Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1919-03-28
AN OPEN LETTER ON The
TROLLEY SITUATION

On behalf Of the Five Mile Beach
Electric Railway Company, | desire
to present to our people a biief state
ment and explanation of the present
conditions, feeling sur that such an
explanation will be of mutual benefit.
The relations between our company
and the municipal authorities and the
public have always been most cordial.
L believe this has been due to the fact
that the people generally have realized
that those who invested their money
in our street rail Way, were as vitality
interested in the general success and
development of the island as any other
group of individuals. In other words,
that their interest was a personal one,
and was not confined to an endeavor
to obtain as large q return as possible
upon their investment. This spirit of
friendly cooperation it is our desire to
encourage and maintain. Many per-
sons do not know that under the terms
Of the franchises granted to our COM
pany, we are only required to run the
cars during the months of June, July,
August and September. The fact that
they are run throughout the year is
due to the interest of our company in
the general w~ell-being of the island, as
we would save several hundred dollars
a month by not operating the cars
from November 1st to April LIST.
The increased cost of practically
everything, which goes to make up the
service rendered by a street railway
company during the past two years,
has been very marked. 1t has been
necessary to substantially increase
wages, and the price Of coal at the
mines has exactly doubled. In addi-
ton to this freight rates have been in-
creased, and all the supplies which our
company must purchase, particularly
those made of iron or steel, have pTac-
ideally doubled in price. Under these
circumstances it must be clear hat 1t
was lust as impossible to continue to
give a trolley ride for five cents as 1t
was for the baker to continue to sell a
loaf Of bread at that price. With the
approval of the Board of Public Utility
Commissioners, the rate of fare on our
road was increased last summer to six
cents, which is lower than is charged
by most street railways in New jersey.
The more serious condition, however,
arises from the fact that due to the gen.
eral use of the automobile, the number
of passengers riding upon our cars has
greatly decreased. The total NUMBER
of passengers in 1918 was more than
400, 600 less than the number carried in
1918. We all consider August 1918, as
having been q banner month for bust
ness generally on Five Mile Beach.
The fact is, however, that our company
carried 100, 900 less passengers in Au-
gust 1918, than 1t did in August 1918.
The reason for this, as stated above, is
the general use of the automobile. On
one of the gasless Sundays of last Sep
tember, our receipts increased more
than forty per ceut. over the preceding
Sunday, when weather conditions we're
the same, but when automobiles were
in use.
The above facts present a very differ
ent situation from that in communities
where the travel has increased because
of war activities. In the case of u
company, the operating expenses have
greatly increased, and the humber Of
passengers has seriously declined. If
we could hope to carry as many pas
sengers in 1919 as we carried in 1913,
we could operate successfully on the
basis OF a six cent fare. Whether we
can do SO in the face Of the fact that
such a large proportion of the people
on the island have their W automo-
biles, is a doubtful question. 1t is very
natural to consider that the trolley is
both a convenience and a necessity,
but to forget when we ride in our W
cars, we either make it i'm possible for
the trolley to continue operation, or
to force it to charge higher fares. Ii
the people who use The as
a means of transportation from q
part of our island to another should all
ride on the street cars. there would not
only be ample room for them, Except
on a few Sunday afternoons in August)
but we would probably be able to con-
tinue to operate the road on a five cent
fare. In other words, it must be per-
fectly clear to any n that a reduction
in the number of riders must mean an
increase in the fare charged. 1t is the
hope of our company that we may be
able to continue operating with a six
cent fare. We desire to keep the good
will of the travelling public, and to
merit their favorable consideration, but