New-York tribune., 1909-06-19
~ ATTR4CTIIE OEEER.


II the Rradlev-Ga affney- Steers Company has
the requisite financial backing its offer To build
s1lbwavs for the city appears first ConSidera-
ton 10 be eminently satisfactory. Its plans III
volve the most comprehensive system of rapid
transit for the city ever suggested by a single
company It is ready TO build the whole upon
its own credit, except the Fourth avenue sub
way in Brooklyn. which il will operate IN coll-
junction with and as a part of its system II
the CITY builds it The title of the lines is to rest
in the city from the outset, but the possession of
them is to remain with the construction COM
pany until their cost plus 10 per cent profit IS
amortiZed out of earnings, or until the city
takes over 10 itself possession Of them by paying
their cost plus 10 per cent. For the protection
of the public interest the city is TO be repre-
sented in the operating company. Indeed, the
propOserS do not appear to overstate the al
yantages of their offer when they write: we
'believe that the foregoing plan will furnish the
city a comprehensive system of rapid transit,
and enable it TO receive one-half the profits re
"sulting from the use of this public franchise
and ultimately 10 become the absolute owner
"of this system of rapid transit without cost
and without yenturing either the citys money
''or credit"
The terms are similar to those proposed in
the earlier letter of the Bradley -Gaffney-Steers
Company. which SO favorably received 10y
and therefore more attractive, The original
plan Of the company contemplated only a part
of the Broadway Lexington avenue route, with
q connection with the bridge loop. The plan
now proposed contemplates the Broadway-LeN-
iHgton avenue line in its entirety. from the Bat
terry to its northern limits in the eastern and
western sections Of The Bronx the subway loop
completed in Brooklyn by a subway in Lafa,-
ette avenue and Broadway. Brooklyn. connect
1,.,-
there just as the loop connects the bridges on
this side of the river: a line in Canal street
connecting this circular or loop railway with
the Broadway Lexington route: and also the
Fourth avenue subway III Brooklyn If the city
should build it, A single 5-cent fare VIII be
charged on all this system. excluding the Fourth
avenue subway in Brooklyn. Thus there would
be a tr-b0rough system. not merely like the
present one. entering Brooklyn for a short dis
tance but running through considerable part
Of that borough and distributing the bridge
passengers in various parts of Manhattan.
The comprehensiveness Of the system pro
posed gives il a look Of serious competition with
the InterborOugh. One advantage which the
operators of the present subway would have
over competitors for a line on the East Side of
Manhattan would be their power to operate It
in conjunction with their present line, and thus
offer the public Il really comprehensive transit
to build the Broadway Lexington avenue line
alone would be at some disadvantage as com
pared with the Interborough if the latter offered
fOur-track additions to its present system. To
meet this situa ton apparently, the Bradley
Gaffney- Steers Company has Itself offered 10
supply Il comprehensive system Of rapid transit.
What II offers has considerable advantages over
anything the InterborOugh company has up To
this time suggested. Its proposed system would
open up areas in The Bronx into which the Inter
borough appeared TO be unwilling TO extend. 1t
finds a use for the bridge loop. heretofore
threatening TO become white elephant, and
promises a completion of the bridge loop sys-
ten. II contemplates, furthermore. the opera
ton of the Fourth avenue subway in Brooklyn,
for which it said the city would look in
vain for an operator. and the company does not
ask as a bonus a perpetual franchise for new
elevated railway tracks. II is not easy to see
how many more elements of attractiveness could
he added TO the proposal