MUNICIPAL PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN CITIES.
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The Difficulties Which Face the Authorities of New York and Chicago, Which Both Own Extensive Fleets of Motor Vehicles.
DERHAPS in no field in which the
motor lorry has made its mark has development been, so rapid as in that of municipal transport. The majority of the local governing bodies in the larger cities throughout the world have now become large users of motor lorries, and motor equipment figures prominently in almost every branch of municipal government. Lorries are employed to safeguard public health, to clean streets and to remove refuse, ashes and snow.
They are used by hospitals and similar institutions, for the maintenance of roads, water and light supply, as well as for work in connection with sewers, bridges, ferries and building. Lorries also play an important part in promoting public safety through the activities of the police and fire departments.
In view of the developments in mechanical road transport that have been experienced in the United States during. recent years, it is, perhaps, not surprising that the fleets in the service of the municipalities of someof the larger American cities approximate, in some cases, to four figures. It is the purpose of. this article to give an outline of the active part the lorry plays in municipal work in the cities of New York and Chicago, and in a subsequent artlde we shall deal with this branch
of work in the city of Baltimore. Relatively speaking, however, the story of municipal motorization is the same in most other American cities, the number of lorries in use being governed by the total number of citizens they are called upon to serve,
-The Problems of Municipal Work in New York.
The Municipality of New York claims that it has to face a more difficult prob. km, so far as transport is concerned, than any other city in the world. Its congested area, high buildings and much increased motor traffic have presented-certain difficulties which have not to be faced elsewhere. In addition, during the winter heavy falls of snow are experienced, and a complete dislocation of traffic would -result if the streets were not cleared rapidly and efficiently.
The work of keeping New York clear of snow devolves on the Department of Street Cleaning, the most important of the 13 municipal departments using motor vehicles. This department has to keep open 1,600 miles of paved streets having an area of about 36,000,000 sq. yds. The work of removing the snow that periodically spreads its pall over the city is performed by a large number of fiushers and tipping lorries, which can
be rapidly fitted with snow-ploughs for such an emergency. These ploughs can clear as much snow from New York streets as a hundred men, and since their introduction the number of !nen employed on snow. removal work has been reduced from 25,000 to 4,000, and yet the work has been performed more efficiently.
The Department of Street Cleaning is also responsible for the removal of ashes, garbage and rubbish from the boroughs of Manhattan, Brooklyn and Bronx, those parts of New York that might be compared with the East Central and West Central .districts of London. During 1922 the vehicles employed on this work removed 11,692,397 cubic yds.. Of refuse, weighing 5,250,000 tone. The ethos and -rubbish were shot into barges. and dumped on Riker's Island, where, as a result, property valued at millions of dollars hat been reclaimed. The garbage is shot,into seagoing tipping, barges and dumped into the open sea 40 miles distant from the city. Most of the flushers in use have a capacity of 1,200 gallons, although some larger tankers are being introduced that have a capacity of 1,500 gallons. The flushers now in use can clean from 15 to 20 miles of streets in an eight-hour day, and two men, equipped with a 50-ft. length of hose, can cover 35,000 sq. yds.
of street surface in the same time. The Department of Street Cleaning at 'present employs 1,500 horses, but the use of these animals for municipal work is steadily decreasing, and as their numbers diminish, further motor vehicles are likely to be brought into use.
An important fleet is possessed by the Department of Bellevue and Allied Hospitals; and (lacing 1922 the ambulances at Bellevue Hospital alone answered 12,033 calls. During the same year the ambulances attached to Harlem Hospital answered 8,603 calls; those at Gouvernour Hospital, 7,409 calls ; and those at Fordham Hospital, 4,247 calls.
One of the ambulances covered 25,000 miles during this year, whilst most of the Other vehicles covered from 500 to 700 miles a month.
Other departments in New York using lorries to a considerable extent are thb five boroughs of Manhattan, Brooklyn, Bronx, Queens, and Richmond, the Departments of Correction, Health', Plant and Structures, and Public Welfare, as well es the Fire and Police Departments. Altogether the number of motor vehicles now performing municipal work in New York City is.3,200—a figure which clearly indicates the comprehensive nature of the work.
Pol:ce Reliance Upon Motorvans in Chicago.
Chicago, the third city of the world, has found motor lorries well adapted for every type of municipal service. Many vehicles are used for police patrol work, and in this cosmopolitan city police problems are regarded as being of major
importance. .
Chicago has 38 district police, stations, so located as strategically to cover the 201 square miles that comprise the city's great area, and each of these stations has one or more patrol vans. These vehicles are used for carrying police squads to all disturbances and fires, for conveying prisoners to stations, courts and prisons, for ambulance and mortuary work, and for other special duties. Except for occasional withdrawal from service for the purpose of overhaul, they are kept on the road for 24 hours a day.
No reserve patrols are available, and although emergency calls are the daily routine in the police patrol organization of Chicago, 6,000 pollee can, by using these patrol vans, be assembled at any one point within the city• in a few minutes. An average of 13,000 police alarms occur in the city monthly. It is not surprising to learn, therefore, that some of the patrol vans travel more than 25,000 miles in a year. During 1922 more than 250,000 prisoners were transported in the patrol vans and 81,272 arrests made by the crews ; yet, during that year, only 41 patrol vans comprised the police fleet.
The patrol vans are mounted on White Model 15 chassis, and, have a seating capacity for 10 persons, in addition to accommodation for two others in tho driver's compartment. An emergency cot, 24 ins, wide, can be made available by turning down the seat on the right side. The space under the seats is utilized for storing stretchers, revolvers and ammunition, and other emergency equipment.
Each patrol chauffeur is required Id
render a daily record of the number of trips taken, the mileage covered, the amount of oil and petrol used, and details of repairs and accidents. From these records a comprehensive card system is compiled, and this shows at a glance the history of every patrol van, including the date of commencing service, station location, mileage by month, year, and grand total, monthly cost of upkeep and repairs, cost per mile, and other data.
These cards represent one of the most accurate records of transportation equipment maintained by any municipality. Indeed, the records of the Chicago patrol vans are watched as closely as those of the police themselves, or of the criminals which they, with theaid of the vans, are instrumental in bringing to justice. The Bureau of Engineering uses a number of 15-cwt. lorries on water-pipe extension and engineering survey work, whilst heavier models are used for constructional and repair work and in the
delivery of materials. Most of the bodies of these vehicles are of the open type, although some are fitted with screen bodies. These vehicles are liable to permanent duty, the relays of drivers, workine° eight hours daily, being appointedin a similar manner to the procechifie adopted with the police patrol vans.
One vehicle in the service of the Bureau of Engineering is equipped with a three-stage pump, which is used to test new water-pipe installations at 95 lb. pressure. This test, which brings to light the tiniest leak, enables each section of pipe to be used immediately it, is installed.
In common with New York, London, and other large cities, Chicago's Fire Department has been entirely motorised, and consists of squad wagons, fireescapes, service ears, and pumping machines. The squad wagons have two longitudinal seats running the entire length of the body, giving maximum
crew space, whilst each seat is divided into three compartments for locker space. The ladder arches are on the left side, whilst the equipment also includes a 20-ft. truss extension ladder, a 12-ft. truss roof ladder, and a 40-gallon chemical tank. Since the great fire of 1871 the authorities of Chicago have never neglected any opportunity of maintaining their fire-fighting forces at a maximum pitch of efficiency. , The Health Department of the city maintains a considerable fleet of motor vehicles, and figures for the last year available show that its ambulances covered more than 3,200 trips. In addition to the ambulances, a number of 2ton supply lorries is used for delivering food and materials to the various hospitals in the city. Other municipal departments in Chicago in which motor lorries give dependable and economical service include the Bureau of Streets, the Bureau of Gas and Electricity, and the Bureau of Sewers.