Evening star., 1932-12-10
They Must Keep at 1t.

The District OF Columbia Chamber
Of Commerce is to be congratulated
on its active sponsorship of the move
ment represented in the newly formed
Joint Transportation Committee, the
purpose of which is to bring some
order out of the chaos of regulated
and unregulated competition between
local transportation agencies. But the
movement must not be permitted to
lapse with its launching. If any prob
lem ever required careful study and
decisive action, it is the problem exem-
plified in the inability of the street
car and bus companies adequately to
perform, at acceptable rates, their i'm
portant functions in carrying Washing
ton back and forth between home and
Office and in the competition with such
functions offered by unregulated taxi
cab service.
The companies themselves have been
interested in a solution, but approach
that solution from the selfish point OF
view. Congress should be interested
In q solution, as an exercise OF its ex-
elusive power of local government. but
never seems to have the time to get
around to it. The local regulatory
body. the Public Utilities Commission,
is interested in solution, but its hands
are pretty much tied by Short-sighted
Hesitation. The various planning
bodies are interested, but their main
business is planning-not action.
The transportation service Of the city
Is primarily in the interest OF the citi-
zens. The Joint Transportation Com
mittee represents an organized effort by
citizens to bring some action by the
various official bodies to remove some OF
the more obvious causes OF the DIM
culttes which find increasing manifesto
tions every year.
One Of these dificulties is the conn
petition between the city's two street
car systems, both of them enjoying
some of the protection that results from
public regulation, both Of them suffer-
ing some Of the hsndicaps Of such regu-
lstien, neither one OF them being able
to make both ends meet nor furnish the
service it should furnish. Street ear
riders, instead OF being taxed, through
their fares, for the support Of one
company, must support two companies
that to some extent overlap In service
and build up wasteful overhead repre-
sented in two separate and distinct or
ganizations The companies should be
merged Citizens should work to that
end, not necessarily accepting the
proposition by the companies, not nee
essarily accepting the proposition of
those antsgonistic to the companies
plans, but seeking sensible Cancellation
of conflicting policies and principles
that will make merger of some sort
effective.
Another source of trouble results
from the fact that taxicabs, which
cannot now nor can they ever per-
form the function of mass transporta-
ton with which the street cars are
charged, are enjoying the right of yir-
tually unregulated competition with the
strictly regulated street car companies.
To permit this competition to continue
merely because of the temporarily low
cab rate, itself resulting from cut
throat competition among the cabs, is
to invite the slow deterioration of
street car service and resulting loss
Of necessary form of transportation
without providing any substitute in its
place.
The Citizens Committee, under the
Chamber of Commerce. correctly con-
ceives the local transportation problem
as whole, not to be solved by one
step, but by many. What Washington
T--ds Is concerted insistence by its cit
lens that there be recognition of the
problem by official agencies. and action
initiated toward its solution.