The Marietta journal. [volume] (Marietta, Ga.) 1866-1909, 1905-07-13

Atlanta than it is to haul them 6 miles
south Of Atlanta?
Why can you haul passenger for sc
much less, prOportionately for less
than greater distance?
Will you charge as much more, in
proportion, for hauling freight or pack
ages to Marietta as you do passengers ?
If not, why not?
DO you know of any Electric car line
in this country that charges cents per
mile?
II so, please give name, place, etc.
Can't you arrange to sell through
tickets Atlanta to Marietta and save so
many collections of fares?
What will be your charge for monthly
tickets?
Yours very truly,
| MoULTRIE NJ. SESSIONS,
President Board of Trade.
Mr.. Arkwright answers them as fol-
lows:
Without repeating your questions,
Will give you the information asked for
by referring to your qustions by num-
bers.
|. The fare on the Atlanta Northern
Railway line is figured on a mileage
basis, at the rate of little less than two
cents per mile. This fare applies to
short and long distance BOTH
2. The fare from Marietta to Smyrna
will be 10 cents.
g. The fare from Marietta to the
river will be 20 cents.
4. Georgia Railway & Electric Com
pany will continue to charge its present
fare of 10 cents from Atlanta to the
river over its river line. This line of
the Georgia Railway & Electric Com
pany is 81 miles longer than that por-
tion of the Atlanta Northern Railway
Company's line from Atlanta to the
river. The running time on the old
river line of Georgia Railway & Electric
| Company from Atlanta to the river is
forty-tive minutes, and the running
time on the new line of the Atlanta
Northern Railway Company between
| the same points is twenty five minutes,
saving in time of twenty minutes, or
about 4596. In order to effect this saw
ing, large additional investment was
required and much greater proper
tionate investment than that made on
the old river line of Georgia Railway &
Electric Company. Besides, the old
line has a great deal of local traffic on
it, and by far the largest part of its
traffic is for much shorter distances.
Whereas, the new line of the Atlanta
Northern Railway Company from At
lanta to the river runs through an en-
tirely undeveloped territory and there
will be practically no local or short dis
lance travel on it.
5. The charge from Atlanta to the
river over the Atlanta Northern Rail-
way line will be Is cents. Georgia Rail-
way & Electric Company will charge
over its existing line to the river 1Octs.
g. Georgia Railway & Electric Co.,
does transport passengers from East
Point to Brookwood, distance of 9.8
miles, for 5 cents. Very few passengers
travel this entire distance. On eyery
passenger that does travel this distance
for this fare, the Company losses money.
the fare not covering the actual expense
of transportating the passenger This
is true notwithstanding the very much
less proportiOnate cost of this line per
mile over the cost per mile of the Mari
eta line. This fare, however. is main
tanned because the standard fare on
city lines is 5 cents for short or long dis
tances, and most of the public travel
for comparatively shorter distances, the
Company is enabled to stand a loss on
the few who take advantage of the low
fare for the longest distance.
Z. Passengers cannot travel from
College Park to Decatur for 5 cents.
They can, however, travel from East
Point to Decatur for one fare of five
cents and this distance is -. 8 miles.
s. This question is partially answer
ed hereinbefore. The line to East Point
is part of the city and suburban sys-
tenn of Georgia Railway & Electric Co.
The territory through which it runs is
densely populated. Che cars run at
frequent intervals, operating at ten
minutes Roadway, this being REQUIRED
by the travel. The traffic along this
line, as we'll as on the system of Geor-
gia Railway & Electric Co., is local
traffic, very few passengers compare
lively going the full distance. The ex-
pense of constructing the line is about
One-third per mile OF the expense of
constructing the Marietta interurban
line. In fixing fares for city and SUBJ
urban electric railroads, the American
practice is to fix a standard fare for
both short and long distances. In many
cases, the through passengers OH these
lines are carried at loss to the Com
pany, but on the whole, the Company is
able to do this because the average haul
is short. Again, owing to the density
OF population, cars on these city and
suburban lines are run at frequent in
tervals, and increasing the number of
cars involves only an increase in invest
ment in the cars themselves without
any additional investment in track and
roadway.
The Marietta line is long interurban
line belonging to the Atlanta Northern
Railway Co. 1t will own and operate
no other line but this. 1t has no CITY
lines or city business. 1t is dependent
upon the returns from this line alone to
make the fixed charges on its invest
ment. To properly operate a line of
this length, it is essential that the line