Evening star., 1950-01-16
.
Capital Transit
Trims Service,
FiguresShow
Streetcor, Bus Mileage
Down $3.50 in Survey;
Traffic Also Drops
Ru Ernnnis p nnunins
By Froncis. P. Douglas

The Capital Transit Co. has
trimmed its service in recent
months-and many patrons are
conscious of it.
Comparison of the total mileage
streetcars Travelled in November
with the total for last May shows
there has been a drop of 8.9 per
cent. A comparison for buses
shows a decline of At peri cent.
The bus and streetcar reduction
combined totaled a decline in We
hicle miles of 6.3 per cent.
There was, however, a parallel
drop in traffic. Revenue passen-
gers in November were 7.9 per
cent under the number for May
and total passengers (revenue
passengers plus riders on trans
fers and company employees de-
clined n per cent.
For an exact comparison be-
tween service of one month and
another the capacity of the We
hicles used should be taken into
consideration, but figures reflect
ing that are not available. A
streetcar with 81 seated passen-
gers and Is standing has a capa-
city Is per cent greater than
bus with "a seats and room for %
standees.
April Figures Compared.
May and November are taken
for comparison because May was
the first month after the Benning
streetcar line was discontinued
with buses substituted, and No
vember is the latest month for
which the transit company has
reported it's figures to the Public
Utilities Commission.
Last April, total car miles were
4.s per cent under the April, l948,
total, and bus miles were 5 per
cent above the total of the year
before, according to the figures
filed with the PUG.
In May, car miles had dropped
22.1 per cent and bus miles had
risen ISL per cent in comparison
with the figures for the corre-
spending month of 1948.
The mileage figures follow: Car
u1iles-May, 1,416.543; November,
1,289.492. Bus miles-May, 2,322,-
1870; November. 2,212,9O2. Total
passengers in May was 34,457,570,
In November, 81 1865
May Has Extra Day.
1t should be remembered that
the May and November months
are not exactly comparable since
May has 81 days and five of them
were Sundays in 1949. and No
vember has 80 days. Changes in
service. therefore, should be con-
sidered in relation to changes in
demand.
At the time the Benning street.
car line was discontinued, the COM
pany said, the service had been
provided by 81 streetcars in the
morning rush hours, 95 in the af-
ternoon rush period and As in the
midday base period. Twenty-six
buses were used even then as feed
ers to the Eastern end of the line.
A week after the change, ac-
cording to the company, there
were 1876 buses in the morning,
121 in the afternoon and 54 during
the base period. It was pointed
out, however, that whereas the
Western terminus of the street.
car line had been Rosslyn, across
the Key Bridge, the Western ter
minus of the buses is Lafayette
Square. The Brookland streetcar
line now goes to Rosslyn, which
is served by fewer cars than for
merly, according to the company
The company is continually
making traffic checks and fitting
the service to the demand. Such
checks resulted in a change in
schedules last Sunday on the Con-
necticut and P street lines.
One Bus Dropped.
On the latter line, G-2, running
from LeDroit Park to Thirty-fifth
and 0 streets NV, the change re-
suited in the elimination of one
bus from service, according to E.
Cleveland Giddings, vice presi-
dent of the company.
On the Connecticut avenue line,
six buses were taken off, Mr.. Gid
dings said. He gave these results
Of the change:
Before 5:A5 a.m.-15-minute headway
OntervaI between buses); unchanged.
rn5ba5.t9 5;a5 t9 6 a.m'-lo-minute headway;
s to $50 a.m-Frequent service fitted
to the traffic demand, with small re-
$50 to, e:45 a.m.-9-minute headway
increased to 70 minutes.
way; UNCHANGED.
1920 am. to pp.m;E1o-minute head
way to esrvioe to Rnusss sssin fitted to
to 8 pm-For buses bound to Calvert
to fos bases from to %
street and Pennsylvania avenue NV.
headway increased from 10 minutes tc
12 minutes
5 to $50 p.m;-calvert Bridge buses
minutes: buses to Pennsylvania avenue
formerly 10-minute headway, now Ii
minutes.
$50 to 1915 p.m.-Headway was IL
minutes, now Is minutes.
1918 pm. to 1915 a.m.-Headway
was 12 minutes, now Is. After that, thu
15-n1inute headway was UNCHANGED.
Mr.. Giddings said these change!
were the result of a number o1
weeks of study.