Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1951-08-03
Transit Admits
Maintenance
Staff Cut Of 158
Streetcur Services
Unimpuired by Slash.
ENGINEER Tells PUG

Engineer Tells PUG
The maintenance force fol
streetcars of the Capital Transi
Co. has been reduced by 1853 en-
ployes in the past two years. thu
Public Utilities Commission wa!
told today.
Testifying at the PUG hearing
on the "reasonableness" of thu
transit company'S service, ALFRED
E Savage, equipment engineer
declared:
II can honestly say that oul
streetcars are in better shape
than before these reductions were
made"
Mr.. Savage said the, company
owned 615 Streetcars. Of thai
number, 106 are old-type cars anc
are not being operated in regular
passenger service, although they
are ''in inactive storage" and il
operative condition. The Other
500 streetcars are the streamlinec
type.
Force Is Cut Down.
In the two years since control
of the company was taken over by
the Louis E. Wolfson group, the
streetcar maintenance force has
been reduced from 465 to BOT
according to Mr.. Savage.
He said the maintenance work
was the same, however, and that
the reductions were made possible
by the elimination of the older
type streetcars-which required a
lot of upkeep-and to other
changes in procedure. These
changes included policy of re-
conditioning streetcars on need"
and not strictly on a mileage
basis, by centralizing inspection
activities in two locations and by
eliminating one car house.
Mr.. Savage old the PUG the
StreetcarS now were operating
more miles per mechanical failure
than at any time in the COM
pany's history. In the first six
months of 1913, he said, street.
ears averaged 1921 miles pei
mechanical failure and in the first
six months Of 1851 the average
was 29,356 miles per mechanical
failure.
Sees Cut in Fuel Costs.
He also testified that although
the streetcar maintenance force
had been reduced since 1949, il
now has the same number of en-
ployes it had year ago.
Mr.. Savage, before giving g
detailed description of how the
streetcarS were maintained, re-
vealed that a research program
underway for the past two years
soon would result in a reduction
of fuel cost in buses and in the
amount Of gas fumes which plague
bus. riders. particularly in the
summer.
He said the transit company
was in the process of making
changes in the bus carburetors
which would save gas and cut
down on the fumes. The improved
carburetor, he said, was the result
of a joint study made by the
transit company and a large oil
company.
Yesterday, another transit COM
pany oficial disclosed that similar
economies had been made in the
bus maintenance force during the
last two years.
ITO Dropped in '49.
Since 1949 the bus maintenance
force has been cut by ITO men
the PUG was told. And last year
the company cut bus maintenance
more than IL per cent and main
tenance labor hours more than Ia
per cent. compared with 1949 fig
ureS.
Garage operations-chiefly bus
cleaning were economical or
even more, the commission
learned. Expenditures dropped
nearly IA per cent, and labor hours
dropped more than 10 per cent.
Lyman Feldman, automotive
maintenance chief, admitted, un-
der questioning that the economy
resulted for an interim period
in less interior cleaning of the
buses. But he added:
LAS soon as that manifested it.
self. it was pushed right up"
I'm unable, at the moment, tc
account for the percentage of re-
duction you gave me-"
But in general, he gave the
credit to more efficient methods
better supervision and some in
novations, including bus-washing
machines, ower-driven floor
Sweepers and portable brake-re-
pair equipment.
A major factor, he testified, In
cutting maintenance manpowe1
was extension of the mileage be-
tween bus inspections. The COM
pany also is keeping parts in use
longer, instead Of replacing them
automatically at the end of q
certain time, and thus is using
less manpoWer for the replace
mentS, he said.
The transit official said the COM
pany is proud of the fact it has
extended overall engine life more
than 100 per cent.
And he insisted the economies
have not hurt mechanical condi.
ton of the buses, asserting:
Our equipment today is in bet.
IF ter shape than at any time ovel
the last several years"
RI - a.