Evening star., 1953-03-05
PUG 10 Check
Public Impact
Of Transit Cuts
Effect Of Overtime
Curb to Be Watched
For Drop in Service

Kenneth w. Spencer, chair
man vi the District Public Util-
titles Commission. today ordered
a staff inquiry to see if Capital
Transit Co s new ban on over
time fof drivers Is hurting Serv-
ice.
The transit company this week
put it, bus and streetcar oper-
ators on a strict five-day week
and virtually eliminated over
time work The result has been
an increase of cancelled runs of
buses enc streetcars.
E c Giddings. transit vice
president. said the order was is
sued to save the company con-
siderable sum of money in
overtime pay.
Personnel Situation Improves.
"Since last year, the manpower
situation has improved to the
extent that the company decided
it was no longer necessary to let
drivers work a sixth day at over
time rates." he explained. "The
service is better at present than
it was this time last year."
The move caught the PUG by
surprise. Mr.. Spencer said the
PUG would look into the matter
to see whether the runs are be-
ing operated and to see how the
public is affected.
The PUG has only one employe
classified as a checker. Mr..
Spencer said, however. as many
as eight PUG employees have been
used to check bus and Streetcar
runs on occasion.
He said he wasn't approaching
this planned check now as a
major project" He said at this
point he intended to make a
quick survey to see if the sched-
ules are being followed.
Things Aren't Perfect"
Mr.. Giddings said the number
OF scheduled bus and Streetcar
runs dropped each day under the
present system was f1uctuating
from eight to 20.
Before the overtime ban, he
continued, the number of
dropped runs totaled from four
to 10 runs a day.
Things aren't perfect yet"
he conceded. But the company
felt the availability of drivers
had improved to the point where
overtime could be reduced"
The practice of some drivers
working sixth day at premium
rates grew up some years ago
when it was hard to get drivers.
Under the new order, overtime
is not banned completely but
each of the IL divisions Of the
transit company is allotted a
certain amount of overtime daily
to handle emergencies. This is
designed to take care of normal
absences of drivers due to sick
ness or other causes.
Overtime on Saturday and
Sunday is completely banned,
however.
Saving Is Uncertain.
One transit official estimated
it might be as much as $4,000 a
week, but conceded this was
merely q guess that would have
to be checked against the actual
experience of the company after
a week or so of operation under
the new system.
The PUG receives weekly re-
ports from the transit company
on its scheduled runs. Mr..
Spencer said last weeks report
before the overtime ban-was a
good report" with few skipped
runs.
The transit company files
scheduled runs with the PUG and
must stick to the schedule. Ex-
ira vehicles used during the rush
hours are called fitted service"
and do not come under regular
schedules.
Walter j. Bierwagen, presi-
dent Of Local $50, Amalgamated
Association of Street, Electric
Railway and Motor Coach En-
ployes Of America. AFL., said the
union was studying the new .or-
der to see If it met contract OBJ
legations.