The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1917-08-10
Street Car Service and
the Merchant
BIZ DAVID LAWRENCE.
WashingtOn's Uneomfortsble Cars Make the Shoppers
. Burden Instead Of Pleasure.


anyone has any doubt of the direct relation between
good street service and the number of visits which the
individual pays to the shopping district let him study the
by the Retail Trade Board Of that city The questions deal
with keeping street off certain crowded streets widen
ing other streets and general information which
mendaons to be based for the comfort and safety OF
the people
the principle is Identical The merchants of Boston know
that to make shopping ksome is to reduce the number Of
purchases And that precisely what is happening in Wash
think twice nowadays before crowdng themselves IN street
that along at snail speed never seem to along
at all while the wait the street corner under burning
From every point Of view the Public Utilities Commits
sion ought to realize that the city Of Washington viii not
thrive unless street improved The people
are patiently waiting for the Utilities Commission to act
They do not much whether the merger plan the uni
versal transfer scheme any other that viii better
and cheaper street service In the District Of Columbia
adopted.
The Commission investigates complaints, to be sure
but would be unfortunate If its attitude toward
of the complaints made In the southwest section to be
its broad policy toward the public Dr. W. Ashford Res Of
112O Virginia southwest complained that during
the day and after rush hours Of the evening" seemed to-
vanish from the wharves line of the Washington Railway
and Electric Company He commended that the hcky popu-
lated residential section of the southwest depended on this
ne and that at night if the people did choose to wait
for Washington Railway and Electric Company they
had to walk through dark grounds and chance Of be-
of the city He gave details The Public Utilities Commits
sion denied that conditions such he had cited existed but
story to show the Of the complaint Says the Commits
sion IN its reply based reports Of Investigators for two
days:
'fThe greatest interval between during those
hours 1.-THE nonrush hours) did not exceed fifteen min
utes when the schedule provided for tenmnute head
way seventeen minutes after p m, when the
schedule provides for a twelve-minute Roadway.
"While the headwSy somewhat irregular, the
full number of called for by the schedule oper
ated and in every there seats than pas
sengers The regularty Of Roadway has been called to
the attention of the company for immediate action
If there was irregulary of Roadway the days when
the Commission investigated for ITSELF this prma faeie
proof that long time elapsed between the days cited
by Dr. Reiss In his complaint As for the fact that number
of seats vacant the evening hours this does not
of service To declare that there plenty Of
seats empty when the did arrive does not shed any light
the number of passengers who after long wait
PEELED in disgust to walk to their destinations those who
knowing wretched the service could be preferred not
to wait at all If the Washington Railway and Electric Com
pany with regularity that understood by the
public of any section the number of passengers would
crease 1t is fundamental principle public service The
trouble is that the motto of the Washington Railway and
Electric Company seems to be "The Public Be Damned"
Only it is worth while recalling that the author of that
preston has long since been extemnated from control Of
public utilities in New York city Because, it must be
membered the public manages to win in the endas it will
some day soon in Washington