The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1916-05-13
TO PUT Limit
ON The JITNEYS
IS CITY PLAN
Business of the Street Car
Company Is Suffering.
Buses To Be Forbidden Use Of
Certain Streets.
THEY MAY USE KANSAS avenue
But No Other ThOrOughfares
Occupied by City Railway.
Early Action Is Looked for at
City Hall.
Business of the Street Car
Company Is Suffering.
Buses To Be Forbidden Use OF
Certain Streets.
THEY MAY USE KANSAS AVENUE
But No Other ThorOughfares
Occupied by City Railway.
Early Action Is Looked for at
City Hall.

81 am in favor of more rigid regu-
lation of the jitney business IN TO
peka," said Commissioner Tandy 70
day when his attention was called 10
the report that more big 1itneys wouiu
soon be seen on the streets.
IF Topeka citizens want to have a
first class street railway system they
can't do it if we allow the jitney to
take the cream of street car tra1Ilc
from the street railway.
They pay a big tax and license TO
operate their street cars and by max
ing extensions into the suburbs they
have enhanced the value of property
many fold and, 1 for one, do not be-
lieve we are giving them square deal
by allowing so many jitneys to OPP
crate.
Take the paving item alone, which
according to law, they must pay.
There are few people in Topeka VINO
realize that the street car company
maintains some AZ miles of street rail-
way tracks. The law says that they
must pave and maintain 10 feet OF the
street on all double track lines and
eight feet on single track lines. rms
alone is a tremendous expenditure ana
to this one fact we can attribute the
Iarge number of miles of paved streets
we nave here in Topeka. Without the
street car company's paying its part of
this the taxpayer would notice a big
difference in his taxes.
Would Place Limit.
IF the jitneys would keep off the
streets occupied by the street cars and
would operate only on streets where
there is no car service then they would
be filling a real need, but the trouble
is they go just ahead of the street car
and pick up the traffic that rfghtfully
belongs to the railway.
1T takes money to maintain and OPP
crate this system of ours here in To-
peka and we have good system but
we won't have it long if we allow
the jitneyS to take away the revenue
that rightfully belongs to it and 1 am
for more rigid laws governing them
What law would you favor" he
was asked.
Let them operate up and down
Kansas avenue and on all streets
where there is not car track but
keep them off all streets where there
is a street car line, with the exception
of Kansas avenue" he said.
''Will such an ordinance be brought
before the commission soon?" he was
asked.
'.AI I have to say now is that I
would not advise any one to spend
any big amount of money in buying
trucks or big jitney buses for 1 do not
feel that we are giving the street car
company square deal by allowing so
many of them to operate on our
sareets."
How much of a tax does the street
car company pay. besides paying for
the street paving?" was asked.
About $500 in all, 1 believe, and
this amount is paid into the city treas
ury every year.
How do the rest of the commits
sioners feel about this matter?' he
was asked.
81 have not talked to them lately
but 1 have expressed myself and 1 am
going to stick to the position that L
do not believe we are giving the street
car company square deal, nor do I
believe any citizen will think so. if
he give the matter little thought -
When another member of the COM
mission was approached regarding the
subject and told of Tandys views, he
said that he entirely agreed with him
that conditions were such that regu-
lation must be brought about to keen
the jitneys off the streets now occu-
pied by the railway company"
A general canvass of the situation in
the city hall among members of the
city commission revealed the fact that
rigid regulation of the jitney may be
looked for soon in Topeka