Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1920-04-16
TEXT OF INCREASED FARE
ORDER OF UTILITIES MEN

Following IL order No. t7s Of the
Public Utilities Commission. in the
matter Of the petitions of the WASH
ington Railway and Electric Com
pany and Its subsidiary companies,
the City and Suburban Railway Of
Washington. tho Georgetown and
Ten1eytown Railway Company and
the Warrington Interurban Railroad
Company, for an !noreass In the rate
Of fare:
BY the commission: On January 6,
1920. the Washington Railway and
Electric Company, on it's own behalf
City and Suburban Railway Of WASH
ington. the Georgetown and Tenley-
town Railway Company and the
Washfn gton- Interurban Railroad Com
pany. renewed its application Of July
9. 1919 (formal case No. To. for an
that the evidence taken thereon be
treated as a part of this case.
The application now before the
commission is in effect a petition for
! a modification OF its orders Nos. 344
and 345, fixing the rate Of fare on the
several street railway lines within, the
District Of Columbia at cents cash, or
four tickets for Is cents for a six-month
period. to end on April 80. 1920.
A. those orders apply not only to
the petitioners but to the Capital
Traction Company. the East Wash
Company. the Washington Virginia
Railway Company and the Washing
ton and Maryland Railway Company
as we'll. these last named companies
were made parties to the proceeding
by the issuance Of order No. 365.
At the time Of the receipt Of the
pending application of the Washing
ton Railway and Electric Company
the commission had in preparation a
I bill to be presented to Congress, pro-
vidfng for certain much-needed ad-
Justments in tho local street railway
situation.
Primary Objects.
The primary objects of the pro-
posed legislation were to change the
form of taxation Of street railway
companies from one based on gross
receipts to ono based on operating
income. and to relieve the street rail-
way companies Of the burden now
imposed upon them Of paying the
entire cost Of maintaining street rail-
way crossing policemen.
The street railways Of the District
OF Columbia are grouped into two
principal systems which are highly
competitive in tho thickly populated
portions of the city. but which are
quite dissimilar as a whole in that
mileage of the other system. having
ten suburban feeders running to the
District baundaries. while the other
has only two such suburban feeders.
The gross receipts Of the two sys-
TENS are practically identical. but the
larger in the case of the system
with the large suburban mileage I'm
der existing law the taxes (other
than the tax on real estate) paid by
the two systems are equal
By the proposed legislation outlined
above the tax burden will be shifted
and the disparity in net earning pow
or greatly reduced. Three months
have elapsed since this Legislation
was introduced and the six months
period during which the present rates
Of faro were to apply has almost ex-
pired. In the meantime operating
costs have materially increased, thus
aggravating the perplexing features
OF tho street railway fare problem
caused by the disparity in the earn
ing power Of the two companies.
Extended Hearings Held.
Extended hearings were held by the
committee Of the District Of Column
pa OF tho House Of representatives. spge
Ing February a.. 1870. at which mem
bers Of the Pubic Utilities Commits
sion. officials Of the street railway
companies and the public were heard
at length. At the date OF this order
no action had been taken by tho COM
Tho Public Utilities Commission held
formal public hearings on March %.
"a and 81, and April s. 1920. during
which the Washington Railway and
Electric Company presented figures
showing that 1t IL earning annually
$434, 900 less than per cent return
on the fair value of the property of
the four component companies Of its
system within the District of Column
bia as found by this commission. To
this amount the company adds esti-
mated increased expenditures for way
and structures during 1920. an In
crease in the cost Of coal for the same
period. q contingent allowance Of $780,
900, and an additional amount OF
1922, 900, to meet a demand Of its en-
ployes for a wage increase equal to
that recently granted by the Capital
Traction Company to its employees.
This indicates that the Washington
Railway and Electric Company will
fall short of earning per cent re-
turn on the fair value of its property
by $91s,oo0.
!, W. n. d Els Report Made.
At tho request of the commission.
the Washington Railway and Electric
Company presented information
through its expert Prof. Albert s.
Richey. of the application Of a zone
system to it's lines. Decided opposi-
ton was manifested by individual
citizens and by representatives Of va
rious civic bodies to the adoption Of
any form of measured service sys-
tenn, and while the commission be-
lieves that it Is right and just in
principle that the users OF a public
service should pay for that service as
far as possible in proportion to the
cost Of furnishing 1t to Thorn. it Is of
the opinion that under present CON-
ditions it is inadvisable to adopt a
zone system Of street car fares or
any other form Of measured street
railway service.
The company in its petition asks
that the additional revenue be pro-
vided in part by the imposition Of q
oh q rpa NJ cAnts for intracnmpany