Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1920-09-04
JUSTICE AND ZONE FARES

TN MR.. M1TTEN'S zone fare system the
i central part of the city, it is assumed,
would be the tropical zone. Extending
| from it. north and south. would be, first.
| the temperate zones. and second, the frigid
| zones. They would be frigid in the sense
| that those who wished to get to them would
| have to pay out more in cold cash before
| they could crafty their desires. Some new
name would have to be invented to describe
West Philadelphia zones unless Mr.. Mitter
intends to act on the theory that the earth
is fiat, and have his tropical zone at the
center with the outlying zones surrounding
it. Then we should have eastern and west
ern frigid zones competing for favor with
the northern aud southern.
But what the zones are to be called is a
detail of little moment. The thing in which
the people are most interested is the adjust
ment of the cost of travelling, say across the
tropic of capricorn, or the goat, from the
central zone to the southern temperate zone,
which would be somewhere in South Phila-
delphia. II the short riders in the central
zone should be asked to pay fare of three
cents, would Mr.. Mitten carry the longer
riders across the dividing line for five cents?
This is really n vital question. Mr.. Nit
ten. however, has said nothing which jus
titles the belief that he has any intention
of reducing the basic fare Of five cents even
for the short riders. He says much about
the fairness of paying for what you get and
is confident that the car riders will make
no serious objection to an increase in the
fare for long trips.
Considered abstractly, a fare of ten cents
to Oak Lane would not be exorbtant. The
distance is nearly eight miles. The rate
would be a little more than one cent a
ila ut if ic IN hn ioJ n;r nil
for ten cents what justice would there be in
charging a man five cents to ride eight blocks
on Chestnut street from Broad to Sixth
street? The fare would be at the rate OF
more than eight cents a mile. If we are
going to appeal to justice in this matter
would better consider the application
Of the rule of equity to all phases of it,
1t could be argued and an expert at
fgIres could prove to mathematical GER
tainty, that central zone fare Of three
cents would yield greater revenue than
fare of five cents. 1t would encourage rid
ing. The man who spends five cents to ride
one way from Broad to Sixth street would
spend six cents to ride both ways and con-
vince himself that he was saving more in
shoe leather than he was spending in car
fare.
But there Is a serious sociological side to
the zone fare issue. Graduated fares are
| common in many European cities. In Glas-
! gov the effect has been to congest the popu-
lat!on in the first zone. Working people
have preferred to live near their work for
| it has cost them more than they could afford
70 pay to get into the outlying districts
where there are fresh air and sunshine, to
| say nothing of grass and trees.
We have a situation right here that in
| rpgpmblpS thnt which Tho
system has produced in Glasgow. The men
| earning moderate incomes live in the city
| where they can get to work for five cents.
| Tens of thousands of them would like to
| live in the suburbs, but the Communication
| rates on the steam railroads are so much
| higher than the trolley fares within the
city that they have to get along in a little
| house with a back yard about as big as a
| table cloth.
| If housing conditions were normal the
| recent increase in Communication rates would
| affect real estate values within a radius
Of twenty miles A man who had persuaded
cents a day for round trip to a district
where he could get a modest priced house
with half an acre of ground would hesitate
| to buy such a house when the fare was in =
| creased to sixty five seventy cents and
| doubtless decide to remain in the city, where
his round trip to business now costs him
only ten cents, or sixteen at the outside
Mr.. Mitten is only talking about zone
fares at present. When he makes a definite
suggestion as TO rates and zones there will
be something concrete to discuss. But even
IL it should be found necessary to adopt the
plan it should be regarded as only TEN
porary device, to be abandoned as soon as
the burden of the outrageous rentals paid
to the underlying companies Is lifted from
the p. II. r. With fair rentals it would
be possible for the =. Il. T. to continue the
uniform fve-cent rate for all riders, long a.
we'll as short.