The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1915-06-04
UT TNEY AND
 ITS OPERATION How Innovation Works in Various Parts of
 Country.

The Public Service Magazine for May gives, consi derable space to a resume of ztl1e business of regulating theszjitneys, covering the active and proposed action of different sections of the cOa1ntry in the effort to "curb the craze that has become a menace to the pubdic.'' The compiler of the article has this Ito say in his. intro duction:
 .sRegulation of the tttney bus dur4 ing the past two months has been rapid, for so many accidents have re- suited from their operation that the authorities of the various cities where the little buses have been introduced were forced to act to fprotect the pub lie. In some cities the restrictions placed upon their operation have been so many that the bus men de- clare that they have. been 1egislated out of business. One. of the greatest diff culties the bus men are experi- encing is that of furnishing an indemnity bond The rates charged the risk, is so high as to be prohibi- tive in many cases.
 .It is believed that the tftney craze has reached it's high-water mark and at the close of. the summer will be on the wane, not to be revived again ex- cept in isolated eases. Even now the jituey operators are discovering that they cannot carry passengers for 5 cents at a profit, and in St. Louis many of the car owners have i'm creased the rate to 10 cents But in the neanwhie there is no questi on but that the jitneys have cost the street railway companies through out the country hundreds of thousands of dollars which would have been spent in extensions and fnnprOveme entS. Be- cause of the reduced earnings on ac- count of the jftneys, many planned extensions and betterments have been abandoned-'' ''
 Many accidents aare chronicled, in cluding that at Baltimore, when twenty passengers were thrown into a panic @when the jitney bus caught fire and was destroyed. There were two other bad accidents the ! same day. In each case the chief question was as to the responsibility for personal damages. 4
 ssAt Rock. Island, ILL, the Tr1-C1ty Union has put the Itney on the <'un- fair list since it is likely to put many union men out of business A license fee of $10 a month, is de- handed at Hutchinson Kan, from iitney operators. At Springfield, Mo, each operator is required to put up a bond of $2,O00. Jitney operation is declared to be a failure in C1eve- land. A Chicago court is to decide if jftneys may charge more than 5 cents when tjitney' sign is displayed.
 ''In Tennessee the state government proposes to make each jftney opera tor give a bond of $5,0OO to safe guard the public in case of accident Many complaints haveN been made regarding the danger to women in the jitneys and cities ~are now requiring the cars to carry lights inside, pre- surnab1y referring particularly to the bus vehicle.
 @ssHutchinson, Kan. makes a differ ence in the license fee on paved and unpaved streets. In Louisville. Ky, the license fee for a vehicle of not more than six persons is $25; from seven to ten persons $35; more than ten, $50 At Youngstown, O., they require lights inside; must traverse a definite route and on fixed schedule; operators must give bond: car must be inspected regularly and speed must conform to traffic sched- uIe. In Memphis the tax will prob s4h5y be $50 a year per jitney- Grand Rapids, Mich. draws the line pretty close: $35 a year for five passenger,