The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1916-1920, 1919-09-23
'RIEHL BUS LINES
FAIL TO OPERATE
Contractor Will Lose His City
License, Commissioner
Whalen Says.
JITNEYs NOT SUFFICIENT
Do Not Carry as Many Persons
as Green Cars, P. s. G.
Officials Declare.

individual driver for his own profit, now
| are serving the public that used to de-
pend upon the storage battery crosstown
lines of the green car system, shut down
by order of the Federal court
Louis Riedl, who obtained on Friday a
permit to put sixty buses in service on
these lines, failed to produce the We
hlcles Grover A. Whalen. Commissioner
Of Plant and Structures. said yester-
| day, The city therefore will cancel his
permit, Mr.. Whalen said.
Opinions differ widely as to how good
the service is.
| Mayor Hylan says 1t is fine. He de-
| clares the experiment sounds the death
knell of the TRACTION ring"
Job Hedges, receiver of the New York
Railways Company, said: ''It can't be
done. They can't run enough buses to
carry the $4,000 fares we used to carry
| in fifty-eight cars OF seventy passengers
EACH
Half Service Is Given.
The Public Service Commissions in
spectors made counts Sunday which
showed that about half service was
being given, taking the old car schedule
as a standard.
| Buses ran and were crowded beyond
capacity. particularly in the late after
noon rush hours. The passengers seemed
willing to put up with some incon-
venience, but it was obvious that some
system better than the makeshift ar
| rangement of yesterday must speedily
be instituted.
Riedl was to have had sixty buses in
operation Saturday morning on the four
| lines specified. What facilities he had to
| fulfil this provision were never made
public by the city authorities. and every
| effort to get Information on this feature
! of the problem got nowhere. All that
was vouchsafed by city officials was that
| Mr.. Riedl had been of great assistance
in combating the street car strike in
Brooklyn; that he was an experienced
| bus transportation man and capable of
| handling the problem. Efforts by the
| newspapers to locate Mr.. Riedl failed.
whaIen Makes Statement.
Last night Commissioner Whalen is
| sued the following formal statement:
Mr.. Riedl was granted a temporary
permit by the Board OF Estimate and
| was to have sixty buses in operation
| September 20. 1 found that he had no
buses in oper alton on that day. Mr..
Riedl stated on Saturday that he was
having difficulty in obtaining buses, but
that he already had twenty parked under
the Williamsburg Bridge. After a per-
sonal investigation l found this state
ment to be untrue.
eat the suggestion of Mayor Hylan /
| took the question up with Mayor Gillen
| of Newark and succeeded in getting
| sufficient number of buses from the city
| OF Newark to replace the abandoned sur
| face car lines in operation. Mr.. Riedl
did not put in an appearance until about
IL 40 o'clock Sunday night, and at that
| time he was still without buses, although
| he stated that be had three In the city
| and would have 100 on Monday morning
| from Connecticut. These buses did not
materialize.
ct then Informed Mr.. Riedl that mas
much as he did not fulfil the obligation
of his permit the city would direct the
operation of the buses over the aban-
doned lines.
During the strike in Brooklyn Mr..
| Riedl had no trouble in securing buses.
Why he did not produce buses on this
occasion I am at n loss to understand.
! There are those who do not want bus
| lines to operate in this city. 1 do not
know whether this had any influence on
Mr. Riedls action. The Corporation
Counsel will take steps TO annul the per-
nit"
Riedls Lawyer RetIceat.
Samuel Abrahamson OF 116 Nassau
street. who appeared for Riedl when he
| obtained his permit from the Board OF
Estimate, was equally reticent yesterday
| when pressed for information about the
| financial backing of his client.
Mr.. Riedl,' he said. "is an American
| citizen, feet inches tall, with a sandy
mustache He may live in one of the
| Oranges"
This information added to the general
| curiosity concerning the man who was
able to obtain such valuable permit on
such apparent short notice.
It developed that he had contracted
| for $4,000 worth OF motor buses from
| the Stewart Motor Corporation OF 615
West Fifty seventh street and had paid
| S25. 900 by check on account of the pur-
chase.
Eugene Herman, distributor for the
Stewart corporation, declined yesterday
to give any further information regard
| ing his transactions with Riedl, and
while admitting that Riedl got his mail
at the Stewart company's offices, said
| that he knew rothing further of the man.
The permit obtained by Riedl provides
| that his arrangement with the city may
Do terminated upon ten days notice in
1 writing from the city. Last night Riedl's
counsel. Mr.. Abrahamson, said that no
| notice to that effect had been received.
and while he stoutly maintained that the
| buses were being operated yesterday by
| phatically declaring that Riedl had moth
| ing whatever to do with the operation
! Of the lines since yesterday morning
Run by individuals.
The buses, Commissioner Whalen ex-
| planned, were being run by their re-
Ispective owners, and " ere taking in from
| S35 to $40 each. The profit TO the opera
! tors was estimated at SIS and upward
| for each vehicle. The Commissioner said
| last night that he was preparing a re-
| port on the new transportation system
for immediate submission to the Mayor
He believed that the system could be ex-
tended to advantage both TO the city and
the public, and added that the question
line along Broadway was one that
| would require immediate consideration.
Said the Mayor
''The city owns the subway lines, but
leased them to the marlborough for
forty-nine years for operation II the
Interborough cannot make a profit at
8 cents fare the city will take back
the subways any time they are delivered
The city could own and operate it's bus
lines, giving a transfer in conjunction
with the subways, and the people could
then ride from one end of the city TO
the other for a cent fare.
''The death knell OF the traction ring
and their agents whether in public office
or outside, has been sounded by the be-
ginning OF operation of buses over the