Indiana daily times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1914-1922, 1921-07-15
TO INTRODUCE
ORDINANCE TO
HANDLEBUSSES
Councilman Brown Will Have
Measure Ready by Mon
day Night.
PROVISIONS NOT TOLD
Would Fulfill Promise of Pro-
lection to Street Car
Company.

City Councilman Jacob P. Brown
announced today he will introduce an
ordinance regulating jitney busses
at the regular council meeting Mon
day evening. He did not disclose
the provisions OF his measure, but It
is known a bill he had ready for
Introduction at the special meeting
last Tuesday evening would prevent
jitneys from operating on streets
over which street cars and tnterur.
bans run. +
Should it develop at the end of this
month that jitneys are making such In
roads into the receipts Of the Indian
apolis Street Railway Company as ita
officials state the council will carry out
its promise, given in a hearing befors
the public service commission the first Of
June, to pass an ordinance strictly regue
lating bus competition, provided the COM
pany assures the city in return that
street car service will be entirely ade-
quate, Russell Wilson, council president.
said today
TEXT OF MEASURE
READY LAST TUESDAY.
The text Of the measure which Mr.
Brown had ready last Tuesday and which
he is expected to introduce Monday is as
follows:
Section / That no person, firm or
corporation shall drive, run or operate
any jitney' upon or along any street,
avenue or roadway within the city OF
Indianapolis, Ind, upon which there is
located any street car tracks or tracks
nh CT fr,ka
ban cars are regularly operated; pro.
yided, however, that nothing herein con-
tanned shall be construed as prohibiting
any such 'Jtney 1&m crossing any such
street, avenue or roadway.
Sec. ?. The term jitney' within the
meaning of this ordinance shall be
deemed to mean any vehicle operated
within such city for the carriage of pas
sengers within such city for hire, ex-
cept taxicabs, street and interurban
railway cars and steam railroads, locomo-
tives and cars.
Sec. 8. Any person. firm or corpora
ton violating any Of the provisions of
this ordinance shall upon conviction be
! fined in any sum not exceedil e $780, to
which may be added imprisonment not
exceeding one hundred and eighty days"
The ordinance would be put into eject
I Immediately upon passage and signature
by the mayor by an emergency clause In
Section 4.
meet the request for relief from jitney
competition which street railway officials
have demanded in an ultimatum TO the
council. Whether the entire council is
ready to support 1t is problematicaI.
An Informal conference of council mem
bers was held in ME. Wilson's law Of
fee, but no decision on the stand the
body viii take was reached. The mem
bers. however, were favorable to sending
two councilmen with David f. Matthews,
engineer for the public service commits
sion, and James P. Tretton, superin-
tendent Of the street railway, on their
trip to Kansas City, Nc. Des Moines and
Sioux City, Iowa, to study the Jitney
problem, provided the Junket does not
start until Tuesday. In view of the i'm
portance of the council meeting Monday
evening none of the members desired to
leave town before Tuesday.
in that conference before the public
service commission" said Mr. Wilson,
I'VE gave good faith promise that at
the end Of sixty days if the return Of
the 5-cent fare had not had a very decid-
ed effect in diminishing jitney compett-
ton We would pass a measure to richly
regulate auto transportation.
ORDINANCE MAY
BE ONLY WAY OUT.
L ne SlAlS -udy peTlou IS not up, Dug
If conditions are such at the end of that
time as DR.. Jameson says they are. I sea
nothing for US TO do except to consider
the proposed ordinance. We might be
considering such q measure pending the
end Of the sixty days; mean we might
have an, ordinance introduced now and
ready for action at that time.
However, as 1 see it now. although
the council should consider such a meas
~. he
would have to be given to Us by the
company, in such a manner that we
would know It TO be in good faith, assur-
ance that street car service would be
adequate. We told the public service
commission that If Jitney competition
continued so as to tear down the street
car service we would take action to pre-
vent it if at the same time we wers
assured we would get adequate street
railway service in return.
How such assurance could be given I
do not know but it would have to be