The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-03-28
THE FUTURE OF THE JITNEY AND| HOW FAME IS SPREADING DAILY
Cities In Which They Are Now Operating
 Think of Them-How They Are Being Regulated



 1 A survey of this legislation, which ap- pears elsewhere in this report, shows. that in some instances it has been the intention and desire of the city fathers
 10 legislate the itney out of existence. l As stated elsewhere. however. the usual sentiment is toward reasonable regulation. Mayors Gill of Seattle and
 Rose of Los Angeles in recent state- ments expressed views of this sort as have officials of Fort Worth Tex. and Portland, Ore. The officials of San 1 Francisco are anxious to investigate the jitney and it's competition with the municipal railways there
 As yet t seems impossible to determine whether or not jtney omnibuses can be permanently operated at q profit. Opponents point to the failure of the motor bus lines in the past and have compiled statistics in some cases to show how the jtney business can never pay and will die natural death Such statistics show operating costs to be 61a to cents per mile The Seattle Electric company, on the other hand claims that the jitney drivers in Seattle are making an average net profit of S2.33 day. This report is not par tfcularly concerned with the question of cost and this aspect of the iitney question will not be considered further here. Accurate cost figures cannot be obtained until the jitney business is older than it is now.
 Legislation Regulating the Jitney
 Jitney regulation so far has been adopted with one of two distinct pur- poses: CD, To do away with the jitney entirely; CD. to make reasonable reg ulatfons to safeguard the city and the public against the evils already point ed out. Sometimes an old ordinance Casually that relating to vehicles for hire") has been amended to apply also to the jitney; more often however, new ordinance relating particularly to the jitney has been adopted. It is the purpose here to present a brief sum- mary of the jitney legislation adopted in some cities
 Some reference has been made to what jitney ordinance should con tain. The mayor of Los Angeles rec commended the following:
 Rerouting of jitneys to prevent traf- fife congestion.
 Rigid examination of applicants for license as to qualifications and char acter
 Specific route stipulated over which licensee must operate. License fee paid in proportion to gross receipts.
 Revocation of license by city in case of violation of the laws. Indemnity bond of at least s10,O0G for each bus operated. Prohibition of overlooking.
 Existing ordinances follow the above quite closely. The following summary is based on the jitney legislation in Pasadena, Fort Worth, Oakland, Jop- lin, Oklahoma City, Boise, Spokane, Los Angeles and San Antonio.
 Requirements for LicenG
 The ordinances provide for compli- ance with a great number of condi- tions before the granting of a license. The type of the car it's horsepower. factory number, seating capacity, the name and age of the driver, the ter mini between which the car is to be operated. the alterations which have been made to adapt the car to jitney services-these points must all be cov- I cred by the applicant in the city of l Pasadena. Fort Worth has about the I same requirements as has Oakland. | Oakland, Los Angeles and San An | tonic specify an 1S-year age limit; Boise and Spokane 21. References are sometimes required, as in Spokane. 1 The applicant must usually show that he has experience and knowledge of the traffic laws. In Spokane a medic cal examination is required and in this city the applicant must be able to speak English. In almost every instance full
  Sometimes. as in Los Angeles, the ap- plicant must state whether he is mar ried or single.
 It is usual practice to require some sort of bond or insurance for every jitney car, as will be noted by the fol- lowing:
 Pasadena-Insurance policy of S50O0 | limit for injury to one person; s10.O00 | limit for all persons injured in one l accident.
 Fort worth-s50OO liability for in- l jury to any one person other than q l passenger; $10,000 for all injuries to persons other than passengers; 5000 | liability for property damage in an &C., l cident.
 oakland-s1o,Oo bond or personal surety.
 San Antonio-Same as Pasadena, above; but may be $50,000 for not over five vehicles. or S100.000 for any num- 1 Der of vehicles.
 Joplin-None mentioned. Boise-$10, 1000 bond for one or two vehicles; $20000 bond for over two. | Los Angeles-$50O0 bond. Licenses are usually granted and re- voked by the legislative body. In Los | Angeles this power lies with the police. | The license fee charged varies great | ly and reflects clearly the attitude of | the city fathers toward the jitney. This 1 is shown by the table below. Pasadena-Vehicles holding five pas sengers or less (driver included), s30, vehicles holding six to seven passen- 1 gers fdriver included), $35: vehicles
 holding eight to 15 passengers tdriver
 included), $45 vehicles holding 16 to | 29 passengers (driver includedD, $5o; vehicles holding 30 passengers or over | (driver included), $75. Fort Worth-Vehicles holding five
 passengers or less. $10; vehicles hold | ing six to seven passengers, s20 ve-
 hicles holding seven or more. $30 i Oakland-S60; badge, 50 cents. San Antonio-Vehicles having seven
 seats or less. S35; vehicles having over
 seven seats, $25 plus $3.50 for each
 seat in excess of seven.
 Joplin--vehicles holding five passengers or less, $10; $1 drivers license; vehicles
 holding six or seven passengers, $1o; vehi-
 cles holding eight to F passengers. $20;
 vehicles holding IS to 16 passengers $25 s2 license plate; vehicles holding IT tc
 20 passengers, s35 vehicles holding 2t passengers or over, $40.
 Oklahoma City-$50 to $50 annual tax according to capacity.
 Boise-Vehicles holding five passen
 gers or less $75; vehicles holding six to 10 passengers, $100; vehicles holding 10 tc
 20 passengers, $150.
 Spokane-s2 50 for original license; $1.0t