The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1908-03-01
lnterurban Transportation
nv r1,EDnn1t =. IrAskIN.

BY FREDERIC y. IfAsI<1N.
No more wonderful revolution has
ever taken place In tho transportation
world than has recently been taking
tho United states. fnter,irban trans
portation ~ distinctly a twentieth CEN
tury development. The elestric rail-
road has wrought wonders. It has
touch. II has made tho city man and
his country cousin close neighbors. 1t
has gradually cncroached upon the do
main Of steam, until to day It threat.
the transportation field. The most am
bilious step electricity has taken 10 It's
last one. This is the building OF the
new Washington Baltimore electric
ne whlc Is to be opensd
for interurban passenger traffic that
an electric railroad has over Under
taken. Usually interurban electric
lines lave not given 80 much sten
with giving lower fares and relying on
that to make up any loss OF traffic
that might result from slower sched-
liles But tho Washington Baltimore
and then add the lower rate.
Tho competition tho line Will have
to meet is strong. No two cities are
connected by a better steam car SER
VIZ VIAL tItdI WiiIGI SOuhSCIo tUO S'NJ
Of magnificent distances with the Mon
umental City. There are 1913 passen-
ger trains day, ranging from the
splendid Congressional Limited and tho
In forty-five minutes. to the accommo-
dations that make the run in ninety
minutes. The service is everything
that ono no. could hope for on steam
line - to have a schedule Of one
hour from the shopping centre of Bal
timore to the outskirts OF washington.
Thus It completes with the steam lines
for IS cents ana round-trip for $l.25,
whore tho railroads charge 81 each
way. It gets the advantage in rates.
Tho 6oo-mile city-but lately a vision
electric cars from Portland, Maine, 10
New York: There are but few small
gaps to I'LL in until he may make Ills
with the building Of the lines now
PROJECTED one will DO able to start
at Portland. go to Boston and thence
by easy stages all the way through
to Lincoln. Nebraska One may now
0 there 70 81 seaaaapg betr aH
Cleveland and Cincinnati are also con-
nected; BUT little remains to be done
u ,n st. Louis and Chicago will DO on
trail West is fast becoming network
OF electric railroads. Most Of them
arc now roads, though some are small
steam roads. which lave been electric
led, and thereby changed from dead
inyestment into q living enterprise.
Inc lnterurban car Is great city
builder. Dayton. Ohio, with her pop
ulation Of 10000 souls, finds herself,
through her suburban and interurban
car car ines the cen sent ire Of population OF
lions In Indiana show that towns on
interurban lines grow faster than those
on steam lines. Detroit. with Its won
dertui network OF interurban lines. las
made Itself a city far above the class
IN which. Its own population puts IT.
The whole country for from fifty to
100 miles Is made tributary to It.
perha5s tho best idea of what an
city may be cleaned from figures OF
imterhrban traffic at Indianapolis.
Ihis city Is perhaps the leading inter-
Urban centre OF the United States Ii
n ns tb lines running toward every point
$3.50 round trips made by the cars
entering the city. They carried APP
proximately 100000 round trip pas
sengers This Is an increase of a
year: The extent to which intcrurban
service Is patronized In the various
states lis startling. Massachusetts re-
ports g, that Its lines carried nearly 7oo.-
/
pared with less than 400, 100000 in
1900. Connecticut electric lines car
ried l27,000,0oo passengers in 1907. as
compared with 7s.oooooo carried by
the steam roads. Illinois carried 1882
100000 passengers on her interurban
| lines in 1906.
Another remarkable thing about the
electric. railroad Is the freedom from
accidents. as compared with the steam
roads. In 1905 the Illinois electric
roads Killed one passenger for every
26.235,S5i passengers carried. while
tho steam roads killed one out of
every 1.659.314 SO carried. One pas
senger on the electric roads was in
jured out of 100000 carried on the
steam roads the percentage was one
out of every $4,000.
| Many Of tho interurban lines operate
| luxurious cars on some OF their trains.
and in the Central West so important
and farrreaching has the electric rail-
road become that palace caro-
pany. modelled after the Pullman COM
pany. has been organized. and is now