Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-07-16
NEW CAR ROUTING
PLAN IS STUDIED
Commission Is Believed Try
ing to Hold Possible
Changes to Minimum.

Recruiting of Washington street cars,
which may be resorted to instead Of
granting car fare increases requested
by both of Washington's street car COM
panies, probably will not follow any
of the plans heretofore submitted to the
Public Utilities Commission, according
to indications In the office Of the COM
mission.
Apparently an entirely new scheme
will be worked out, calling for changes
which will be possible with a minimum
capital expense for changing tracks.
Laying and digging up Of the under
ground trolley system Is extremely ex-
pensive- The rerouting probably will
not be ordered unless the companies
make out their cases before the COM
mission that they are earning less than
fair return. Should this be the case,
there would be little chance of the COM
missions ordering extensive track
changes which would eat further into
the companies revenues.
Other Plans Call for Many Changes.
Most Of the plans submitted thus far
call for extensive track changes. A
sample of these is the plan prepared
by the Charles HanSel consulting Spei
cialistic and submitted to the commits
sion in connection with the hearings
before it on the Wilson merger plan.
This calls for elimination Of car tracks
on F street between Eleventh and
Fourteenth streets, and also on new
York avenue between Eleventh and FIJI
tenth streets. New track Is planned
on H, E and Thirteenth streets, so as
to make certain downtown loops pos
sible. Under the Hansel scheme there
would be two main through north ana
south arteries, Seventh and Fourteenth
streets; the downtown district would
be served by four "loops," as follows:
Thirteenth street, Twelfth, H ana E
streets; Eleventh street, Ninth, = ana
K streets; G street. F. Ninth and EleV.
enth streets, and E street, F, Ninth and
Eleventh streets.
Others Are Variations.
Variations of these schemes are TO
be found in the Mcclellan and Junkers-
field traffic survey, made in 1924; plan
submitted by Rowland Bibbins at the
merger hearings before the commission;
a plan prepared by the National Capt..
tai Park and Planning Commission, ana
a plan prepared by Maj. Clayton E.
Emig of the Federation of Citizens
Associations.
The commissions investigation, 1t
was said, will not necessarily adopt any
of the above schemes. Commissioners
Harleigh H. Hartman. who Is credited
generally with being the one most IN
terested in bringing about the re-rout-
ing, carefully refrained from committing
himself on any of the schemes when
questioned today. He said the investi-
CATION was one day old. and that TINS
was no time for talking about what
the result would be.
He said that the investigation would
be made, for the present, without out
side assistance. Should 1t be necessary
to employ outside experts, however, the
companies will be given notice and the
cost of the extra assistance will be
charged against them in accordance
with the law, which allows the COM
panies so assessed to amortize the as
sessment out of operating expenses.
A strong hint that something entirely
new in rerouting schemes Is to be
worked out. however, lay in the fact
that Mr.. Hartman had none of the
recruiting schemes mentioned on his
desk. One of them, in fact, could not
be located in the commissions files at
all, when asked for by a reporter. 1t
was discovered that it had been bor-
rowed by Bureau of Efficiency investi-
gator some time ago, and not returned.