Evening star., 1919-04-13
LARGER FARES
Often Mean Decreased Revenues
and Less Efficiency.
To the Editor Of The Star:

and Less Efficiency.
To the Editor Of The Star:
Two or three days ago you had an
editorial in The Evening Star discuss
ing the proposed further increase Of
street car fares on the Washington
Railway and Electric. in which you
called attention to the fact that the
company reported only Is per cent
increase in revenue after the fares
had been increased from practically
cents to cents or an in
crease Of almost rs per cent This
would indicate that the relief which
the company seeks, and which has
heretofore been given. is only slightly
beneficial to the company, but is a
substantial burden for the public. If
you would also consider the gain of,
the company on account of selling
tickets that are never used you would
ind the actual gain to the company
would be very slight indeed, almost
less than an assignable quantity. The
suggestion Is made that relief might
be had by fixing zones so as to charge
additional fare for additional dis
tance. This will prove equally disap-
pointing, because it is not based upon
the true economic law which led to
the introduction of street cars and
their almost universal use. Formerly
the cost of transportation was ap-
S0t
but that is not so in the street car
system nor in any other system where
the whole is operated in it's entiretly.
There is difference in the original
cost Of construction. but practically
none in its operation. 1t requires a
larger expenditure Of money to lay
a water pipe to the most distant part
of the city, but it cost no more to
deliver the water at the end of the
pipe than at any intermediate point
G nf tra 20, hos
to go to its destination. There is no
additional cost in carrying paSSen-
gers to the terminus. provided that
the car has to go to the final lestina-
ton. or 1T is less than any ass enable
quantity. OF course if the car is not
able to carry all the passengers more
cars would have to be used and ad-
dltional expense incurred but the
very life of the system depends upon
the great numbers carried therefore
the more cars that are required the
greater the revenue and the greater
the profits.
The writer can remember when the
street car system in our cities was
first introduced. 1t was. and continued
to be until twenty-five or thirty wears
ago, five cent peanut business. but
when the electric cars We're introduce
ed and distance heightened, and the
multitude of people were carried from
the most distant places in the cities
ana landed anywhere they wished to
go, then the multitude of passengers
swelied the earnings of the company
and 1t soon developed from a peanut
business to a millionaire business. 1t
is said that the Washington
Railway and Electric Company is
burdened with long milage to the
suburbs. The wise men who put
their own money into the construction
OF these lines never complained at
that. but understood that, without
the m1lage. they would not be able
to get the traffic. They made no mis-
take. but the present managers make
a mistake in thinking that these sys-
TENS. already built. can no longer be
operated without loss The H street
line. running to the District line,
carries ten times the number of mas.
sengers that it did ten years ago
ana they also get about 25 per cent
increase In fare. 1t seems very un-
reasonable that. with that increase in
traffic, accompanied by an increase in
rare. they still find it impossible to
who do not believe that 1t is impossi-
Die, but think the trouble that is re-
ported comes through ineficiency.
am q constant rider on these lines.
ana there are SO many ways in which
the 1nefhciency is manifested that II
demonstrates that those who are in
authority have been divorced from re-
sponsioliity. Mr.. Justice Brandeis
stated just before he went on the
bench of the Supreme Court that a
million dollars could be saved by eff
cheney in managing the steam rail-
roads. A proportional amount can
easily be saved in the management of
the street car lines. During all the
busy hours cars are held up unneces-
sarily for the collection of fares.
This is extreme inefficiency. If the
passengers were admitted at the front
of the car without collection Of fares
and discharged at the rear at leisure,
paying the fares when they leave
most of this congestion would be done
away with. Also the cars are run by