The New York herald., 1878-12-19
Some suggestions for Rapid Transit.

urally careful when investing their own
money, and our arguments and figures
were received with hesitation. Even the
gentlemen who enlisted in the Metropoli-
tan Railway enterprise failed to appreciate
the real value of the underta king and the
immediate success it would reach They did
not anticipate that the road would carry
more than seven million passengers in the
first six months of its operation to Fifty
eighth street. Neither did the projectors
of the Third avenue or east side branch of
the New York Elevated road suppose that
in three months, during which the line has
been open portion of the time only to
Forty-second street and the remainder to
Fifty-ninth street. the travel would reach
nearly four millions. While these results
have more than justified our predictions as
to the pecuniary success OF rapid transit
they have found the companies overpowered
by the unexpectedly large business and
puzzled how to extend their accommoda-
tions sufficiently to meet the public wants
and expectations
Yet it may be said that the demand on the
facilities of the elevated roads has only COM
menced. The bulk of the through travel is
at present shut out from the use of rapid
transit through being unable to pay two
fares; that is to say, the elevated railroad
fare to Fifty-ninth or Sixty-seventh street
and the horse car fare for the remainder of
the distance home. This is especially the
case on the east side or Third avenue line.
When the New York elevated trains run
to Harlem Bridge and the Metropolitan
trains to High Bridge the travel on both
sides will be nearly or quite doubled. This
is shown by the fact that the operation
of the sections of both roads now completed
makes but trifling difference in the travel
on the two street railroads following the
same routes. The number Of passengers
carried on the Sixth avenue horse cars
was in 1877 1900, ,000 and in 1873, with
six months of competing rapid tram
sit 16, 400 O00-a falling off of only
100000 in the six months. On
the Third avenue surface line there
were 80. 700, 900 passengers carried last year
and 30, 400, 600 this year, with about three
months of steam competition decrease
of 300 900. 1t is fair to estimate that fifty
per cent of the travel on both these street
railroads is through travel, the greater por-
tion of which would have sought the ele-
waited roads il they had been completed to
the Harlem River. The question is, How
can the two elevated lines accommodate
twice their present travel, and by what
means can their facilities be increased?
The pressure comes mainly in the
s'cheap" hours, especially between five and
seven p. NJ. This is caused by \ rush for
the trains, which crowds about three hours
travel into two. Hundreds who could
leave for home at half-past four, or could
delay until half-past seven or eight, now
wait till five o'clock, or hurry away before
seven in order to ride for five cents. It is
all hours the pressure between five
and seven o'clock would be greatly
relieved. We believe that this re-
duction could be made with actual
profit to the roads The statistics of the
Metropolitan Railway show that the pas
sengers carried during the four hours of
tive-cent fare average 4, S21 per hour, while
those carried during fourteen and half
hours of ten cent fare average 2,026 per
hour. That is to say, the travel at five
cents fare is more than double that at ten
cents. The elevated roads, run at five
cents, would draw largely upon the horse car
travel. We have no doubt that one-half
the passengers carried by the Third avenue
horse cars since September 2S would have
~. 4 I. ~ r.. 4
the same. The reduction of the fare to five
cents would, therefore, we believe, increase
the profits Of the company, while relieving
pressure during two hours of the morning
and two hours OF the evening, which is in
convenient and dangerous enough to drive
large number of passengers, especially
females, to the horse car lines. With this
reduction, and with way-station special
trains provided through the means of
switches and sidings and started down town
and up town in the busy morning and even
ing hours, the travel on the whole line
would be equalized, and hazardous
crowding and annoying delays would
be avoided. Should the companies
hesitate to adopt the low faro pol
icy then the fve-cent hours should
certainly be extended until half-past eight
o'clock in the morning and eight in the
evening. This would benefit clerks and
working girls who now derive no advantage
from the reduction in the morning hours,
which are too early for them, and would
serve to test the soundness of our argument
in favor OF uniform five cent rate.
The reduction of the fare is not nil that
may properly be asked Of the rapid transit
companies, whose large profits are no
longer problematical. Both corporations
have displayed commendabe energy
and an honest desire to meet the public
needs, and if shortcomings arc found on
either side they may be attributed to an