Evening star., 1936-05-27
BY JOHN H. CLINE.


The cheap taxicab has been thorn
in the side of the Capital Transit Co.
for the past five years, but in some
respects the cabs have been a factor
in improving the mass transporta-
ton service.
Operation of the 4,000-odd cabs on
the streets, many of them "a hours
a day, unquestionably has compli-
Gated the problem Of traf1ic conges-
ton, but they also have furnished
brand CT competition which has spur
red the transit company into better
ing its service.
Definite figures are not available,
but the best information at the dis
posal of the Public Utilities Commis-
sion indicates the gross annual rev.
enue of all the cabs is from 100000
to $10,000,000. a considerable portion
of which might have gone to the
transit lines If they had furnished q
good enough brand Of service to at
tract the thousands Of persons who
began riding taxicabs when the meter
system was abandoned in favor Of
cheap zone rates.
Feel Blow Downtown.
The transit company has been hard
est hit in the downtown area. where
the present taxi fare is 20 cents. Prin-
cipally because the cabs can offer
speedier and more direct transpor-
tation, many Government employees
and other workers in the congested
area have been banding together and
using cab service. BY this means they
are able to ride for the same or little
more than bus and street car fare.
Chairman Riley +. Elgen of the
Public Utilities Commission estimated
that the average cab driver takes in
about s6 day. On this basis the 1000
cabs in 800 days would gross $1,000, 900.
This figure, however, does not take
into consideration the fact that many
of the cabs are operated on a 24-hour
basis, which would, Of course, increase
the total of their income.
Study Permits Comparison.
In 1884 F. A. Sager. chief engineer
for the commission, drew up q COM
parison of street car, bus and taxicab
operations, based on careful study Of
this subject. All taxicab figures were
estimates, exact statistics not being
available.
He found the passenger revenue for
the railway lines to be $6.113,251 and
that Of busses $1,142,306, q total Of ST.
255,557 for the year 1888. That was
just before the merger Of the Capital
Traction Co. and the Washington
Railway & Electric Co., a time when
transit earnings were at q low ebb.
In the same year, the revenue for
taxicabs was $8,800,000. The bus
and street cars, however, hauled s1,-
56S,81l revenue passengers for their
money, while the taxicab passengers
totaled only 38,500.000.
Another factor with q significant
bearing on the problem Of trafic con-
gestion concerns the number Of car
miles operated. The total for the
busses and street cars was 23, ,709, $50,
while the taxicabs operated $4,000
900 miles In the year.
Long Hauls by Street Cars.
The number of revenue passengers
per car mile was 4.66 for street cars,
1876 for busses and 0.25 for taxicabs
In other words, the street cars hauled
18 times as many passengers per car
mile Of operation as the tAxcabs.
The transit company has blamed
many Of its physical troubles on the
taxicabs. Of1cials Of the company
contend that cabs operating in the
congested district hamper the buses
and street cars to such an extent that
1t sometimes becomes virtually impos-
sible to maintain schedules, resulting