Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1896-02-15


charge reasonable rates. Chicago has
'Three-Cent Association" which is show
ing unusual activity The fountain head of
all this activity and agitation is to be found
in Detroit, where Mayor Pingree has sue
ceeded in establishing rate Of "eight
tickets for a quarter during the daylight
hours.
The three-cent fare in Detroit is not a
three-cent fare literally. 1t is fare of 3 Is
cents to those who buy tickets, and car
tickets are uncertain property, easily lost or
destroyed, and often not presented for re-
demption. For those who ride at night on
tickets the fare is 4 1-6 cents, and for those
who pay cash at any hour Of the day it is
five cents straight-just what the fare is in
all the cities of the United States today. AS
a matter of fact, about one-fifth of the peo-
pie who ride in Detroit pay cash, and the
average received by the company is over
3 1-;' cents passenger. But the number of
cash fares is decreasing, the public be-
comes better acquainted with the ticket
system.
There are two sides to the three-cent fare
question: as there to every other ques-
ton. There Is very little doubt that in al
most every large city, if there were no street
railway lines in existence there would be
many capitalists ready to put down lines on
the principal streets. on certain conditions
| under charter which would require three
now in existence could afford to reduce the
rate of fare charged to three cents and pay
fair rate of interest on the Investment.
If the original owners of one of the lines
now operated in the city of Philadelphia
still managed its affairs, they could afford
to haul passengers possibly for less than
three cents. These original owners
ceiving row a guaranteed 60 per cent on
their investment, while the interest on the
Indebtedness which they incurred on ac-
count OF construction or improvements is
paid by the lessees of the road. This road
has passed from one to another, until finally
the Union Traction Company, which con-
trolls all but few Of the 800 miles of street
railroads in the city of Philadelphia, is the
opera tor.
The Experiment in This City.
The scent fare is universal now There
have been roads which charged less for
short haul; IN fact, there are few OF these
roads in operation now. one being a con-
meeting link between two big lines near
New York city. Washington had less than
ten years ago a, 2-cent car which from
Pennsylvania avenue and 1ith street to the
bureau of engraving and printing, quar-
ter of a mile away, and 3-cent car, which
covered the mile between the White House
and the Capitol. These cars out of
service now; but Washington is one of the
comparatively few cities in the United
States having 4 16-cent rate of fare-siX
tickets for quarter. And on its herdic
fare, which was made necessary by the
competition OF the rapid transit lines of
tramways. The wisdom of the reduction of
the herdic fares to ) cents was shown at
the annual meeting Of the Herdic Com
pany recently, when 1t was reported that
the business of the company had increased
by million passengers in year a Sc
salt of the reductions
In Toronto there is Scent fare, and the
street railways of that city are in the
hands of q monopoly.
The people who are bowling for Scent
fares Unfortunately do not take the vary
ing conditions into account. In one COM
munity the street railways pay a heavy
tax to the city; in another they pay moth
ing. In one city the. railway companies
keep the streets they use paved; in an
ether the city does the paving. In one city
the haul is short and the expenses COM
paratiyely small; in another you ride
eight or nine miles for 5 cents. In one city
there are no transfers: in the city of St.
Louis you can transfer from one road to
another until you have had ride of twelve
miles for cents. In one city there is a
monopoly; in another there is competition.
One argument which is urged with some
effect by the people who oppose the reduc-
ton of fares is the greater comparative
ccst of old street railroads and particularly
those which We're among the pioneers in the
adoption of the electric system. When cleo
tricity was introduced there was little COM
| petition between the owners of successful
systems and a road constructed now in
competition with any of the older establish
ed lines would have the advantage of con-
struction at one-half or two thirds the cost
| of the older road.
MOn0polies and Low Fares.
Franchise monopolies encourage low
| fares, but the public does not get the same
accommodations. In Toronto, for example,
| the street railway company has the ex-
| elusive right to use the streets for pas
| scrger traffic Instead Of gridironing the
city with tracks, and making it possible for
every householder to get a car within one
| CT two squares of his residence at most,
| this company constructs no more lines than
are demanded by the business to be done,
and great many of the househoders have
| a very long distance to go to reach the line
| of cars.
| This company has very little to do but to
! run its cars up and down and maintain its
| tracks and cars.
The Philadelphia street railway lines, on
| the other hand, had to agree to give in ex-,
change for an electric franchise not long
| ago fresh paving for all the streets on
which the tracks lie; the cost of this, the
companies claim, was $4,000 a mile The