Imperial Valley press., 1942-01-01
CAPITAL TALKS
by
Peter
Edison

tie Class ! rGliO3Ah ptLlllOll lU4 :
n per cent increase in non-mili
tary passenger fares there IS somf
interesting information On wha'
las been happening 10 railway pas
sanger traffic lately and a fore
cast of wha. sort of accommoda-
tions the rail-riding public may cX-
pect as the war effort gets hotter
Passenger fare increases, OF
course, aren't the only boosts the
roads are seeking. They want a
10 per cent increase in freight
rates and other accessory charg-
es. the total to Weld an estimated
$3.50 million which would offset
wage increases of $3.50 million and
an estimated $50 million increas-
ed expenses for safeguarding
property in wartime.
It's the passenger side OF the
question which affects the aver
age bIoke the most, however. so
let's have look.
In this foul bail Of a year o.
1G4I. the railroads estimate they
have carried about three Nllllor
soldiers in mass troop movements
on top of regular civilian traftle
and the movement of the milltar!
to and from home on furlough. Lat
est statistics available, covering the
first nine months of the year, shov
the roads carried 361 million pas
sengers as against 337 million j
the same period of 1910, a sizeablC
up.
Stating the figure another way, i
averages out as four railroad trip
a year for every man, woman am
child in the country. On the basl:
OF passengers miles, the railroad
statis1icians estimate the total buSl
ness for l94l will be about 90 bill
lion passenger miles, as against 2
billion last year and an al-timf
peak CT 81 billion for 1929.
MOST BY AUTO
In spite of these somewhat IN
comprehensible figures, the rail
roads haul surprisingly small pro-
portion of the country's total travel
Ralph Budd, transportation COM
missioner in OPM estimates the
railroads get only per cent c
the passenger traffic, 80 per cent
of it now going by private auto,
per cent by bus and l per cent by
air and inland waterways.
Pile the impact OF the war effort
on this situation, and you can look
for some very definite trends:
le
for more and more troop move
ments, they will have to assign
more equipment to the military.
This will be coaches for the short
er hauIs, with tourist acCommoda-
tions and Pullmans for the long
hauls. To assign this equipment to
the services, the railroads may
have to start curtailing their reg
ular schedules. UnprOf able
trains, local trains other than
commuter trains will be hit first.
here the railroads will run into
the state regulatory bodies and
local chambers of commerce
which will start squawking about
having old No. 16 taken off the
P.D. ~ Q.-why folks hereaboutS
have been setting their watches
by her whistle for years. Never
theIess the railroads have been
running hundreds of these accom-
mediation trains and losing their
shirts on them, and the war may
sound their death whistle now.
AS automobile production is cur
tailed. as tires are rationed, as gas
cline consumption is limited for
private use-yeS, that's coming, and
Mr.. Ickes may be right the next
time he yells, Boo Gas Shortage!
more passenger traffic may be
thrown at the railroads..
MAY ENLARGE BUS HOLDINGS
The railway may increase their
holdings and operations Of bus lines
though in this the roads are limited
by Interstate Commerce Commis-
sion hesitancy TO permit control OF
a competing means of transporta-
ton. Also, when the reads go into
bus lines. they must operate under
railroad retirement act and rail-
road unemployment laws at an ex-
ptnSc which independent bus line
operators do not face.
Any further assignment of com
mcrcial aircraft to the Army and
Navy would give the railroads more
of the first-clas3 passenger traffic
This luxury travel is booming
there are 121 streamlinerS in opera
/ ton with 26 more under construc-
tion-and it would grow naturally
as the national income increases
with war prosperity.
Recent history Of railroad pas
senger rates begin with the roads
own experiments of the 1905, Whe,
fares were voluntarily cut to from
II cents to o. cents per mile in
a depression effort to meet com
petition, The average passenger
rate for the whole country is nov
S00I75 per passenger mile a II
per cent hike in those rates still
wouldn't bring them up to the 1922
average of s003036 per passenger
mile. And with a federal tax pow
applying on railroad fares if tht
ICC grants the rate raise, the gov.
ernment Will be collecting more
taxes from this source than it anti.
cipated.