE
http://www.arcade-museum.com/
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