New-York tribune., 1902-01-04
TO EASE BRIDGE CRUSH
MORE TRAINS IN" NON RUSH "
HOURS.
CONNECTION MAY BE ARRANGED Be
TWEEN BRIDGE AND ELEVATED
TRAINS IN PARK ROW.

Gustav Lindenthal. the new Commissioner Of
Bridges, said yesterday afternoon that he in
tended 10 make use Of the power which he has
under the terms of the contract with the Brook
lyn Rapid Transit Company to compel the COM
pany to run trains over the Brooklyn Bridge
according TO the needs of the public outside Of
rush hours" Il find" he added, that by the
contract made with the company in the previous
administration the company has the sole privi-
lege Of running the bridge trains which formerly
were run by the bridge management. The Com
missioner Of Bridges however, has the right to
say If more or less trains shall be run for the
public convenience or with safety to the bridge.
In the rush hours the company runs as many
trains. understand. as it can run with head
way of forty-ive seconds. With that headway
the company runs trains Of four cars each The
switching facilities will not permit of running
five trains. and the trains cannot be run
with safety with a headway less than forty-fve
seconds.
In the rush hours, therefore, the company is
doing its best possible to carry over the bridge
all the people who want TO go The bridge Is
overworked, you might say. at those hours At
other hours the travel on the bridge is so COM
paratively small that SOME of the bridge trains
are nearly empty. Between the rush hours and
the hours of little travel however the company
diminishes the number of bridge trains and
there are times when there are not trains enough
for the people. l have seen a crush at the Man
haitian end Of the bridge and overcrowded trains
an hour or, so before the rush begins II the
company had a sufficient number Of trains in
operation at such times the crush and over
crowding could be avoided, and people would
be encouraged to go over the bridge before or
after the rush hours. In that case traffic on the
bridge could be equalized more. and some of the
shall consult with AIr. Martin the engineer of
the bridge. and try TO have a change Of schedule
so as TO provide more trains at times when they
are needed take such an interest in this mat
ter that I shall do my very best to see that the
travelling public is accommodated"
Commissioner Lindenthal believes too. that he
can lessen some of the crush at the Manhattan
end of the bridge in the evening rush hours by
arranging for connection between the bridge
trains with the elevated trains of the Manhat-
tan railway in Park Row. He is already at
work on a plan Il shall propose "a terminal ar
rangement with the Manhattan elevated trains"
he said yesterday. There may be a legal uues-
tion as to whether the Manhattan Railway Com
pany can he induced to work with the Depart
ment of Bridges. but 1 believe the demands OF
the public require harmony of action. The plan
10 Commissioner Shea for elevated
abroad extensions of the bridge terminal did
not take into account the elevated road now in
Park Row, and think the plan was incomplete
for that reason. 1t would not be in the public
interest to have the crush on the elevated sta
ton at the bridge continue
MIR. Lindenthal said plan for the solution OF
the difficulty would be worked out under his
eyes, he believed. He expressed himself as in
favor of tunnels TO Brooklyn to relieve the over
on the bridge. The fact is" he con-
tinued that there has not been provision for
the enormous increase of population in Brook
lyn. The New East River Bridge should have
been planned and started sooner. a bridge
should not be worked to it's fullest capacity as
the Brooklyn Bridge has been worked for years
The tide of travel between Manhattan and
Brooklyn is increasing steadily and rapidly and
by the time the New East River Bridge is ready
for use there will be need for additional bridges
rapid transit subway will relieve some of the
The Bronx but il will serve TO increase the ne
cessity for more traffic facilities between Man
haitian and Brooklyn. 1t will feed TO the Brook
lyn Bridge a still larger traffic. hope arrange
ments for an extension of the subway by tunnel
10 Brooklyn will be made as early as possible
would be in favor OF permitting and encourage
ing the building of tunnels by private enterprise
In order to relieve the congestion of travel he
tween Manhattan and Brooklyn. II would be
IN the public interest to have private companies
construct tunnels and collect fares rather than
continue TO impose discomfort upon thousands
who have to pass between the two boroughs
daily"
A WORD TO THE WISE
Is sufficient when the Pennsylvania Limited is men
doned II is the train of the Century. perfect in