Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1948-08-21
Different Views on Fare Rails,

Different Views on Fare Raise
To the Editor Of The Star:
Having seen both conditions described by
X. F. K. in his letter published in Tuesdays
Star, agree with his suggestions for improv-
ing transportation in this city.
K F. K. describes the long line Of empty
street cars standing on the avenue in the
morning-do you suppose our wonderful street
car company hopes to get the President to
| come out of the White House, sign an indorse
ment of their excellent management and give
him free ride for advertisement?
The second condition is the overcrowded
crosstown buses-H2 line-haying to wait SO
long for bus at a transfer point ones transfer
expires through no fault of the passenger.
The layman may not understand the intri-
cate workings Of the transportation problem
heaven help the c. T. Co. if they ever do get
wise!-but the passenger and patron did not ask
for the pass, allowing unlimited rides The
company thought that up itself and now it is
far in the red but is afraid to back down. If
1t gets away with another fare raise the sky will
be the limit as far as it is concerned.
The people who have their own cars can
afford to disregard the fare raise even granted
that they would be the group who could best
stand the financial burden, but poor little John
@. Public, who is having hard enough time
now to keep out of the red himself has to get
to work to keep on the treadmill Of the vicious
circle of eating to work. working to eat, etc.
Now is the hour for real friend Of the people
some one with real mental ability and high
moral sense to rise up among us anS ofier q
solution to this grave problem which affects
us all.
Down with cheap political demagogues, down
with high pressure statesmen! The transporta
| a., ecit1Y he nj fal Nff he
a disgrace and needs an overhauling from top
to bottom. E. r.
To the Editor Of The Star:
If with empty seats and open doors, Capital
Transit buses and streetcars patiently awaited
some patrons every time said patrons started
their journeys no doubt these people still would
not be satisfied they ask for door-to-door
service, at no extra charge!
| None Of us want prices to increase, but so
| long as labor demands wage increases, large
| employers Of labor must have increased In
| comes to take care Of those demands and the
increased costs of materials they must buy from
other companies whose employees have also de-
manded wage increases, and 80 around and
around we CO. Until labor changes its tune and
holds the line, there can be no cuts in the cost
Of living-its just plain arithmetic
ouG VIC AlSlSG tIlht ~ CclIS 10 cAlou6A AVA -
trip OF many miles within the District, with
the opportunity Of stopping to shop bit
en- route due to liberal tansfer privileges, and
berate the transit company because its figures.
I after two wage increases within the past year,
! show need of increased income despite rigid
| economies!
| At the recent hearings, not one opposition
witness was able to show how the company
| could operate efficiently under present income;
| no one believed he could take the figures of
the company apart to show that they were not
the result of honest computations. 1t is easy
| to say that we oppose an increase in fares,
but we must then propose a sensible alternative.
And the alternative suggested by these who
favor Government control of all our activities,
who would like to sovietize this country, the
alternative Of municipal ownership, Is not q
sensible one. Experience with municipal owner
ship elsewhere usually has resulted in huge de-
fcits, and many municipality operated transit
systems have fares in excess Of 10 cents. Red
tape and general inefficiency in Federal and
municipal Governments Is brought on by .
lack of close supervision and of feeling OF
responsibility to the employer and costs-as in
Government-constructed housing as compared
with private building-are much higher when
quality is compared.
Also, We forget, When We Calk ABOUT municipal
ownership, that Capital Transit is probably
the largest taxpayer in the District; the District
budget already is unbalanced. and under mu-
| nicipal ownership Of utilities, tax income would
be considerably diminished. In fact, in addition
to our fares we would probably soon be paying
additional taxes to substitute the utilities. taxes
that would reach into the pockets Of those who
never even use public transportation.
As member and chairman Of the public utili-
ties committee of q citizens association for
about eight years, have attended PUG hear
ings and studied bus and streetcar service in
every way possible; have talked to operators
and inspectors and am sure that every time q
company ofhcial sees me, he anticipates another
complaint Sometimes would swear that II
there were only one streetcar ue-up in the
day. I'd be its victim Headways on my own
bus line are among the longest in the city, and
I resent 1t.
But in spite Of all this, believe that We
have the most up-to-date equipment in the
eofptry, that ths company Kakss q honast