Evening star., 1938-01-18
'3.F0R7S' TOKEN
RATE|SPOSS|bLE,
ELGEN D|SCL0SES
Head of Public Utilities Conn.,
mission Testifies at
House Hearing.
MASS TRANSPORTATION
SERVICE is DEFENDED
District Has Fewer One-Man
Street Cars Than Any City Its
Size, Committee Is Told.

The six-for- -50-cent token rate, which
provoked storm of protest several
months ago, may be changed to q
three-for-25-cent rate, Riley E. Elgen,
chairman of the Public Utilities Com
mission, told the Public Utilities SUBJ
committee of the House District Com
mittee today when it resumed investi-
cation of the Capital Transit Co.
The commission now is making a
serious study of the problem" Mr..
Elgen declared, and IF it appears the
three-for-25-cent rate is more desir-
able and will not result in a loss to
the company, it will be adopted"
Mr.. Elgen cited various reasons why
the commission adopted q six-for-50-
cent rate. He explained that the COM
mission believed such q wholesale"
sale of tokens would speed up service,
and add about 100000 a year to the
company's income.
Our view was" he said, "the six
1or-SO-cent rate would help both the
company and the riding public"
Service Is Defended.
Mr.. Elgen also defended the mass
transportation service, pointing out it
compared favorably with similar serv-
Ice in any other city of comparable
size. He also said Washington has
fewer one-man cars in operation than
any city comparable in size, and ex-
planned the tendency throughout the
country Is to abandon two-man cars,
largely because of economic conditions.
''The commission wants two-man
ears in Washington" he declared,
.''but it doesn't have the right to COM
pei their operation under existing
law. It can, however, force abolition
of one-man car operations if it is
definitely determined that they lack
safety and are inefficient"
One of the bills under consideration
by the subcommittee would abolish
one-man car operations.
Improved Service.
Asked by Representative Dirksen,
Republican. of Illinois, for his general
observations on the mass transporta-
ton situation, Mr.. Elgen said:
1.-THE service in 1881, when I went
on the commission, and in the succeed
ing years was not as good as it is now.
We have directed our efforts to i'm
provement in service. There is only
one thing We can do-make the service
as good as possible, and that is what
We intend to do.
Il firmly believe the transportation
service in Washington is as good as
1t Is in any other city of comparable
size. True, it is not satisfactory yet,
but we intend to bring about i'm
provement. Our ultimate objective is
q perfect transportation service"
incidentally, Mr.. Elgen said the
commission now is receiving fewer
complaints about service than it did
when he first became a member and
stressed the need of increased per-
sonnel.
Says l6 More Needed.
He explained there are now only 10
employees on the staff-the same num-
ber it had when the commission was
created in 1913 and that at least Is
more are needed.
Criticism of one-man cars was made
by Alfred D. Calvert of the Lincoln
Park Citizens Association, who brand
ed them as "a positive menace to
the safety of the community"
Edna o. Anderson, secretary of the
Citizens Conference on Transporta-
ton, submitted the organizations FIVE
point program which opposes the re-
cent token fare increase and calls
for: Public ownership and operation
Of the transit lines, reorganization Of
the Utilities Commission, re-establish-
ment of the office of peoples counsel
and a study of the feasibility and
advisability of subway system.
The subcommittee will not hold an
other hearing for several weeks.