[Transportation Committee Bulletin, March 1944]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

TRANSPORTATE" COMMITTEE
PUBLISHED MONTHLY BY THE OFFICE OF PRICE ADMINISTRATION
VOL. II, No. 3
MARCH 1944
Amendments to RO 5C in Short
(Amendments of more than passing interest to Transportation Committees appear in bold-face.)
AMENDMENT 103, effective February 17.— (1) Makes representatives of the USO- and of WPB-sponsored salvage committees, who are traveling on strictly official business, eligible for preferred mileage. (2) Provides that in case of a reduction in value of “A,” “B,” or “C” coupons restoration of mileage so lost may not be made to employees of a plant having an organized transportation plan unless: (a) the plant has been designated by the District Director as one in which employees are eligible for restoration, or, (b) the employee-applicant has a full car club.
AMENDMENT 104, effective February 17.;— Established the “St. Paul Test Area” and prescribes the rules under which the “Minnesota Plan” for issuance of non-highway rations is to be given an actual field test.
AMENDMENT 105, effective February 25.— (1) Provides for issuance of Class B, C, E, and R coupons in strip form, with the coupons serially numbered in consecutive order and accompanied by an identifying folder which must be kept with the coupons at all times. (2) Empowers Boards to issue non-highway rations, which shall continue to be computed on a 6-month’s basis, either in whole or in part. If issued in part, the Board shall upon request by the applicant issue additional ration evidences in an amount not to exceed the remainder of the ration as originally determined.
AMENDMENT 106, effective February 25.— Exempts from coupon rationing gasoline with an octane rating of 86 or above, unless it is used, or blended for use, as fuel for a motor vehicle.
AMENDMENT 107, effective March 10.—Prescribes the rules under which an experimental test is to be made, in one Board area in Pennsylvania, of a plan of issuing non-highway rations. This plan involves use of a delivery record to verify all consumer transfers.
AMENDMENT 108, effective March 3.—Provides preferred mileage for persons regularly engaged in the business of dealing in used automotive parts for travel needed to locate and accumulate such parts—if the applicant presents a certification by the chief of the appropriate section of the Automotive Division of WPB that the travel is essential to the war effort.
Transportation Committees: Take a Bow!
A message to Transportation Committees from Ralph K. Davies, Acting Petroleum Administrator for War, will be found off the opposite side of this page.
This well-merited recognition of the war importance of the work Transportation Committees are doing, by a top Government official, is very gratifying to OPA Administrator Chester Bowles and to all his associates who have been close to the program.
PAW—Petroleum Administration for War—is the Federal agency which bears over-all responsibility for production, allocation, and distribution of the Nation’s petroleum supplies, both military and civilian—which explains Mr. Davies’ close interest in Transportation Committees by whom a large part of our carefully husbanded essential mileage is metered.
In his letter of transmittal Mr. Davies said to Mr. Bowles :
“Members of the staff have informed me from time to time of the excellent work being done by the more than 40,000 OPA Transportation Committees in American factories. I want to congratulate you and them upon the success of their efforts to reduce the consumption of gasoline, and to urge that these activities be continued without a let-up.
“I am accordingly sending you a letter addressed to these Transportation Committees, with the thought that you may wish to pass on to them the appreciation of the Petroleum Administration.”
Mr. Bowles, in his acknowledgment, was happy to say:
“Thank you very much for your splendid letter concerning Transportation Committees. This letter will be reproduced in our March Transportation Committee Bulletin and will go to the 40,000 Committees which do a job for us in war plants. I know that the members of these Committees will appreciate your letter.”
PETROLEUM ADMINISTRATION FOR WAR
WASHINGTON 25, D. C.
TO ALL TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE MEMBERS:
You people are doing such a notable job of "Guarding America’s Mileage" through car-sharing that I am prompted to express the keen appreciation of the Petroleum Administration for War. At the same time, I want to tell you how vital it is that these efforts be continued without let-up, and that everything possible be done to increase car-sharing in your
plants. The necessity for your work has never been more real than at this moment when we are on the attack.
The facts about our gasoline supply really are very simple. We are producing and refining more crude oil than ever before in the country’s history—all that we can. But the military demands are so tremendous that we can’t possibly supply all of the civilian demands for any petroleum product and, in particular, for gasoline.
We are making about 75,000,000 gallons of gasoline every day right now, but the armed forces are taking more than 25,000,000 of those gallons. The rest has to be divided just as equitably as possible among the civilians who need it, and made available not only for the war workers in your plants, who must get to work, but also for the busses that bring other workers to their jobs, for the trucks which carry war materials to and from your plants, and for the operation of farm equipment in our vastly increased food-production program— in short, for essential uses only.
There just isn’t one gallon of gasoline for nonessential driving. It is our Number One War Product, and its use must be dedicated to war work exclusively. That’s why your committees are so important, and why your work has meant so much in alleviating our petroleum-supply problems.
Sincerely yours.
Acting Petroleum Administrator for War.
Plant Terminals for War-Worker Transportation
(From the 1943 report of the Institute of Traffic Engineers)
Part III—Parking Lots and Their Operations
Parking Lot Load and Capacity
The arrangement of working shifts in a plant vitally affects the peak parking demand. A shift of workers arriving before work to replace an ’ equal group that is leaving imposes a load on the parking facilities which is twice that adequate for either shift. For a simple three-shift plant, the number of automobiles arriving for the next largest shift which occurs just before the main shift leaves, when added to the number of automobiles needed for the main shift indicated the capacity of parking facilities which are required. The accumulation of autos is closely dependent on the size and schedule of shifts.
Bearing in mind this characteristic of summation of load at time of shift change, the required capacity of lots is, of course, dependent on auto use as a mode of transportation and the group riding occupancy ration, and the extent of staggering of shift changes to reduce peak period demand.
Functional Requirements
The following functional requirements should be given consideration in parking lot design and operation:
1.	Grading and surface.
2.	Enclosure and fencing.
3.	Parking stall markings.
4.	Driveways, walkways, and their arrangement.
5.	Plan of circulation.
6.	Illumination and protection, including fence and guard.
7.	Proximity to workers’ benches.
8.	Entrances and exists.
9.	Vehicle identification and space assignment.
10.	Supervision and traffic control.
11.	Space utilization and rotation.
The surface of parking lots should be graded to practicable slopes to conform with topography and so as to provide drainage. At least the driveway should be sufficiently stabilized so as to provide an all-weather surface, otherwise bad holes develop which lead to broken springs and other vehicle failures which must be avoided under war conditions.
To provide orderly, efficient use of space, guide lines which, will rank the vehicles in proper rows are essential. If wheel chocks are used, such prac-„ tice requires all cars to back out in unparking, thereby inducing accidents. To maintain efficient use of space in each row, each stall, or at a minimum, every alternate stall edge should be marked. A simple paint line on hard surface, or chamferred 2" x 4" timber spiked to stakes driven flush with the surface will suffice.
Driveways should be laid out so as to provide easy flow of traffic and wide enough to provide simple maneuvers for entrance and exit from stalls. The angle of parking affects the width of drive between tiers, but ordinarily, if 18 feet is allowed for perpendicular stall depth, 22-foot driveways are generous.
At points where large numbers of pedestrian movements converge, provision for such movements may be necessary; ordinarily, pedestrians are well accommodated at the edge of driveways.
Traffic circulation within lots is ordinarily best when one-way counter-clockwise movement through the main drives of the lot is posted and enforced.
To provide safety to pedestrains and to keep burglarizing to a minimum, illumination of lots is required. An average level of 0.1-foot candles (incident) is suggested.
Lots should be dispersed and arranged so as to provide optimum proximity of parking to worker’s bench or desk.
The number and location of entrances and exits must be in keeping with lot size and flow. At least 26-foot width of entrance is required where 2-way flow is to be accommodated and where vehicles are turning into and off of a main route. If lots front on high-speed, through-traffic ways, acceleration and deceleration zones are needed. All lots should be fenced.
Workers’ vehicles are frequently assigned to particular lots and sometimes to particular spaces in lots to assure certainty in lot demand and loading arrangement. Characteristic insignia of the plant in decalcomania, or sticker on windshield will provide quick identification and inspection at gates.
Gateways should be marked well if they are to be used solely for entrance or exit. One-way arrows should be installed for rotary movement. Guide lines at turns are helpful. Illumination at night has been indicated as needed. Police should enforce movement and parking in accordance with the plan of operation.
The layout and plan of operation to obtain maximum use of space varies with the size and arrangement of plot. The transverse width of stalls should be about 7 or 8 feet. The width of drives varies with angle of parking but ranges around 20 feet. For maximum use of land, vehicles should be tiered in double rows. The gross area per vehicle, including drives, will range as low as 170 square feet to as much as 300 square feet per vehicle, the larger value prevailing for small and irregular lots, 200 square feet per vehicle is a good average.
Tire Supply for 1944 to Fall 6 to 12 Millions Short of Previously Estimated Needs
“The passenger tire supply will continue to be short throughout the year,” said Rubber Director Bradley Dewey in a February 9 press conference.
“But,” he added, “if the public continues to cooperate, drive at 35 miles per hour, avoid holes in the road, continue car-sharing, watch inflation pressures, recap as often as needed, and otherwise take care of its tires, there need be no curtailment of essential driving so far as tires are concerned.
“Production of passenger tires is being held down to about one million per month in order to conserve Buna S and tire cord for important military and essential civilian bus and truck tires. It will not be possible to increase this number until military and other requirements decline or more rubber and cord become available. Only about three-quarters of these passenger tires are now being rationed because it is more conservative to build ba£k part of the essential working inventories in the field and to have a reserve against any possible emergency in supply or other requirements which might otherwise necessitate a further cut-back in passenger tire production.
“During the latter part of the year it is expected that we will be able to permit a step-up in production of passenger tires so that the total available for rationing during the year will be between 18 and 24 million. This total falls short of the 30 millions previously estimated as necessary.
“However, it is hoped that it will be sufficient to meet the essential demand in view of the death rate of cars, the restrictions upon driving as a result of the shortage of gasoline, and the very important increased length of life being obtained in tires, both synthetic and others, as a result of the public’s cooperation in the care, use, and recapping of tires.
.“Present reports indicate that recapping is being practiced to the extent of available materials and facilities at a rate of 25 million tires per year.”
Quotes From Industry
On Tires
Columbus, Ohio, Feb. 2.—Military and civilian tire requirements are currently in excess of the rubber industry’s plant and equipment capacities, John L. Collyer, president of the B. F. Goodrich Co., told the National Forecast Council here today.
“Tires for planes, military ground vehicles, farm implements, and trucks are being produced to the limit of present manufacturing facilities,” he said. “In the case of passenger-car tires, however, it is the supply of available synthetic rubber that is the limiting factor. This position, though, should improve as the production of synthetic rubber increases in the months ahead.”
Mr. Collyer pointed out that the rubber industry will be called upon to “process more rubber this year than in 1940—and 50 percent more than the total consumption of all types of rubber in the United States last year. Even so, it will be a number of months before any but military and the most essential civilian needs for tires can be met.”
On Gasoline
New York, N. Y., Jan. 18.—Of all the gasoline now being produced in the refineries of the Socony-Vacuum Oil Company, Inc., about 41 percent is for strictly military purposes, John A. Brown, president of the company, reported yesterday. Because of the special requirements of this war fuel, he said, the company’s ordinary motor gasoline production had been reduced to only 48 percent of the quantity which normally could be produced with the same equipment.
Mr. Brown stated that war gasolines now being manufactured by the company amount to about 56,000 barrels daily, and they will be increased to 62,000 daily by the time the company’s expansion program is completed in June 1944.
U. S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 577565°
OFFICE OF PRICE ADMINISTRATION WASHINGTON. D. C.
PENALTY FOR PRIVATE USE TO AVOID PAYMENT OF POSTAGE, S300
OFFICIAL. BUSINESS
TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE
BULLETIN
MARCH
1944