1941 Traffic Flow

TRAFFIC FLOW

The year 1941 proved to be the year of greatest travel in Arizona's history. Foreign passenger cars traveled nearly 3,000,000 miles more than Arizona passenger cars over the state system, an increase of 32 percent over 1940.

If tioned, then the decrease in traffic will be in proportion to the rationing of gasoline for motor vehicles.

The accompanying flow map for 1941 is used to depict the importance of the various routes relative to traffic, and also the major breaks occurring in traffic on each route. It would require too much space to show by flow maps the increase or decrease in traffic over each route during the past four years. In order that the reader may visualize the past four years of traffic the tabulation Exhibit A is presented which shows the annual average 24-hour traffic on each U. S. and State numbered route represented on the 1941 flow map. In reviewing this table, it is to be kept in mind that the traffic shown for each route is the average of all traffic for the entire length of that route, and is compiled on the basis of vehicle miles traveled.

The following tabulation shows the number and percent of vehicle miles traveled over the U. S. and State numbered system in Arizona by the various types of motor vehicles during the year 1941:

However, different routes and different points on the same route, due to diversion of certain types of traffic at towns or road junctions or in the proximity of a town or city, may show great changes in the percentage distribution of types as may be noted in the following tabulation:

During the year 1941 foreign passenger cars, i. e., cars registered in other States, traveled 357,312,005 miles, a matter of 2,931,222 miles more than Arizona passenger cars over the U. S. and State numbered system in Arizona. This foreign passenger car travel in 1941 was an increase of 32% over the amount traveled in 1940. On the basis of 10½ cents per mile spent by the occupants of foreign passenger cars for sustenance, gas, oil, etc., while traveling over the State Highway System, it is estimated that foreign traffic spent about $37,500,000 during the year 1941 in Arizona. Approximately 25% of the miles traveled by foreign passenger cars was mileage other than the mileage necessary for crossing the State from entrance to departure points. It might be said that this mileage was traveled in the nature of social, sightseeing and recreational side trips and also it might be said that about $9,800,000 of the $37,500,000, i. e., 25% of the total spent in Arizona, was due to familiarizing the people of other States with Arizona by advertising, magazine articles, etc. Except for the annoyance of passing or trying to pass a truck on a hill or winding road, few people realize the many phases of trucking traffic. A few short tabulations are presented that will depict to a certain extent a few facts about this type of traffic for the year 1941.

The following tabulation shows the number and percent of miles traveled by the various types of trucks and trucking combinations over the U. S. and State numbered routes in Arizona during the year 1941:

In terms of percent the gross ton-mile haul by the various types of trucks presents a different picture. The following tabulation was made by applying the average gross weight of loaded and empty vehicles, data developed during 1936-37 trucking survey, to the vehiclemile traveled by the various types of trucks:

Due to the fact that certain body types of truck and trucking combinations, i. e., tankers, etc., and certain seasonal movements of commodities preclude a back-haul, the carried load of trucking traffic using the U. S. and State numbered system in Arizona is approximately 33.76% of the gross weight. Consequently, the carried load, i. e., the weight of various commodities, was 258,514,797 ton-miles during the year 1941. In all probability the ton-mile percent of the various commodity groupings hauled would be approximately the same as the findings of the 1936-37 trucking survey, which were as follows:

To the ranchers and farmers of this State the truck is as vital as railroad facilities are to large manufacturing concerns. The truckloads of cattle you see upon the highways are loaded on the range and are hauled direct to market precluding the long cattle drives of the past. The truckloads of grain, hay and other agricultural products upon the highways are likewise hauled direct from source to market, although that market may be hundreds of miles away, and are hauled with a saving of several handlings of the shipment. To communities far from railroads the truck, replacing the old freight wagons, means today's shipment of commodities delivered today and not next week.

So, whenever you are passing a truck on a hill or a winding road, have a little patience, for that truck, whether loaded or empty, is in all probability on a business trip and that trip may be serving one of your many needs.