Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1922-09-06
u S. ELECTRIC RAILWAY LINES
SEE BIG INCREASE IN TRAFFIC
Will Garry 100000 More Passengers
Present Month Than in September,
1921-Industrial Revival Factor.

extremely scattered instances But
1t Will be followed by the eXpendi
ture of scores of millions Of dollars
for deferred maintenance and new
| equipment in the next four months.
The fares of interurban bus lines
| and jitneys give equally small in
i dication of reduction, but a large
amount will be expended for new
bus equipment in the latter part of
| the year
!, Leading traction men here and In
! Chicago declared today that they
fully expected the increase in street
car patrons throughout the country
| to be maintained or increased in
! October. November and December.
| They base this opinion. first. on the
| industrial revival just now begin
ming to catch its stride. and. second,
| on the increase in retail business
with its attendant shopping excur-
buying power of the farmer and ad-
vanced wage scales in mills, mines
| and factories
Cite ..FinaI Great Factor"
AS final great factor, they name
| the weekly pass" This system of fares
provides for the sale of weekly tickets
purchaser or member of his family may
ride as often as desired within the
| week. These passes, from the results
J shown in the eighteen or twenty com
| munities, where they have been intro
| duced. bid fair to become the greatest
formers of the riding habit ever
known in the street car business. A
| Chicago engineer, who acts as con-
! sultant for several roads, today named
| the pass the Moses of the fractions
| which was to lead them out of the
wilderness of jitney competition and
| fare disputes.
The average fare throughout the
| United States is cents ride Street
| car lines in general are making profits
| at that rate. Only sin companies. in
| volving small capitalization, have gone
into the hands of receivers in the last
\ six months, compared with eighty COM
| panies in the previous Semi-annual per-
| iod. But the companies did not begin
\ to earn back the deficit accumulated
during the war until 1920 and have not
yet caught up with deferred mainten
ance programs.
Prepared to Make Improvements.
! Now, however, they are prepared to
go forward with requirements and inn
! provementS The electric railroads OF
| the United States spent 100000 in
| new equipment and betterments last
year. according to figures prepared to-
| day by the president of the American
Electric Railway Association. 1t is es-
| TINA ted that nearly $500 900. 900 will be
| spent by the roads before December 81
| this year.
| In this city the Brooklyn Rapid
! Transit Company has been ordered to
! add nearly $50 cars to it's equipment
! before the end of the year, and large
! additions will be made to the Inter
! borough system. The traction orders
will add materially to the activity OF
steel mills and railway equipment
! companies in all sections. A consider
able portion of the purchases of inter-
! urban lines will be for express and
! baggage cars, as many such roads are
| preparing to meet interurban bus
J competition by developing goods
transportation.
Cost of Coal Affects Roads.
| Although the amount of coal avail
| able has ceased to be pressing prob
/ lem. the cost of coal to the railways
! is still a factor which tends to pre-
vent further fare reductions. Com
| panies developing electric power are
stretching plant capacity to the ut
most. for they have customers for
every unit of power which they can
transmit. Electric power production
reached the highest point the first of
this month that il has touched in over
four years.
! The city jitneys. according to wide
| so we'll as in the past This is at
| tributed. in part. to municipal regu-
| lation and. in part. to the fact that
! the small jitney lines change owner
| ship every sixty days on the average.