Perth Amboy evening news., 1906-12-07
Low RATES OF
COMMUNICATION

zone reason why New Jersey OF
fers superior advantages to residents,
about which little is said, may be
found in the low Communication rates
which the steam railroads of the
state offer to the entire metropolitan
district" said a prominent local bus
mess man yesterday.
1.-The metropolitan district of our
state pours into New York city daily
twice as many commuters as go there
from Connecticut, Long Island and
the Rudson river counties of New
York state. This latter group of
commuters may travel by only four
roads, the New York Central, the
Harlem, the New Haven n the
Long Island, and the residents OF any
one section must travel by a single
road. The commuters of New Jersey
are served by five trunk lines with
numerous branches, and many OF
them have a choice between two or
more roads by means of the numer-
GUS trolley connections. A compar-
ison of communication rates to points
within twenty miles of Manhattan
shows that the commuters of New
Jersey enjoy rates averaging a dollar
per month lower than those given by
the first group of roads.
Let us go into the figures. The
Long Island railroad charges a COM
mutation rate of $7.25 per month,
to a point only twelve miles from
New York city. The New Haven,
wits it's sliding scale of Communication
rates, charges an average of $6.S7
per month between New York and
points only fourteen miles distant.
Between the Grand Central and
points no farther from New York,
the New York Central and Harlem
roads charge something more than
$500 per month, making an average
for the four roads of 1851, as against
an average of $3.50 for a greater
distance and throughout a more pop
ulous district charged by the roads
of New Jersey.
The state of New Jersey being sit
uated between the two large cities
of New York and Philadelphia, each
having its commuters zone, is prac-
tically a commuters state from end
to end. The southern limit for the
New York commuters is identical
with the northern limit for Philadel-
phia commuters, and the rates to the
two cities are approximately the
same. Long distance communication
rates, say for sixty miles, which is
the longest possible in the state of
| New Jersey, are of course higher than
those for shorter distances, but in
proportion to the distance travelled
they are lower than can be obtained
on the New York Central, the Har-
lem and New Haven roads. Long
distance communication rates on the
Long Branch road are almost prohib-
tive to the working man, and In this
fact may be found II of the reasons
why Comptroller Metz, of New York,
! had occasion at a recent meeting OF
real estate men to warn Long Island
ers against competition by New Jer-
sey.
cat the rate the population of the
state is increasing, it is probable
! that the roads can still further re-
duce the communication rates to New
Jersey in the near future, but even
at present we enjoy an advantage
over other section around New York
and this contributes to the lower cost
of living of which New Jersey boasts.
The state statisticians showed in
their reports hat the actual cost OF
living for wage and others
throughout the entire state is some
25 per cent. lower than in New York
and Philadelphia. Take the case OF
a workingman having a home in the
suburbs of New Jersey and his daily
work in New York. Assume that he
has three sons working with him.
The saving in transportation as com
pared with other sections around
New York amounts to four dollars a
month or $48 a year, which is no
small item in a family of wage work
ers. The thousands of women who
live in New Jersey and work in New
York are able, by choosing New Jersey
as their place of residence, to save
from their earnings many more
thousands of dollars per year than
would be possible were their place OF
residence to the east or north of the
metropolis.
'In this connection it should be
remembered that New Jersey not
only affords the lowest commutation
rates to New York, but that 1t affords
the longest single fare trolley l
through the district traversed by
these railroads to be found in any
state in the country. For short dis
lance travel the trolley supplements
the railroad and while it is impossi-
BILE to estimate just how much these
two agencies save to the workingmen
and their families, approximate fig
ures show that it would go a long
way toward paying the running ex-
pensos Of tha Stateo