Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-01-02
THE STREET CAR SERVICE
AND THE UNION STATION
Problem of Providing Transportation to Great
City Center Without Producing Congestion
of Traffic Now Being Considered.

The adjustment Of the street railway
lines of the city TO the requirements ot
the new center formed by the Union sta
ton has made such progress that 1t Is
now possible for the average citizen. to
whom an official schedule is more or less
a mystery deep and dark, to grasp what
Is to be the future routes for running the
cars The changes in existing service
have not been as numerous a one might
suppose when it is realized that p:acti-
cally an entire new center has been made
by tie location of the new steam termi-
nal
or course it is in the immediate vicinity
OF the Cid site of the Baltimore and Ohio
depot. but then that was one of the two
points of that sort IN this city. Now the
entire steam railway traffic is brought
together in one place, and as every one
knows, that means j center Of large
and growing business.
1t is calculated that no less than eight
thousand people on an ordinary day pass
in and out of the station and according to
actual count no less than seven thousand
people Use the street cars to and from
that building. The entire street car
travel of day III this city is estimated
OF The city is, namely, some three hundred
and fifty thousand. Ii Is quite evident
that the Onion station is only a point in
the street railway system OF the city. al
though an important one.
Problem a Big One.
What is being done is 90 provide street
car accommoda tons for those who want
to use the steam railway depot l.,
wider sense what is known as the center
of the city is also d conSerging po:rt, and
the most important one, of course. 1t is
to provide facilities for the latter thai
street car lines are planned and their
schedules are arranged.
Ii is problem that has taxed Tie in
genuity and the financial resources of
the best business irtellects OF the country
to solve, and it cannot DE said that in all
the cities has a satisfactory solution been
reached. In shs city the preliminary
worl. which in this country appears to be
necessary, namely, the bringing together
OF separate railroad companies into one
or more systems, has been completed al
least a S far as getting all the lines oyer
ated within the city and also III the Dis
trict under the management of two com
PanieS. Recently 1.-THE two lines between
this city and Alexandria and Mount YER
non and also to Falls Church were con
sol!dated in operation. leaving the TWO
remaining outside lines, namely, the Great
tAllS ana the bdltlfnOfe ana AnuaDO.IS,
still under separate management.
This process OF unifying the manage
ment or rather the ownership of car lines
In cities makes possible a system OF trans
fers by which a ride for one fare pract.-
cally throughout the area of the city and
IN the case of this city far out into the
suburbs Is enjoyed by the public. The
substitution of q transfer for two fares
results in cutting the cost OF car service
for the public In two and this cheapen-
ing has been made up to the companies
by the enormous increase in the use OF
the cars.
Here instead OF the nickel fare for one
ride. the six -for-a-quarter is in use. which
st!ll further lowers the cost to the public.
The influence Of such facilities and the
lowness of the fare has undoubtedly con-
to the building up of the modern city.
On this account q public utility corpora