The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1915-05-10
DIGEST OF LAWS
 FOR JITNEYS IS NOW COMPLETED

being; how it operates; present ef- feet; probable future; and a com pIete survey of the community's in terest in this new transportation scheme, is covered by exhaustive report of a special transportation committee which has just been ap- proved by the board of directors of the Oakland, Cal, chamber of com merce and the Commercial club con soIidated This committee, of which Stephen E. Kieffer, consulting engf- neer, is chairman, and of which the other members are J. H. LHomme- dieu, landscape engineer, and M. R. Sherwood, manager of the Sunset Lumber company, made inquiries and an investigation throughout all the principal cities in the United States. The report is based upon that investigation.
 The investigation was undertaken because it was believed that the dom inant party at interest in any change of transportation units which the committee says: "In all of the con troversies and hearings over the jit- ney bus problem thus far; in the press and before legislative bodies, the po- sitions taken and the views express ed. have very naturally been those of the interested parties from their inn meriate viewpoint-on the part of the street railways to protect their income and investment; on the port of the jitney owners to establish II business; and on the part of the trav- cling public to consult only it's own temporary fancy prejudices or con- yenience.' ''
 In another paragraph the commit tee asks: Have we reached the point where the electric trolley car is to be rendered obsolete and be super ceded by the independently owned owned and operated small transports ton unit travelling on rubber air and propelled by it's own power plant? Is this a scientific advance in urban or iinterurban transportation, and an economic necessity dema nded by the people? Will it result in still further increasing traffic range and economic residence limit from the business cen ters or if not extending these limits will it add to the speed comfort and safety of the service within the pres Tent limits ?''
 The, committee calls attention to the fact that in looking over the his tory of urban transportation we find the horse car giving way to the cable car, and the cable car (except under very special conditfons) to the cleo l trio trolley car There was an econ which made it necessary and una voidabIe. The wfping out of invest nents in the horse car, cable car, and earlier electric car lines and equip ment, had it's Justification in the ac- com panying social physical and fi- nancial development and improve rnent of the people and communities effected. It was reflected in an in l crease of property values which great l Iyi overshadowed the immediate in lvestment in the transportation system destroyed.
 l Will the jitney do this2
 It is quite conclusive that if the motor bus comes to stay, it will not be in the shape of the present jitney, and if the motor. bus is to be the transportation nnit of the future 1t 1 will supercede the electric car be- cause it is economically right, and in doing so, it would justify the replace rnent of the present investments by enhancing the property values of the lcommunity.
 I This is the keynote from the stand
 point of the report. Will the jitney relieve congestion in apartment or tenement sections in the way that every city in America is striving to l solve that problem, or will it only az Igravate and increase the present diff Icome of the values beyond the two and one-half mile limit which the l comnoitte finds to be the ultimate I range of service of the jitneys? If 1 the jitney weakens the present trans portation systems which draw the
 
 ing the outlaying districts from the Isection where traffic is densent, what tdoes it mean to the property owner land the home owner in the suburbs of Oakland, and the Amedfcanrcity :?
 The committee believes that the tjftney bus in large measure is due Ito poor business. hard times, and the I impossibnIity of men obtaining work 1 of any kind. ftMany of these have I already owned small autos, or has saved enough money to buy an auto
 mobile, and in this way went into the Ijitney business * ss HFor the present they are doing something for them I selves and their families, their time is occupied and the nickels they take
 in enable them to eat at the expense ! of their autobus. In other words. I the jitney driver is living upon his I capital, or the capital of some one
 else, because the income is not sl1ff1e
 cient to provide for his living and the t necessary operating expenses, plus fix
 ed charges and deprectation.''
 The Cost of Operation.
 Extended Investigations of the com Irnittee showed them that the average Ejitney travels 137 miles per day with a. car income of 1-2 cents. Con- s1dering depreciation and the cost o1 operation and allowing $500 for the driver, it was found that even the smallest jitney could not run for less than cents per mile. This empha- sizes the fact that most drivers are . living at the expense of their auto bus and on their capital rather than on their income.
 Effect Upon Securities.
 Investigation of certain standard
 traction bonds in California. with g par value of $1O7, ,422.00 showed g
 shrinkage from December, 1914, to
 March, 1915, of $8,ss7,OO or about
 8 1-4 per cent.
 The ultimate effect of this is aG
 preciated by anyone who considers : that over $90, 1000, 900 worth of Cali l fornia electric railway bonds are held
 by savings banks and local investors in Tx