Delaware City press. (Delaware City, Del.) 1913-19??, 1913-06-13
HAS STEPLESS CARS
win Save Gothamites 125,o00
Miles a Year in Steps.
Governor of New York Expected to
Sign Bill Doing Away With the
Ancient Typs-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
descent to the street of exactly the
same length. 1t has come about
through its engineers recognizing
that it was ridiculous to make their
passengers continue every time they
boarded a street car to climb above
all the machinery and that little in
genuity would enable them to de-
sign a 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 80, 1912.
the New York Railways company and
its predecessor, the Metropolitan
street Railway company, carried just
under 264,0O0,000 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 it is to replace, is about
40 inches Consequently there is a
saving of 80 inches every time a
passenger gets on or off the car, and
this works out at $4,000 miles year
for the entire system.
The double-decked, stepless car,
which bears SO strong 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 'nearside
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 stree
cars is being installed in New York
the Oldest is about to be abandoned
New York has for several years beer
the only one of the big cities to re
tain horse cars. In some instance
this was necessary because of con
gested traffic, but new subways hay
relieved this to such an extent tina
electric power now is practical.
Governor Sdl2er now has under col
sid&ation a bin requiring all stree
contemporaries Of the city 10 cease d
Grating horse cars after January
next This measure has passed til
Legislature, and il accepted by th
governor, will affect six lines in MAJ
haitian. but even without this legisl
ton it is probable that in a fe
months the last of the old horse cal
will have been driven to the barn
never to run again.
When the public service commissio
took office on July 1, 1907, there wei
16 horse-car lines in operation, {
these four have been abandoned an
six are now wholly or partially ope
ated By storage battery cars. II
six still running are the Avenue
line, from the Desbrosses street ferl
across town to East Twenty-fourt
street; the Blocker street line, fro
Bleecker street and Broadway
Fourteenth street and Ninth ayenu
the Chambers street line, from Char
bers street ferry to Grand street ferr
IN Metropolitan cross-town line, fro
Desbrosses street ferry to Graz
street ferry; the Seventeenth al
Eighteenth streets line, from Broa
way to the Twenty-third street ferl
and the Sixth -Desbross
street ferry line. from Sixth aven
and Third street to the Desboss
street ferry.