Programs for Central Business District Improvement

*Data based upon surveys at specific establishments in the central business district.

(a) Includes all types of employees.

(b) Occasional transit additional 8%.

(c) Includes all riding transit for other than travel to and from their employment.

From Transit Facts, Public Administration Clearing House, Chicago.

Although rush hour patronage has usually held up fairly well, transit systems have suffered a tremendous decline in business since the end of World War II. In 1946 there were approximately 19 billion transit passengers in the United States; in 1954 the American Transit Association estimated the total number of transit passengers for the year at about 9.9 billion. Off-peak and night services and service to outlying areas have suffered the greatest losses but the loss of revenue on these services has affected all operations of transit systems. At a time when transit companies should be expanding their services to meet increasingly strong automobile competition, they have had to curtail service and raise fares.

Local governments, in their enthusiasm for new expressways and parking programs, have neglected transit or, even worse, have imposed additional restrictions on already hard-pressed transit operations. Transit companies have requested exemption from street and franchise taxes but few cities have listened sympathetically.

The decline in transit and the prospects of even worse conditions in the future have increased transit companies' difficulties in getting bank loans for modernization of their systems. Some companies, near bankruptcy, have turned their franchises back to the cities. Sometimes cities have assumed transit operations as a public function. Some smaller cities have been left without transit service.

The Market for Transit. Persons living in a potential market area for transit may be divided into three groups: (1) those who have no other means of transportation and must use public transit; (2) those who may use either transit or their own automobiles; and (3) those who must use their automobiles in their business and cannot use public transportation.

The third group is lost to transit. The first group, which has no alternative, will use transit even though service is poor. But this group may be expected to diminish as more automobiles are sold. The loss of transit customers has, therefore, occurred principally in the second group. Here it must compete directly with the automobile and the success of mass transit will depend upon its ability to provide service that is comparable to the automobile in speed, convenience, and price. It is from the second group, persons who have a choice, that recovery of transit patronage — if any — must come. Obviously, there is little or nothing that can be done to increase the number who have no choice nor to decrease the number of persons who use automobiles in their business.

Some of the disadvantages of transit that have undoubtedly made it less attractive in comparison with the automobile are transit stops unprotected from the weather; overcrowded conditions on buses; long walking distances to transit stops in outlying areas; excessive time spent waiting for transit vehicles; and the comparative slowness of mass transportation.

Attempts to Improve Transit Service. Transit companies have tried to recapture some of their lost business by instituting special services and improving existing services.

One method used has been the "park and ride" plan. For years commuter railroads have provided free parking lots near their suburban stations and transit companies have often built parking lots at the end of or along their streetcar and bus lines.

Another service is the" shoppers' special" operated within the central business district during mid-day, off-peak hours and during evening shopping hours. Although fares for such service are lower than standard, the service is among the most profitable for transit companies. The volume of business is usually high and the routes are short. Also, there is no free transfer privilege. Transit companies seldom charge off depreciation against this service because the buses and streetcars used are also required for peak-hour service. Since bus drivers' contracts require stand-by payments for the hours between rushes in which the drivers do not work, the driver cost for shoppers' specials is negligible.

Another new service, the "club flyer," is now being tested in Cincinnati. This is a premium rate service that guarantees a seat and a fast ride for anyone who purchases a monthly ticket. A bus picks up each ticket holder at his home and when the last pick-up has been made the bus proceeds to its downtown destination without stopping. In the afternoon, the rider catches his bus downtown and is returned to his front door. It is still too early to determine whether this type of service can be operated profitably over a long period of time. But this is one of the few instances in which a transit company has attempted to provide a better standard of service, rather than cut already unattractive services even more drastically.

Transit companies have also instituted express service on major streets and expressways which can, under optimum conditions, approach automobile driving speeds.

Expansion of Transit Service. In a few instances, new transit lines and rapid transit systems have been put into use recently in an attempt to improve the basic transit network. New subways and rapid transit facilities have been built in Toronto and Cleveland. And Philadelphia has just completed an important downtown subway connection that replaces an older elevated structure.

In a number of cities there has been agitation for the reestablishment of private rights-of-way that were abandoned in the 1930's because of high property taxes. Transit authorities have suggested that cities turn over certain downtown streets entirely to transit vehicles. A more modest proposal of this type is that curb lanes of major streets in the central business district be reserved for transit vehicles. As yet, few public officials have paid serious attention to these proposals.

Shortcomings in Present Programs

Howard T. Fisher, in a speech, "The Impact of New Shopping Centers upon Established Business Districts," given before the National Citizens' Conference on Planning in May 1950, presented the following summary of then current traffic planning for the central business district:

[Our] present thinking is limited largely to four ideas:

First, the elimination of through traffic. This is fundamental.

Second, the improvement of tributary arteries serving the business district so as to eliminate traffic congestion for those traveling to the center. This is excellent, of course. But as is well realized, to the extent that it is successful it merely adds to the pressing traffic problems within the business district itself.

Third, the provision of more off-street parking within the business area. This of course is essential. But unfortunately such parking areas, instead of being located well within the business district, are usually located barely within it. While excellent for the needs of all-day parking for office workers and store employees, such peripheral parking is usually highly unsatisfactory for serving shoppers' requirements.

Fourth, the provision upon public pavements of controlled short-time parking through the use of the police power, with or without parking meters.

This statement summarizes fairly well the efforts that have been made to adjust the physical pattern of the central business district to the requirements of the automobile.

But despite the large amounts of money that have been spent to provide new downtown facilities, there are few indications that these facilities have produced any noticeable improvements in traffic conditions. Certainly they have not had the effect of inducing great numbers of additional people to come downtown to work and shop.

A report by the San Francisco Department of City Planning, Daily Trips in San Francisco (abridged edition) published in 1955, shows that the total number of people entering the San Francisco downtown area has increased slightly but that the number of vehicles has greatly increased:

Since 1947, about 50,000 additional passenger automobiles have been added to the city's traffic streams. Similarly, about 50,000 people entering the Metropolitan Traffic District (Downtown and vicinity) use private autos to get there, where they formerly used public transit. Cordon counts show that from 20 to 22 per cent more passenger autos entered the Metropolitan Traffic District every weekday in 1953 than entered in 1947. Municipal Railway counts showed that in 1954 from 19 to 27 per cent less transit passengers entered the district than entered it in 1947. Although this results in a substantial increase in the total number of vehicles entering Downtown San Francisco, only a slight increase in the total number of persons has resulted....

A survey of the number of people, by mode of transportation, entering the downtown area of Atlanta with downtown destinations, as reported in Now... for Tomorrow (published in 1954 by the Metropolitan Planning Commission of Atlanta) showed similar declines:

Other cities have reported similar increases in the number of vehicles entering central business districts: and a declining number of people.

E. L. Tennyson, traction commissioner of Youngstown, Ohio, speaking to a Public Administration Clearing House press seminar on the transit crisis in June 1955, summarized thus the shortcomings of "auto-centric" planning for the central business district that neglects the transit system:

Too many of our leaders today dismiss the transit problem by pointing out that almost everyone now has an automobile. All we have to do, they say, is to spend $101 billion more on the motorists, and our problems will be solved. People want to drive, we are told.

There are four serious errors in this reasoning:

1. In urban areas, only one-half of all the people can drive.

2. Only one-fourth of the people have an automobile available when they have to travel.

3. Because of congestion, large cities cannot possibly move sufficient traffic by automobile to stay alive.

4. Our urban economy cannot even remotely afford automobile transportation at peak hours for a large proportion of the people.

It appears that the time has come to question the assumptions that have been used as the basis for present downtown traffic planning and to evaluate the effectiveness of existing programs. Have the measures that have been tried actually brought more people downtown? Have new expressways and garages made the trip more convenient and faster?

And, even if these methods have produced some results, are they worth the cost of the new facilities? How many downtown parking spaces can a city's economy afford when the cost is $1,000 to $4,000 a space? How many miles of expressway can be built at 1 to 15 million dollars a mile? At what point will expenditures for new facilities designed to make automobile travel more convenient pass the value of the benefits received?

Proposals for Central Business District Redevelopment

While present programs consist largely of providing more streets and parking spaces for automobiles, a number of recent proposals for downtown redevelopment place the greatest emphasis upon improving conditions for transit and the pedestrian in the central core. The principles used in preparing these plans are summed up in a statement by Corwin R. Mocine, Oakland planning engineer, to the 1955 Public Administration Clearing House press seminar:

As well as assigning each transportation job to the most suitable and efficient vehicle, we can do much to increase the efficiency of the facilities we have. I will list only a few of the more obvious possibilities:

1. Separate pedestrian traffic from vehicular traffic at least in the hearts of our cities.

2. Assign, in so far as possible, each street the function either of moving traffic or of providing access to abutting property. No street has ever been able to fulfill both functions efficiently at the same time.

3. Separate high speed from slow traffic.

4. A fruitful avenue of improvement that is beginning to open up involves spreading out the peak loads, not through staggered hours but through staggered days. The four-day week and the guaranteed annual wage make this much more important than it has been in the past.

Planning proposals based on these principles have called for some specific actions: the elimination of automobiles in the retail core; the use of existing streets for pedestrians, transit, and service vehicles; improvement of the appearance of the area; removal of obsolete structures; and the provision of ample off-street parking at the periphery of the retail core.

Such proposals appear radical in the United States where the automobile has become the primary method of travel. However, in Europe and South America many of the best shopping districts are reserved almost entirely for pedestrians. For example, the Miami Herald for November 14, 1954 reports on at least three central shopping districts in South America where automobiles and other vehicles are not permitted:

A two-block section of Bogotá's Carrera Septima (main street) is never entered by motor vehicles. There the capital city's industrial tycoons, bankers, professional men and artisans gather daily to transact the bulk of their business. Motorists simply by-pass the section, returning to the "main drag" farther on.

Ten gilt-edged blocks of Calle Florida, in the heart of Buenos Aires' fashionable shopping district are closed to all but pedestrians at certain hours each day, transforming the narrow thoroughfare into surging streams of shoppers and eddying pools of gossip-swappers.

And Rua do Ouvidor, Rio de Janeiro's main stem for smart shops, is solely for those on foot. Between 4 and 5 each afternoon the street is solidly packed with masses streaming from offices to do last-minute shopping or to meet friends for tea or cocktails.

The Lijnbaan shopping place in Rotterdam is, in effect, a designed shopping center within the central business district. This development, which is now nearing completion, owes its existence to the destruction of the central area of Rotterdam in 1940 by the German air force. It incorporates the principles that have more recently been proposed for downtown areas in American cities. Automobiles are excluded from the area but there are nearby parking lots for 1,800 automobiles. Streets are turned over to pedestrians and canopies protect them from rain and snow. Special racks are provided for bicycles. Transit lines run behind the center area. A cooperative project of 66 high quality specialty shops, the development covers a land area of about three acres and has approximately four acres of selling space.

Drawing from experiences in foreign cities and incorporating many of the best principles of design used in regional shopping centers in this country, official planning agencies in several cities have proposed that studies be made of the feasibility of turning the core of the central business district into a pedestrian area. The following section describes a few of the proposals that have been made. In nearly every case the plans described are intended merely as starting points for further study, rather than as specific plans for redeveloping central areas.

San Francisco. A report, Modernizing Downtown San Francisco, published in 1955 by the San Francisco Department of City Planning, is primarily a statement of principles for planning, rather than a specific proposal. Its purpose is to stimulate thought on various aspects of central business district development and to point out the necessity for over-all planning.

...a balance of interests must be sought in which everyone gives a little to gain a little. The downtown area cannot have, for instance, an infinite amount of parking, a compact area, a good mass transit system, functionally important peripheral uses kept in the present close relationship, a minimum use of land for non-taxable purposes, infinite flexibility of movement, equal accessibility to all properties, off-street loading and unloading, and no great investment in functional improvements by private interests all at the same time. The very best designed of the regional shopping centers do not have all of these things and, in fact, completely rule out such important elements as mass transit, a great variety of uses, and complete accessibility by automobile to all businesses.

This report suggests six phases of the problem for which coordinated action is needed:

1. The provision of a regional rapid transit system integrated with the local system.

2. The completion of the freeway distribution system.

3. The provision of parking facilities at proper locations.

4. The systemization of the downtown streets to provide for pedestrian, surface transit, and vehicular movement that, to as great a degree as possible, is not conflicting.

5. The improvement of the over-all appearance of the downtown area to create an attractive environment.

6. The provision of new facilities, as needed, for the continuing development of the area.

Perhaps the most important contribution made by the San Francisco report lies in the critique of the appearance of the downtown area: garish and unimaginative neon signs, lack of trees and open space, the jumble of street signs, poles, newsstands, the overhead mat of electric wires. This report is one of the few that considers downtown appearance as a problem of equal importance with traffic, parking, and transit.

Buffalo. The Buffalo City Planning Commission has prepared a plan for developing a pedestrian shopping concourse and mall in the chief downtown retail area. The proposed plan would segregate different types of transportation. Automobiles would be routed on existing streets around the development and an underground transit terminal would be built beneath the heart of the area.

The commission believes that the proposal is less radical than it appears. The following arguments are used to support this contention:

The center of a downtown area is a crowded destination. Vehicles passing through it only reduce its effectiveness for pedestrian use and every person in downtown must become a pedestrian before he can become a customer or a worker.

Already no curb parking is allowed in downtown Buffalo.

Major off-street parking facilities are already located or planned around the perimeter of the proposed concourse.

The radial street pattern formed by Niagara and Genessee Streets presents a natural by-pass route for surface traffic around the proposed concourse.

An underground terminal under the proposed concourse for public transit vehicles only, would serve the proposed pedestrian mall at street level by escalator service.

Finally, the facility would encourage the use of public transit.

Atlanta. In its master planning program for the DeKalb-Fulton metropolitan area, Now...for Tomorrow, the metropolitan planning commission has suggested one of the most ambitious plans for central area development. This plan is designed to meet the following projected downtown requirements: downtown sidewalk capacity for 40 per cent more employees and for 50 per cent more people who come downtown to shop or do business; street capacity for 30 per cent more automobiles and 30 per cent more transit vehicles; accommodations for 37 per cent more all-day and 35 per cent more short-time parkers; civic and cultural facilities for conventions, exhibits, cultural and recreational activities; green space for all.

Under the proposal, all traffic that did not have a downtown destination would by-pass the area. Major streets would be kept open for transit vehicles, primarily but not exclusively, by limiting turns, eliminating curb parking, and prohibiting off-street parking on transit streets within the core area. Fringe parking lots would be established for all-day parking. Circulation within the core would be improved by better connections with the existing expressway system, providing perimeter circulation streets and close-in parking for shoppers and other short-time parkers. An area of approximately 85 acres in the heart of the central business district would be reserved for transit and pedestrians.

This plan also incorporates proposals by two local architectural and engineering firms to utilize air rights over downtown railroad tracks for a shopping and office building center. Use of air rights would tie together the two major downtown retailing areas of the city, now separated by a railroad "gulch."

Chicago. Although the Chicago "perimeter plan" was developed for major shopping districts other than the central business district, it incorporates principles that might be applied to central business districts in smaller cities.

Basically, the perimeter plan calls for the removal of through traffic from the heart of the shopping district and its rerouting on a specially constructed perimeter road. Parking spaces would be provided inside the perimeter, behind the main business streets. The existing streets would be narrowed to permit only transit vehicles to move through the main intersection. The additional space gained in narrowing streets could be used to increase sidewalk widths or to provide planting strips. All noncommercial structures in the area would be demolished and the remaining stores redecorated to improve appearance.

The plan is described in detail in a book, Economic and Legal Analysis, Perimeter Plan for Englewood Plaza, published in 1953 by the Real Estate Research Corporation of Chicago. A study of the application of the principles of the "perimeter plan" to the 63rd and Halsted business district in Chicago (one of the largest community shopping areas in the nation) is described in the book. It also includes a proposal for programming the improvements, a study of possible methods of financing the program, and a summary of the legal problems involved in its implementation.

Re-evaluating Downtown Problems

Almost without exception, the measures that have been taken thus far to deal with downtown problems have provided at best only temporary relief. In some cases they have solved one problem but have actually intensified others.

The failure to develop coordinated programs for studying and solving central business district problems may be traced to the lack of data on present and past conditions in the area, inadequate methods for evaluating available data, and the lack of coordination between various aspects of the program. Unless correct information is available, it is impossible to weigh the validity of charges by downtown interests that property values are falling, that sales are down, and that there is a parking shortage.

Then, too, even when raw data are available, they may not be in forms which can be used easily.

The importance of adequate and correct data for planning cannot be overemphasized. Correct information can be used to refute specious arguments and block ill-considered plans and it may indicate courses of action that promise long-term results.

Too few cities have accurate information on trends in central area development and land use. Statistics on short- and long-term trends in land values are similarly unavailable. Even such information as traffic flow within central business districts and traffic surveys are often badly out of date. Conditions have changed so rapidly since the war that traffic cordon counts made in the late 1940's have little relation to present traffic movements.

The second deficiency is the inability of technicians and laymen to interpret information that is available. For example, several cities have found that the number of shoppers entering the downtown area is declining, although the dollar volume of downtown store sales has continued to rise. There have been changes in the types of goods sold downtown. Such statistics clearly indicate a change in shopping habits, which will eventually affect downtown retailing. Perhaps people now come downtown only to make specific purchases and the number of "window shoppers" has been reduced.

If this is the case, downtown stores will probably have to rely less upon impulse items and attempt to maintain large and varied stocks of basic shopper goods. On the other hand, the declining number of persons entering the central business district could indicate that people now go downtown to purchase those items that are not available elsewhere. If this is the case, the central business district can expect to lose more business to outlying areas as a wider range of goods becomes available in branch department stores.

Other statistics may be equally ambiguous. An increase in retail sales in the central business district may show that the area is holding its own in competition with new shopping centers or it may merely indicate that retail prices have risen since previous surveys were made.

Fortunately, research is being conducted to find methods of using the raw data that are available. A number of pilot studies on various aspects of business district problems have been compiled in an excellent piece of central business district research, Parking as a Factor in Business, previously referred to.