Evening star., 1934-02-04
Transit Company Reports It
Has Put on So More
Operators.
CROWDED CONDITIONS
LAID TO PASS USE
Increase Is 119 Vehicles and
2,042 Miles in Face of Nu-
merous Complaints.

IL may pc UcCduoc VI liic iiIci ecl' >
or the end of the depression, but the
street car business in Washington is
on the upgrade.
So much so, in fact, that the Capt.
tai Transit Co. in a 20-day period
recently hired SO additional street car
and bus operators, and is continuing
to hire and train others as fast as
it can, and encountering difficulty in
getting enough good men.
The cheerful news has reached the
Public Utilities Commission in the
somewhat disguised form of COM
plants against overcrowded street
cars, but in addition to the crowds
clamoring for admittance to the cars
il. rush hours there is substantial evi-
| dence pointing to a reversal of the
downward trend of the passenger
curve for the first time since long be-
| fore the financial panic of 1929.
Service Held Increase.
In recent commune to the
commission, the Capital Transit Co.
revealed substantial increase in serv-
ice on the comparable dates of No
vember %. 1888, and January l8, 1884,
the former date being just two days
before the merger of the two old street
car systems took place. On the No
! vember date in its rush-hour service
morning and evening, the old COM
panies operated l.240 vehicles a total
of 60.769 miles. On the January date
the operations had risen to 1859 ve-
hicles which operated a total of o.
Bill miles. an increase of 1l9 ve-
hicles and 2.042 miles. In spite OF
this increase, the cars continued
crowded and the complaints con-
tinued to come in.
That increase necessitated the hir-
ing of 80 additional street car opera.
tors and 10 bus operators. Since that
time the company has been hiring
street car and bus operators and train.
ing them as fast as it can. In addi-
tlon, to that. permission of the com.
mission has been secured TO purchase
~ additional busses as a help in tax.
ing care Of the extra passenger load
Owing to the complexities OF max
ing up single set of books to re.
place the two sets kept previous tt
the merger. the company has not YET
hied with the commission either it,
December monthly financial report OF
the financial report covering the en-.
tire calendar year of 1888. but it i!
understood that both will show a con-
siderably better financial position thar
the similar 1882 reports.
Pass System Popular.
In discussing the upswing of the
street car traffic yesterday, Riley E
/ Elgen. acting chairman of the COM
mission, said that the difficulty II
overcoming the crowded condition il
the street cars might be due to tbs
tremendous change in the riding
habits OF the population since tbs
initiation of the weekly pass system
on the lines of the Capital Transit Co
This is especially noticeable on the
cross-town lines" he said, "where
nowadays a man can get across from
one point to another by selecting the
lines that are most direct. In the olC
days he would either ride around
Robin Hoods barn or take a taxi.
| Il have taken up this question oil
the crowded cars very forcibly with
the company. and their officials as
sure me that they are more anxious tc
improve the service than I am. They
realize that they cannot continue tc
attract patronage with poor service
and I know they are making efforts
to put out service that will meet the
needs Of the riders. do not believe
they need am additional street cars
to do this with, as it should be possible
to meet the situation by better use oi
the equipment they now have"
Transfer Hearing Ordered.
The commission will take up at a
public hearing March S the questio.,
of the rates to be charged for bus
street car transfers and vice versa
At the moment some of these are free
but there are charges for others.
Later on there will be another pub.
Lie hearing, expected to be very
lengthy affair, at which the question
of rerouting. rescheduling and re-
arranging all of the company street
car and bus lines will be taken up. The
commissions engineering staff is noT
at work on this problem, compiling a
series of "trip logs" to show the pre-
vailing tides of the passenger traffic
or the system as it now stands. Later
on some outstanding authority will be
engaged to assist the commission ir
the job of Strengthening out the pres
ent crazy-quilt traction lines left over
from the days of competitive street cal
| s1,ctoroS