The Washington times., 1915-01-31
THE "JlTNEY" IDEA.


free-for-all city transit service that
has come to be called the jitney, is
that intra-mural transportation is
naturally a monopoly, and ought to
be such; that it can be made the
more efficient as it is made the more
vigorously a monopoly, and then ad-
ministered strictly in the public in
terest.
That is a telling argument. But
it doesn't answer the argument for
the jitney bus in places where there
is not monopoly, and where the ef-
ficiency of monopoly is not secured.
Washington is such place. The
street car interests of this town dare
not argue. against the jitney by in
sisting that monopoly is the natural
and logical condition; for if they do
the public will retort, "Then why
don't you consolidate the car sys-
TENS and give US cheaper and better
service that you say monopoly logic
ally dictates?"
There is another difficulty, too,
about convincing people that jitney
buses, hauling passengers at 5 cents
the ride, are undesirable. Who on
earth is going to attempt the argu-
ment that an automobile charging 80
cents from the uptown hotel district
to the Union Station is legitimate,
desirable, and good thing, while an
automobile charging cents for that
same trip would be bad thing?
It's quite impossible. Until all the
people are convinced that 80 cents is
less than s cents, that argument will
have to be dropped. If the taxicab
at 80 cents is good, the jitney bus at
s must be better.
Thus far, very plain. But let the
experiment be tried, in present con-
ditions Of the transit problem in
Washington, and what would be the
working results?
A good many people would, Of
course, ride on the buses. To that
extent they would reduce the reve-
nues Of the street car lines. Would
a reduction Of revenue help to i'm
prove the street car service, 50 as
to WOO the business back? That is
not the common result of reducing
revenue.
After all, the street car running on
a fixed tram road is likely to be the
chief means of internal city tran
sit for another generation. The time
is not very far away when very like
ly street car tracks will be torn up
as a nuisance, and motor vehicles
will give the service. But that time
is not yet, for American cities,
though London points the way, and
other European cities are coming
along. For the present, it is unde-
sirable to break down the street car
service on which the vast majority
do and will depend.
Washington needs several other
things first-and then jitney buses.
1t needs first to have the two street
car systems consolidated, SO that the
paralleling of lines may be unneces-
sary, shorter routes may be fol-
lowed, and sections now ill-supplied
may get satisfactory service. In
making that consolidation, it needs
to be very sure that water is wrung
out, not pumped into capitalization.
There is ample opportunity for ac-
complishment in this direction.
Then, this much being achieved,
the time for thinking of the jitney
service will be ripe. Properly, if the
best interest of the public is to be
kept in mind, it should be made sup
Elemental to the street car service.
There are numerous streets and
sections of Washington where the
jitney service would be practicable,
but on which car tracks would be
altogether undesirable. The resident
of almost any section will feadily re-
call cases of this kind. These sections
might very we'll be provided with
the jitney service as supplement to
the street cars; but it ought to be
provided on terms that would insure
transfers to the passenger. In other
words, the best possible development
of the jitney idea would be to make
the buses feeders to the car lines;
owned and operated by the street
car interest, but under strict con-
troll of the Public Utilities Commits
sion, which should have power to
prescribe the service and insist on its
provision wherever needed.
AS between making the city tran
sit free-for-all of wide-open COM
petition, and making it a real mo-
nopoly, operated first and last in the
real interest of the public, the ar
gument is all in favor of the mo-
nopoly plan. That plan can be car
ried into execution in this town best
IN, OF n ~ in ~ x,,;,h N,hlic Du,oarch;v of