Traffic Guides.
—Before leaving the subject perhaps something more should be said about traffic guides in the cities as most of what precedes has been written with a view to country roads, although many of these signs are applicable to city streets.
Lines upon the pavement should be used to define crosswalks, parking spaces, and restricted and reserved zones. Curbstones may be painted white or yellow to indicate no parking against them. In parking spaces the stall lines are painted, as this will keep vehicles close together and more will be able to park. If they are allowed to drive in promiscuously there will often be half and three-quarter spaces which cannot be used. Painted lines should be about 4 inches wide. If well put on with good paint they will wear for a considerable period. A painted line down the center of a roadway, especially on curves, is a great convenience and safety device for passing vehicles.
Eno tells us that the earliest traffic regulation signs in New York were worded “Slow moving Vehicles, Keep Near Curb.” These were followed gradually by many others.
It is not necessary to place on signs the name of the department authorizing them as, “Police Department,” “Department of Streets and Alleys,” as these take up room and make the signs no more impressive. The simpler and shorter the wording the better. I have been told, I did not see it, that in Boston instead of having a sign read “One-way Traffic,” it is made to say, “Vehicles Using This Street Will Follow in the Direction of the Arrow Only.” This may be merely a slam at the Bostonese but it illustrates the point.
Yellow on Black.
Yellow on Black.
Improperly worded signs.
Yellow on Black.
Yellow on Black.
New York City Traffic Guides
“In November, 1903, one hundred blue and white enameled signs, directing slow-moving vehicles to keep near the right-hand curb, were put in use in New York. These were probably the first traffic regulation signs ever used.”
(From Eno’s “The Science of Highway Traffic Regulation.”)
There are several types of signs in use. Most of them are made of enameled metal and may be placed on stationary or portable standards. The stationary standards may be made of iron pipe set in cement with the sign attached to its top. The sign should be just above a tall man’s head, say 6 feet 6 inches from the walk. Portable standards are frequently used, having an elongated (nearly elliptical) iron base, sufficiently heavy to hold them upright, and a pipe extending from a hole in the center vertically about 4 feet high, to bear the sign. These signs are placed on sidewalks to designate parking and no parking places, safety zones, etc.