Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1918-03-11
No 1873. prescribing standards of street
= railway service.
Observations Made.

- Complying with the terms of this
order. observations OF the trafhc were
made from time to time both by the
railway companies and by representatives
of the commission. and where the OBJ
: servationS showed that the service was
: not up to the standard and additional
cars were necessary the commission
ordered the delinquent companies TO add
sufficient cars to comply with the stand
ards.
-the companies until the fall of 1917. when
they began to feel the effects of the
great increase in the population OF me
- District due to the entrance OF TINS
country into the European war as a
heIlteerent power The labor situation
became so acute that the companies were
unable to scure enough men TO operate
their regularly scheduled cars. ana SINCE
then the service on all lines has been
Inadequate Another factor which has
had a material effect upon the service
Of the Washington Railway and Electric
Cor,panv was the strike of its motornen
and conductors in March and April. 1917
= The commission is Of the opinion that
the company is still feeling the bad eff
fects of that strike.
'ReaIizinE all these conditions, the
commission secured the services OF the
experts mentioned above to ascertain
what steps are necessary for relief
Believes It Has Full Power.
go should the conclusions of its
experts convince the commission that
the present conditions can he iTuprov-
ed by reroutinr of cars, the addition of
new equipment. the extension or
tracks. the rearranEcment of sched-
niles etc. the commission believes that
A has full power, under the authority
conveyed to it by the public utilities
act to take all necessary steps TO carry
out such improvements.
'|Under the circumstances, therefore,
NO has this TlTlH, no
suggestion to make 10 Congress for
meeting the present congeSted condi-
lions of traffic on the railways OF the
District of Columbia. but after study
ing the results Of the improvements
and changes now being made, VIII. as
soon as practicable, make such sugges-
tons for legislation as may seem TO be
necessary or desirable"
Damage to Cars Causes Shortage.
In its letter to the commission the
Capital Traction CNmpany states II mas
had no difficulty of shortage of rolling
equipment in the past year until within
the last few weeks. and this shortage
was caused by the unprecedented num-
Der of cars damaged by accidents, due
in large measure to weather conditions
in the month Of January. The largely
increased traffic. particularly the
growth OF the past few weeks. brought
70 the Cornp2ny'S attention the neCes-
L
the open cars are put out of service
next fall Accordingly, the board or
directors at its last meeting directed
the purchase Of twenty new cars, to be
delivered as soon as possible. They VIII
be ready for use not later than october
/. In the meantime the company has
twenty-one doubIe-truck open cars,
which will be available for service
after April /, and also has n large num-
Der of single-truck open cars with
traiIers, thirty of which are in oper-
ating condition at the present time, and
a sufficient number of others can be put
in such condition as circumstances
make necessary.
The company refers to extensions and
physical improvements it has under
taken in the past two years. which are
alluded to in the commissions report;
additional service that has been inaugu-
rated on practically every line, and de-
lays and difficulties OF operation caused
by the severe weather of last winter.
During January the company employed
164 men, or nearly 25 per cent of the
total in the service at the beginning OF
the month, and lost by resignation and
otherwise I3l. so that the gain was not
sufficient to make up the shortage due
to sickness, an average of eighty men
being absent from work on account of
sickness throughout the entire month
of January.
In conclusion the company says:
while the company feels that its