Newport daily independent., 1913-06-18
HAS STEPLESS CARS
Will Save Gothamites 125,OO0
Miles a Year in Steps.
Governor Of New York Expected to
Sign Bill Doing Away With the
Ancient Type-Old Horse
Cars Are Doomed.

New York.-By the introduction OF
a new style OF street car the New
York Railways company is about to
save the good people of this city
an annual climb from the level OF
the street of $4,000 miles year, and
a descent to the street of exactly the
same length. 1t has come about
through it's engineers recognizing
that 1t was ridiculous to make their
passengers continue every time they
boarded a street car to climb above
all the machinery and that a little in
genuity would enable them to de-
sign car with practically no climb
ing at ALL
Once the figures are given anyone
can verify this calculation for him
self In the year ended June 30. 1912,
the New York Railways company and
its predecessor, the Metropolitan
Street Railway company, carried just
under 264,O00.000 passengers. The
height of the step of the so-called
stepless car from the street is ten
inches and the height of the old-style
car. which 1t is to replace, is about
40 inches. Consequently there Is
saving of 30 inches every time
passenger gets on or off the car. and
this works out at 1875. 900 miles year
for the entire system.
The double-decked, stepless car,
which bears SO strong "a family re-
semblance to the other new style OF
car will continue. however, for some
time alone in its glory.
1t was only after considering care
fully the many different brands OF
street car in use in other cities that
the New York Railways company
evolved the side-door, stepless. prepay
ment car. Montreal, for example, has
a side-door, prepayment car, and Phil
adelphia prides itself on its "near-side
car" The latter was inspired by the
desire to provide room for more pas
sengers and to enable them to enter
and leave at such point that they
would encounter as little as possible
Of the mud of the street
While the newest thing In street
cars Is being installed in New York,
the oldest is about to be abandoned.
New York has for several years been
the only one of the big cities to re-
tain horse cars. In some instances
this was necessary because Of con-
gested traffic, but new subways have
relieved this to such an extent that
electric power now Is practical.
Governor Sulzer now has under con-
sideration bill requiring all street
car companies of the city to cease op-
Grating horse cars after January !
next. This measure has passed the
legislature, and If accepted by the
Cove rnor, will affect six lines in Man
haitian. but even without this legisla'
ton it Is probable that In a few
months the last of the old horse cars
will have been driven to the barns,
never to run again.
When the public service commission
took office ON July /, 1907, there were
16 horse-car lines in operation. OF
these four have been abandoned and
six are now wholly or partially oper
ated by storage battery cars The
six still running are the Avenue c
line, from the Desbrosses street ferry
across town to East Twenty-fourth
street; the Bleecker street line. from
Blocker street and Broadway to
Fourteenth street and Ninth avenue;
the Chambers street line, from Cham
beers street ferry to Grand street ferry
tn Metropolitan cross-town line. from
Desbrosses street ferry to Crane
street ferry; the Seventeenth anc
Eighteenth streets line. from Broad
way to the Twenty-third street ferry
and the Sixth avenue-Desbrosse:
street ferry line. from Sixth avenue
and Third street to the Desbosses
atreet ferry