Evening star., 1925-09-16

increased cost per passenger Tor the
Capital Traction Co."
After showing what the cost Of serv-
ice per passenger would be If the
companies were earning 71a per cent
on their valuations, the engineers pre-
sented another table showing the av
erage revenue per passenger actually
received by the companies during 1924
on the present rate of fare. The table
follows:
Capital Traction Co during 1924 col
lected 17,872,419 cash fares and A.
27S,2S0 token fares. This produced
passenger revenue of $3.50, ,l51. or
7.05 cents per revenue passenger. The
estimated cost of service per passen-
ger on a ~ per cent rate of return
was 7.29 cents.
Washington Railway and Electric
Co during 1924 collected 17.260,l35
cash fares and 60,526.540 tokens.
This produced passenger revenue of
S5,397.6S5. or 6.94 cents per revenue
passenger. The estimated cost of serv-
Ice allowing for a 71a per cent rate of
return was $40 cents.
Washington Rapid Transit Co. dur
ing 1924 collected 1,116.221 cash fares
and 1.4S2,957 tokens, producing rev.
enue of S239 9.04S. or 9.3S cents per
revenue passenger. The estimated
cost of service based on 711 per cent
return was 9.32 cents.
Traffic Tried Out.
Turning from the question of cost Of
transportation, the engineers conclude
their final chapter with q mass of
data concerning vehicular traffic and
how 1t moves over the streets.
In order to measure the adequacy of
the street plan OF the city the en-
gineers made a score of automobile
trips from various central points to
various outlying sections of the city
They kept a record of exactly how
long 1t took to make each trip, the
number of delays encountered and the
causes Of those delays.
The maximum speed limit in the
District Is 22 miles an hour, but on
most of these test trips the average
speed for the trip was less than 20
miles per hour. The best time made
was on Sixteenth street from Scott
Circle TO Alaska avenue, where the
machine was able to average 81 miles
per hour
Travelling from Dupont Circle to
Thirteenth and E streets by way of
massachusetts, avenue, the automobile
making the test was able to average
only 13 miles per hour. From Ninth
street and New York avenue to Elev-
enth street and Pennsylvania avenue,
by way of New York avenue and
Eleventh street the average speed
was only lo.5 miles per hour
Hindrances to Traffic.
The engineers cited many similar
trips to show the rate at which traffic
is able to flow going in various direc-
tions. In listing the causes of delay
on these trial auto trips the engineers
emphasize angle parking opposite
loading platforms and automobiles
parked abreast OF other machines.
The engineers recall a fact which
they made public several months ago,
namely, that Sixteenth street shows
higher peak traffic loads than Fifth
avenue, New York, although traffic
on the average is lighter on Sixteenth
street
The report contains the following
summary of count made of vehicles
entering and leaving the District of
Columbia:
"A total of 69,742 vehicles were
counted in the course of this check,
of which 2S,755 were inbound and 30,-
9S7 outbound. Thirty-nine thousand
and forty-two were observed at points
on the Maryland boundary and 20, 700
at points on the Virginia boundary.
OF the N\cles observed at the Mary
land line q ,3S4 bore District license
plates and 1916 Maryland license
ginia line 10,630 bore District license
plates and s.22S Virginia license
plates"
Rush Traffic Checked.
The engineers also took five Of the
busiest intersections downtown and
counted the number Of vehicles 60
ing in each direction during a rush
hour. The results of these checks
are incorporated in the report and
should prove helpful to the traffic
officials in regulating traffic at those
points. The corners were Four
teenth street and New York Avenue,
Fifteenth street and Pennsylvania
avenue. Eleventh and G streets,
Ninth street and Pennsylvania ave-
nue. and Fourteenth and G streets.
In studying the riding habits of the
people of Washington the engineers
made special counts Of the number of
persons visiting the base ball park,
theaters, railroad stations and vari
Gus amusement parks and the con-
veyances used In getting to such
places.
This study shows there are always
more base ball fans going to the ball
park in autos than on street cars.
Likewise, the counts revealed that
more amusement seekers go to Glen
Echo and Arlington Beach in auIomo-
biles than on street cars.
Another important Job undertaken
by the engineers was to have OBJ.
servers ride from one end of the route
to the other on all the street car and
bus lines to ascertain the distrbu-
ton of the daily business Of each line
They made these rides at various
times of the day and counted the num-
Der Of persons boarding and leaving
at each stop.
In order to measure the frequency
and adequacy of service checkers
were stationed on the street along
each car and bus line and made a
record Of the time and load Of each
car and bus passing. All of these
voluminous records will be available
in determining how the transportation
| service of the city may. be improved.
DR.. G. w. Eliot Reported Ill.