The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1921-06-22
TROLLEYS LOST
 MILLION IN 1920

Continued from Page One) John Fl. Hubbard, David w. Price Vincent L. Heating and Attorney Brown of Milford. Several adnais- slons were secured by the attorneys rom witnesses that cast damaging light on previous testimony.
 Percy T. LitchfeId, chairman of the n1unicipal traffic commission and Commerce. appeared before the com mission and introduced a statement covering his extensive probe into transportation problems. claimed:
 That the Chamber of Commerce could not consist ently take = passive position with reference to the grant ing of permits.
 That the present program of the Connecticut Company has not afford ed a living.
 That the Chamber of Commerce was m favor of retaining both troll leys and iitneys. both to be sub feet to undermining process.
 That the Chamber opposed cut throat Jitney competition.
 That public sentiment demands re- stricted Jitney service
 That the traction company use mo tor buses on the rwaIx-Bridgepor Walnut Beach and Suburban lines.
 That such lines are strictly car lines, and should be reserved for inc
 
 vide motor service
 That there are indications that mo- tor service will eventually eliminate the trolleys.
 tackled by Attorney Heating for his remarks relative to the NorwalIl- Bridgeport line.
 "Mr. Litchf1eld did not represent the the sentiment of the city" he de- cIared, when he advocated giving the Connecticut Company complete control of the NorwaIk-Bridge geport cute That route was included in the cltys petition to the commission. and It is wanted just as much as any of the others ''i'S oi
 MT Litchfield is obviously friendly to the Connecticut Company when he says to take that route away from the %tneys and give it to the trolley company
 ''The whole matter develops into question Of property rights, and the troileys lost their property rights long ago and canont get them back. Their me to Norwalk is simply a streak of rust on which they run one car an hour and which is even then dan geTouS.
 ''Mr. Ltchfie1d did not tell the en- tire story, for Norwalk is involved in this matter just as well as Bridge port They want the line and are in favor of it. The jit- ney line is the reliance of 500 people
 
 denst use the jitneys every week"
 The Bridgeport line of transportation developed into one of the most important features of the hearing and Mir. Litchfield's proposal to allow the traction concern excIu- slVe rights to the route were vigorous ly opposed. Such an act, according to MT. Keating would mean a total loss of s4O,OO0 to jitney owners who had been lead to establish the route hv nd oi+ spent five years building it up to it's present form.
 In reply to cross-examinatfon, MT Litchfeld admitted it was beyond the capability of the trolley company to care for all the transportation in Bridgeport. To do so would mean putting on more cars, which would mean slower service, one of the most consistent complaints against the present system. While he was decid- edly opposed to individual bus oper- ation, he did not believe any inn provement would be effected by all lowing the Connecticut Company to take away a service wanted by 90 per cent. of the people.
 In defense of their opposition to Jineys: Attorney Berry called several officials of the Connecticut Company to the stand The first was Supt kibling, of the local division, who of Tered a comparison of trolley ard I1tney service on the Norwaik- Bridgeport line. The only point he brought out was that the trolley com pany, on two occasions when checks were made, supplied S.200 seats in ex- cess of passengers,
 He also told of the schedules on the Norwalk line, and how it had been curtailed from 20 minute ser vlce in the summer of 1916 to hour ly service at the present time. Ser vice in Derby was curtaited until now a two-hour schedule is being operat- cd, Jltneys competition was the cause of both curtalmentS he said
 Com ptroller McGreevy was next with his figures showing the losses sustained by the company because of the activity of the jitneys.