Evening star., 1939-10-31
Transit hearinq
Orders Detailed
Evidence
Company Told to
Produce Plans to
Effect Savings

The Capital Transit Co., was under
orders from the Public Utilities Com
mission today to produce detailed
evidence as to how it planned to
eject economies in operation of
the Seventh street-Georgia avenue
street car line in the event the
Utilities Commission grants author
ity to discontinue street car service
on Butternut street east of Georgia
avenue.
A public hearing on the transit
hrm's petition to abandon the But
ternut street line was adjourned for
two weeks late yesterday when
commission officials found the COM
pany's witnesses unprepared to show
precisely how or when operation
costs on the main Georgia avenue
line would be reduced.
Dean j. Locke, staff engineer of
the transit company, who occupied
the stand most of the day, had
declared that the company, If per-
mitted to discontinue the Butternut
car service, eventually would be able
to reduce the number of cars serving
Georgia avenue north of Butternut
street and thus reduce operating
costs.
Pressed by Commission Chairman
Riley E. Elgen for more specific in
formation on what changes would be
made to effect this economy, Mr..
Locke replied that he was not pre-
pared to submit this data.
New Hearing Date Set.
1T seems to me-" Chairman Elgen
told Mr.. Locke" that your testimony
today is almost wholly dependent
on some other changes which have
not even been presented to the
Commission"
Edward D. Merrill, president of
the transit company, then told the
commission it would take some time
to prepare the data. Mr.. Elgen set
the date for another hearing for
November 49,
Earlier in the hearing, Engineer
Commissioner David McCoach, jr., a
member of the commission, had
questioned Mr.. Locke closely on the
company's proposal to provide ad-
ditional bus service to take care of
those who now use the service on
Butternut street.
The transit engineer had ex-
planned that four 4l-seat buses,
costing SOL 900, would be added to
the bus lines serving the Takoma
Park area, and that this would
mean an additional operating cost
Of $14,400 annually.
The commission then asked him
Il he had studied the possibility of
retaining the Butternut line and
extending its service by providing
q loop to permit operation of cars
a the Presidents Conference Com
mittee" type. Mr.. Locke said con-
struction of such loop would cost
e20 600, but admitted that the ad-
ditional operating expenses of the
extended service would be small
Then Col. McCoach said: Il can't
understand the company's willing
ness to take on an additional $14,-
900 annual operating expense and
two and one-half times more in
capital expenditure as against an
outlay Of $4,000 for the loop"
Score on Hand Testify.
More than a score of residents
and representatives of civic organ
tzations in the Takoma Park Sec
ton were present at the hearing
prepared to testify, but had no op-
portunity to be heard before the
hearing was adjourned.
During the session, it was de-
veloped that some of the cars now
In use on the Butternut street line
are 80 years old. One middle aged
man interrupted to say that one of
the cars on which he used to ride
TO high school still is in operation.
Mr.. Locke explained that the
company felt it could take care of
the added patronage from the
Butternut line by adding three more
through bus trips in the morning
and one more in the afternoon. In
addition, he said, three trips would
be added to the Kennedy street
shuttle bus line.
Chairman Elgen asked whether
he thought street car patronage
would increase If the loop proposal
were carried out. Mr.. Locke replied
that it would, but that the increase
would be wholly insufficient to take
care Of the added cost created by
the alteration of line facilities that
would be necessary to make the
change possible.
At the outset of the hearing, Mr..
Merrill declared that duplication of
street car and bus service had re-
suited in a decline of patronage on
the Butternut street line.
"The connnanv cannot offord fo