periods there was widespread recognition of the need for increased effort in highway construction and maintenance.
The total number of vehicles in operation dropped slightly from the predepression peak in the period from 1931 to 1934 but increased thereafter to a new peak in 1941, an 8-year increase of 45 percent. Total consumption of motor fuel experienced an equally rapid growth, rising from the depression low in 1933 of approximately 14¼ billion gallons to nearly 24 billion gallons in 1941, an increase of 68 percent in the 8 years. In each year from 1932 through 1941, the gallons of motor fuel consumed per vehicle in operation, increased, and a similar increase was recorded for each of the 4-year periods, as shown in table 25.
| Period | Motor vehicles in operation, annual average |
Motor-fuel consumption, annual average |
Motor-fuel consumption per vehicle, annual average |
| Thousands | Thousand gallons |
Gallons | |
1931–34 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
24,890 | 14,793,539 | 594 |
1935–38 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
28,732 | 18,233,974 | 635 |
1989–42 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
32,906 | 21,620,671 | 657 |
The rapidly increasing volume of motor-vehicle traffic indicated by these figures called for a general increase in the width of highway surfaces. Higher speeds of travel had made many of the older alinements dangerous. The toll of accidents was increasing annually. A large mileage of the roads first built was each year reaching the point of desirable renewal, and maintenance necessities were increasing with the mileage and age of roads previously improved. In addition, for at least the latter half of the three-period span, there was clear recognition of the need for radical and expensive improvements of the arterial approaches and main thoroughfares of cities, improvements of great potential benefit, on which thousands of workers and a large industrial production could have been usefully employed.
In spite of these recognized needs for highway improvement and notwithstanding the widespread need for employment, local expenditures for highways, both for construction and maintenance, were reduced during the depression by amounts at least equal to the increases in Federal expenditure, so that the employment purposes of the Federal Government were largely or completely nullified.
Committee recommendation—Return to tested principles.—To forestall a similar defeat of any post-war effort of the Federal Government to provide, through highway construction, for increased employment, the Committee recommends a return to the tested principles of the Federal Highway Act which require (1) the Federal contribution to construction to be matched in substantially equal amount by the States, and (2) the States to maintain the highways built with Federal assistance. Whatever may be the cooperating governments, whether State, county, or city, the Committee recommends the application of these principles in fixing the amount of the Federal and local contributions.
Construction expenditures to maintain national income.—For the maintenance of all roads and streets the Committee estimates that
