Evening star., 1942-09-16
.HigherFa
For Express
.busesUrged
Transit Co. Counsel
Ruises Question at
PUG Hearing

I Question Of higher fare for ex-
| press bus service was raised today
by spokesmen for the Capital
{ Transit Co. as the Public Utilities
Commission continued hearings on
i proposals for establishing express
/ service on Sixteenth street NV. and
related revamping Of other trans
portation.
S. r. Bowen, company counsel,
argued there would be discrimina-
] ton involved if one section were
given super service" that was
denied to others, unless there was a
price differential which would even
things up.
Commission Member Gregory
Hankin, former chairman, retprted
that what Mr.. Bowen was arguing
was that service standards should
be lowered to the level of local serv-
Ice instead Of raising service stand
ards to the level of such sections as
have express service.
During continued cross-examina-
tion of Dean j. Locke, company staff
engineer, the witness said the COM
pany was forced to conclude that
the proposed express bus service for
Sixteenth street would require more
buses and more men than were now
In service. He argued the company
already was short OF men and could
not operate the proposed schedule
now He could not say what would
be the case in the future.
Locke Reiterates Position.
The traditional position of the
transit company has been that a
higher fare should be charged for
express bus service than for ordin-
ary local service.
Mr.. Hankin today attempted to
get Mr.. Locke to modify his dec
laration of yesterday that the COM
missions origin and destination
survey, on which the Sixteenth
street express bus plan was predi-
Gated, was dead as a dodo."
MIR. Locke not only repeated his
statement, but told Mr.. Hankin he
would not permit him to rephrase
his statement.
Since the present plan for con-
verting many Sixteenth street buses
to express service calls for shunting
many North Washington bus riders
to the Georgia avenue car line,
Mr.. Locke suggested that car service
might be made more attrative by
providing streetcar express service
between New Hampshire and Mas
GAchusetts avenue NV.
Would Require Adjusting Light.
He said this was q possibility that
might be accomplished by estab-
li6hment Of local bus service along
Georgia avenue and Seventh street
10 take care Of passengers who could
not board or leave the Georgia ave-
nue cars In this area. Also, he ex-
planned, trafiic' lights would have to
be rearranged so that the express
streetcars could 60 through with
out stops that would absorb the
possibilities in time savings.
To prevent establishment of ex-
press bus service on upper Sixteenth
street from bleeding" the Georgia
avenue carlines of present passen-
ger loads, PUG engineers have pro-
posed the elimination of bus service
on Alaska avenue between Georgia
avenue and Sixteenth street, a part
of the So line. This suggestion
has brought protests from residents
In the area. The plan is that per-
sons living In the Alaska avenue
area should walk either to the
Georgia avenue carline or to the
Sixteenth street buses.
Mr.. Locke said more than 2,00O
persons daily use the So buses and
that more than 1.400 use stops
along Alaska avenue.