Evening star., 1948-09-06
Suggestions for Bus Service

ou&SSSIOuS lOI DuS CSI FISC
To the Editor OF The Star:
I do not know whether or not the financial
situation Of Capital Transit requires that the
rates be raised But we all know that the serv-
ice offered by the company Is unnecessarily
poor in many respects No rate increase should
be authorized until the company has insured
Improvements that cost nothing except brains
and willingness to serve.
Here is ; listing of what the company could
do for the public without any or with only a
tfifie Of additional expenditure:
% The now of vehicles Is erratic on all the
principal bus and streetcar lines at practically
all times of the day. You wait at the appointed
stop for q quarter of an hour and after having
properly cooled your proverbial heels a vertiable
fleet of vehicles sails in for you to suit your
pleasure. There is no excuse for wasting the
time of the public by poor station keeping save
perhaps at rush hours when vehicles are liable
to be bottled up in heavy traffic. Competent
management would insure flow of traffic at
successive short intervals of single units rather
than at long intervals of patches of three or
four.
ca There are too many stops for buses as
we'll as for streetcars In numerous instances
they arc barely 300 or 400 feet apart. While a
certain abundance of boarding and alighting
facilities may be necessary downtown, it merely
slows up the traffic in theE residential areas.
Hundreds of stops could be Cancelled with in
convenience only for a few, and with traffic
speeoed up for the convenience of all.
80 Express bus service is confined to the rush
hours on the theory apparently, that the pub
lie takes it easy all the rest of the day On
all principal busines the express service should
be extended to cover the whole day. not at the
same rate OF frequency at all hours, OF course.
but on regular, properly publicized schedules.
There is no reason why this metropolis should
not be as conveniently served as New York,
where the subways run express trains from
morn to night.
% Countless bus hours are wasted every day
by passengers alighting by the front exit in
the face of any number of persons waiting to
board. 1t requires very little effort to dis
courage this selfish or thoughtless habit in a
people generally willing to cooperate for the
common good. Posters should be placed inside
all buses inviting the public to help speed up
traffic oy Using the rear door for exit, and
drivers should be instructed to keep the front
door closed for persons forgetful of or unwilling
to show a more democratic spirit. The front
onor is successfully closed for exit in number
OF American cities.
(5) Time often is lost on account OF puzzng
arrangements whereby drivers are to be re-
lieved st odd spots somewhere along the line
rather than at terminals. For example, yes
terday at 7:45 pm. an outward-bound M bus
fully loaded, was tied up halfway for the trifie
OF II minutes because no replacement was
available for the driver who was supposed to
70 of duty on Connecticut avenue and r street
NV. of all places! 1t would seem that the
logical place to relieve drivers are the centers
of traffic conveyance.
Co Have you ever struggled to open bus
window? They have a morbid habit OF jam
ming. especially when it is stuffy inside. Why
not equip new buses with winding mechanism
of the type used to oren streetcar windows?
LUDWIG HAMBURGER.