Evening star., 1936-01-20
to 100000
Yearly Increase in Reve-
nues Seen for Company.
FINDINGS IN HEARINGS
SUMMARIZED IN BRIEF
Utilities Commission to Give
Company Opportunity to An. .
swer Before Acting.

ment, either through purchase OF new
cars or rebuilding old cars. wa.
pointedly suggested today by Fred A
Sager, chief engineer Of the Public
Utilities Commission. as a means ol
great improvement in mass transpor.
tatiOn service.
In a brief summarizing findings ir
the recent hearings on complaints
against the Capital Transit Co.. Sagel
argued provision of faster equipment
would increase the revenues Of the
company as much as $1,50O,O00 te
$2,000,0 900 a year.
Sager listed a half dozen definite
recommendations, designed to improve
street car and bus movements gener.
ally. Chairman Riley E. Elgen sale
the commission would withhold action
for a few days to give the company
opportunity to reply to Sagers find.
ings.
Committee Proposed.
Sager proposed designation Of 8
committee representing the commits.
sion, the company and District train,
officials to study ard make recon-.
mendations on parking restrictions ir
congested areas along street car anc
bus lines; and proposals concerning
the effects OF traffic lights on the
speed Of all passenger vehicles. includ.
ing street cars. busses and taxis, with
a view to expediting travel.
He urged the commission to require
the company to submit comprehen-
sive statement "as to their plans for
the replacing of old and inadequate
cars now in service by new cars,
preferably enough to operate the en-
tire base day service. and by re-
habilitating all existing cars to the
end that no two-motor equipments
shall be continued in operation.
Sager also insisted the record
shows the company needs a larger
maintenance force and maintenance
facilities and urged the commission to
submit plans to meet such conditions
Lack of Management Hit.
The chief engineer also struck
again at the alleged lack Of proper
management on the part of the com.
pany. He recommended the company
employ an expert, approved by the
commission, to report to the company
and the commission on operations to
the end that both be fully advised as
to what is necessary to be done by
the company either in the selection OF
officers for various responsible posi-
tions or as to the establishment OF
lines of authority or as to the estab-
ment Of reports and records which,
when put into effect, will result in
material improvement in the service
rendered"
Sager said the record of the hearing
proved the company did not know
from hour to hour what was hap
pening on the streets" as to its equip
ment, and he urged the company re-
quire its bus and street car operators
file reports showing the time and
other conditions of their runs. He
proposed this as one means of pre-
venting breaks" in street car and
bus headways, which were responsible
for q great mass Of the complaints.
Fourteenth Street Lines Cited.
Sager selected experience on the
Fourteenth street lines to prove his
points about headway troubles and
the need for faster equipment. He
said the record showed that the COM
pany had operated more cars on that
line than required by present commits
sion regulations. Due to breaks in
headway. he said the service was bad,
some cars being overcrowded and
others not being filled to capacity. His
exhibits, he said, showed that speed of
operation has been decreasing and that
this fact carried with it increased op-
Grating expenses.
If the actual speed of operation
had been increased by about l mile
per hour, above that the figures which
range from the present low of 8.57
miles per hour to maximum Of from
9.5 to 1913 miles per hour, the saving
in operating expenses for 1884 would
have been about $3.50 900, and for 1885,
s270,000." HIS point was that faster
speed would enable the company to
carry the same number Of passengers
with fewer runs, and that faster speeds,
with the same operating costs. would
enable the company to carry more
passengers. which Sager believes there
by would be attracted.
Sager turned to experiences on the
Chevy Chase line. where buses were
substituted for street cars. to nnd fur
ther arguments.
Riding Increases 19 Pct.
although the busses are not a.
comfortable as the new street cars
not as comfortable as the old street
cars, yet on account OF increased speed
and on account Of the newness Of tine
busses, the riding on this line has
increased approximately 19 per cent
Practically all this increase is due
to the downtown rush hour trafic in
the morning and the outbound rush
hour traffic in the afternoon. The ouS-
bound morning load, due to workers
IL tA1C NA4CVy OAA0nS aASst 0AA~ SAAS Wv
ming inbound load due to workers in
the same area has remained about
the same As before substitution Of
buses for street cars.
Had new cars Of the type similar
to the 20 new cars operating on the
Rosslyn line been available for base
day street car service and had all
of the old cars been equipped with
four motors to provide for acceler-
alton and deceleration. at reasonably
high rates, in my mind there is no
question that the increase In riding
would be in the neighborhood of from
20 to rs per cent and possibly more,
accompanied by an increase in revenue
saving to . possible 100000 or
more"
-. -s-
Imports Increase.
Imports from the United States into
Hongkong, China, are increasing.
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