Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-04-11
PARLIAMENT TO GRAPPLE WITH
LONDON'S TRAFFIC MIDDLE

from o. to IS cents. according to the
route which he adopts, and 1t will take
him about two hours. In addition to
that he will have to change vehicles a;
least four times
When the companies realized a few
months ago that they were making no
money they decided that the only remedy
lay in raising the fares. which they did
by reducing the distance that one might
ride for > cents. without saying anything
about it to the public. The public nat
urally resented this policy and retaliated
by walking wherever possible
An idea of the condition of the various
London passenger-carrying companies
may be obtained from the following table
showing the decline in the stock values
of some of the companies since 1898:
1906. 19G..
Metropolitan District ............ 4oa, l0l.
Central LONDON. NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.. g4L, 81
London Road Car tflO shares. 63s 2I>
The capital invested in underground
railways in London is about $500, 100, oUO
and practically none of the lines is paying
dividends. The Central London. which
crosses London from east to west is the
most prosperous. but its earnings have
also been declining. There is about S16-
100000 invested in motor omnibus COM
panes, and with the exception of one
One company paid 10 per cent on the
year ended June 30. 1906. and not a
penny since. There are about 900 motor
omnibusses on the streets and the repair
bill alone in connection with them is es-
timated at $4,000 a year.
The District railway, which is the or
iginal underground. has only paid a
dividend one year of it's existence, al
though it has carried more people than
the total population of the world
i:
A few weeks ago the two great ON
nibus companies tried to solve the prob
lem by reducing the wages OF their driv-
ers and conductors. The men struck and
the companies lost in a few days a great
deal more than they would have saved in
year or two by the reduction of wages.
The trouble in London seems to be lack
of coordination. 1t is only fair to say
that the problem of local traffic is a
more troublesome one in London than in
the great cities of America which have
been built according to some settled plan
and where the traffic follows certain well
defined routes. London is not one city.
but an inchOate mass of cities and Dor
rouGhs and villages which have grown
together until they form a vast area
covered with buildings, but with no or
DERBY system of streets or means of COM
munication. In many parts OF the area
the streets are too narrow and winding
for street railways and in the city of
London the corporation, with fine old
world conservatism, refuses to allow the
street railways to enter at all. The re-
suit is that while the London county
council has a fine tramway system all
round the city. every line must stop short
at Its boundary and in the center of the
system there is a gap covered by the
square mile called the city. A passenS
ger who wants to ride from east to west
or from north to south on the county
councils street cars must get off when
he reaches the city and walk about a
mile across It to continue his Journey
This is one of the things which il is
hoped the traffic board which IL is nro-
posed to appoint may remedy. 1t will
prooaoly be given power to plan for the
linking up of all the at present unrelated
systems and to override such old world
prejudices as those of the city cornora-
ton. 1t will also have power to regulate
fares and to prevent the undue comneti
ton on several routes which renders #
impossible for any of the connecting COM
panieS to earn a dividend