The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1916-1920, 1919-08-08
HYLAN IN BUS DREAM
SCRAPS CAR LINES
aseats for Everybody" Grip
Up Tracks," Come Words
From Sand Mans Land.
TRACTION TRICK FoILED
Mayor Glides Over Streets Of
Future Where Motors Alone
Garry Crowds.

straishtway he sat down and put 1t on
paper that 1t might cheer up the people
NJ New York in these days Of poor
transit or no transit
The Mayor dreamed OF trackless
streets, Of the day when the last sur
tara car would be sent to the junk hear
,bs day when their owners, not being
mia 10 sell their rotten surface raif
ways' to the public. would be broke, the
dav when tired man or woman or
both would be whizzing home In nice
buses run by the city.
Because, as he says. he has given
heap OF thought to this subject the
Mayor knows surface roads are doomed.
hacause they run In grooves" The
srls and shifty bus can circumnavigate
ali obstacles and IL the transit OF the
future.
n any Of the ''plunderers" who own
tina surface lines think Mayor Hylan IL
roing to "fall for" municipal ownership
N surface railroads they are mistaken.
Oh, no The Mayor serves notice on
them that their game II up When the
clty is running bus lines all over. the
nublic won't ride en- their Anticipated"
lines at any price; they will go out OF
business and the city will 90 and lit
up their tracks. -
Mayor F6resees Trick.
The Mayor dreamed the slirface COM
panies would like to sell their Junk
10 the city and then get franchises to
make themselves rich out Of bus lines
The Traction sharks" had worked that
game in London. the Mayor dreamed.
but 1t won't work here He Is onto
them.
Let the Mayor unfold his own tale In
his own way:
The day of the street surface cars
has gone by forever and It will not be
long before New Workers. will have track
less streets. l see no reason why the
people of New York. instead Of being
iammed like hogs into badly kept sur
face railway cars and then hung on
straps, cannot have decent bus service
for a very low cost. A lot of people say
that bus service might cost more than
Ave cents. The answer to that is that
now have a proposition from a private
concern to run i've cent buses. II Q
private concern can do 1t. am sure that
the investigation to be made by the
Board of Estimate will demonstrate that
we can have Ave cent buses. The sur
face railways are now trying to force a
seven or eight cent fare, and We GER
tainly need no introduction to the mis-
cradle kind of riding they would give
US even for eight cents, because their
proposition does not include anything
new for the public. 1t only covers new
profits for the traction people
The day Of the surface railway Is
ended for several reasons The first
and fundamental reason is that things
that go In a groove do not go at all now
adays. Surface railway cars run In
track grooves, and therefore they take
all evening to get tired man or woman
from a business place downtown to a
home uptown. That 10 the principal
reason why they are doomed.
But aside from that the gentlemen
who have operated the roads and abused
them and robbed them have killed the
goose that laid the golden egg. They
think that they can gloss over ell the
rpbberies of years and all the stock
watering jobs. and come to US and tell
Us that regardless Of all their crimes in
the past we should now consider these
roads as Of present day value for the
construction.
We'll. how much have they con
structed at present day values? How
many of their cars were built and
tracks laid at prices that, meant pres
ent day wages to laboring men? Do
they come In with any guarantee that
II the goose lays more golden eggs for
them they would always guarantee to
pay present day prices for car building.
track laying, rail making and railway
employees?
Millions in Plumber.
NO, they only want to jam higher
iares through while the dollar is tenn
forary dsocated as to value and then
when the dollar goes back to somewhere
near It's normal level they will have us
high and dry with eight cent fares that
VIII give them millions more of plumber
i have studied their game just enough
10 understand their moves as they want
them to work out over a period of the
next five years. The people of New
YORK elected me to protect them from
such plunderers. and 1 am going to d.
~ with every power at the command ol
the Mayor of New York.
There is not the slightest doubt ir
my mind right now that these traction
gentlemen would like me TO fall for q
policy Of municipal ownership for thu
surface railways. That Is they would
IKE to sell their rotten surface railways
10 the city at high cost and then &c
INTO the bus business / am told thai
rome of the London traction sharks
Played such game on the city Of Lon
o9n. But 1t won't work here.
Personally 1 do not consider thest
surface railways worth very much right
now | do not want the city to get sucf
an antiquated transportation system or
Vs hands. ! do want the city to run
real up to date transportation system
ana that Is why l am for Immediately
establishing bus lines all over the city.
recently noticed that the Broadway
association announced that II would lik,
% see the tracks Of the Broadway sur
Mee lines torn up and a. bus line sub
ututed. The Broadway Association Il
very intelligent in this matter. The,
nave the right, up to the minute ides
LOT municipal transportation. And pre-
act That 1t is question OF only a shor
ume before the Broadway Association
VIII see its dream fulfilled. and will d.
al l can to help bring that fulfillmen
In fact, wish that every local asso
sation In this city would immediatel,
oesh studying the question of bus ser
We and make suggestions to me abon
ne need Of their districts
Plans to Avoid Tfeups.
have given lot of thought to tn,
gus question, see many present da,
oo9ecuons TO the surface car lines. Tn,
smali fires that may require one hos,
he 10 cross a street viii tie up an en-
ure line OF surface cars for at least ,
PAN hour A big FIRE will tie IN III,
nne Tor many hours. Buses could z,
around these fires and there would be n,
interruption OF trafic. a