Evening star., 1938-12-05

MO-, Dtd HOckCtIS peke ana Ctd
Georgetown road last spring on
grounds it 1Ods losing money In
dtpddudls and ciOtc groups pro-
tested. claiming better serpice
mould attract sufficient patron
age. Maryland Public Service
Commission ordered tour
months trial period of curtdiled
service Which ended October rs,
after which hearing on an ap-
plication to raise fares ,Das
granted.
Special Dispatch to the Star.
BALTIMORE, Dec. 5.-1ncrease
In communication rates on the Mont
gomery bus line and the Alta Vista
line, operated by the Capital Transit
Co., were authorized today by the
Maryland Public Service Commits
sion.
At the same time the commission
rejected = plea Of the transit 11rm
to discontinue service between the
District of Columbia and Washing
ton Grove via Rockville and CATH
ersburg, and on the line between the
District Of Columbia and Rockville
via Alta Vista. 1t further directed
the company to provide peak service
not less than that now being givel
and promptly to increase the off,
peak service.
The fare increase is to become
effective not earlier than January 1.
The company Is given Is days In
which to notify the commission
whether or not it will accept and
abide by the order.
Permission to Rezone.
The increase in the communication
rates authorized in the order is con-
siderably below that sought by the
company. 1t amounts to about IS
per cent over existing rates on the
longer hauls but decreases gradually
as the distance shortens, according
to ofncials. 1t was pointed out that
in some instances the increase
sought by the company amounted
to about 95 per cent.
Omcials of the Capital Transit Co.
emphasized that the order applies to
intrastate rates only and said that
probably within the next "a hours"
they would apply to the Interstate
Commerce Commission for authority
to charge interstate rates lin har-
mony with the order of the Mary
land Commission.
They said it was difficult to make
. comparison between present rates
and those called for under the new
order, as the zones themselves are
different. For instance, there are
now four zones to Rockville while
under the new order there would be
seven.
Under the order the company is
granted permission to rezone the
Maryland operation Of the lines into
b-cent fare zones, substantially As
suggested to the commission when
the hearing in the case flrst opened
last April. There are II Of these
zones and the commissions order
grants the company authority to ad-
just the 12-ride Maryland intra-
state weekly communication tickets as
follows:
One zone, so cents; two zones,
10 cents; three zones, 90 cents: four
zones, $l.l0; five zones, $1.25; six
zones, $l.45; seven zones, 31.60; eight
zones, $l.S0; nine zones, 81; ten
sones, $2.l5, and eleven zones, $2.35.
1t had been proposed by the COM
pany that these rates be set at As
cents for the first zone, 10 for the
second, SIC for the third, S145 for
the fourth, Sits for the NTH, $2.lo
for the sixth, $3.50 for the seventh.
$285 for the eights. 1910 for the
ninth, 1856 for the tenth and 1896
for the eleventh.
In addition to ordering the COM
pany to continue its present peak
service on the two lines, the COM
mission also has ordered that this
service shall be promptly augmented
by the following off-peak service:
Service every two hours between
Rockville and the District Line via
Rockville pike.
Service every two hours between
Montrose and the District Line via
Oid Georgetown road through Alta
Vista.
Service every half hour between
Ahe National Institute of Health and
the District line via Rockville pike.
Service every half hour between
Alta Vista and the District Line via
Old Georgetown road.
Service for Holidays.
sunday and holiday service to be
on approximately the same basis as
the on-peak weekday service,
Under this plan of peak and holi-
day service will be provided on a
two-hour basis for the TERRITORY on
the Old Georgetown road north Of
Alta Vista. Proposal to eliminate
this service brought strong protests
1rom representatives of Luxmanor
and other communities.
The service on the Rockville pike
Is between the District line and
Washington Grove and that on the
Alta Vista line Is on the Old George
town road between the District line
and Rockville.
When the hearing was held by
che commission practically all the
sections involved were represented
by opponents to the rate increase
planned by the company.
The commission stated that it had
been hoped that a reduction in
schedules. tried during a four-month
experimental period, would make an
increase IN fares unnecessary, but
the company had submitted evil
dence showing that the revenues
produced were insufficient to meet
the costs of operation.
DisIiking c Comparisons,