Evening star., 1953-12-27

Star Staf Photo.
of directors to be composed, as
set forth in this plan, of indi-
vidualS who would have COM
plete management control of the
unified operation of the transit
authority, including control over
its routes, stops. loading plat
forms, schedules of operation,
service and fares without the
omissions and confusion that
now result from jurisdictional
problems encountered in the
attempted regulation of the four
t. ~lsit companies by four diff
ferent regulatory agencies of the
Federal. State and District Gov
ernments.
"The Transit Authority should
have the power to borrow and
issue bonds to cover financial re-
quirements of its operation and
should be required to operate
on no less than a break-even
point, the interest requirements
on revenue bonds and the an
nual amortization funds required
to liquidate it's revenue bonds
within the period covered by
the issue thereof without de-
fault"
Sees Reasonable Fares"
Such requirements, Mr.. Wolf
son said would result in business
like and efficient management of
the authority at reasonable
rates of fare"
Mr.. Wolfson interlarded his
story with accounts of the
tribulations faced by mass trans
poration companies. These in
cluded taxes, traffic jammed
streets which slow up street.
cars and busses and the growing
competition from private cars
and taXiS.
In mind, also, undoubtedly,
was the proposal in the District
public works bills for increases
in city taxes against the transit
companies.
His statement also contained a
new blast at the District Utilities
Commission for delays in action
on company requests for boosts
in fares. The District commission
now is readying a decision on the
latest demand of Capital Transit
for a fare increase.
''Unfair Fare Tag"
The present regulatory sys-
tenn. he said, is ineffective in
providing action on fare raises
to meet rising wage and other
costs. This unfair fare lag" he
said,, makes it virtually impos-
sible to operate a privately own
ed transit company at low fare
to the public and at a reason
able profit to the owners who
are subject to all the vagaries
of the economic system with re-
spect to rising wage and tax
costs. but who are unable to
control the price Of the service
they are rendering"
Therefore, he concluded. it was
not believed that any private
capital would be interested in
taking over the responsibility and
risks which would be attached
to the operation of a single pri-
vately owned transit company
serving the entire metropolitan
area.
Attacks johnson Bill.
Mr.. Wolfson said it had been
generally agreed there was need
for a single, co-ordinated re-
gional nsit'Service. with sim
gle fare and free transfers. He
did not document this conclu-
sion. 1t recalled warnings from
some officials, however, that
Washington riders should not be
expected to pay for better serv-
ice for suburbanites now paying
two or more fares to get to work.
Mr.. Wolfson also attacked the
johnson bill. passed by the Sen
ate, for the creation of a re-
gional regulatory commission.
Regulation alone, he argued, was
no answer. And even if the re-
gional commissions powers were
found to be constitutional, Mr..
Wolfson said, there still would
be four major mass transit SyS-
TENS operating in the area. SUBJ
ject in part at least to control
by local commissions so far as
intra- State operations were con-
cerned.
Bought Firm in 1949.
The Wolfson syndicate bought
control of the Capital Transit
Co. in 1949 for So million. After
getting on the inside of the con-
Germ it changed previous stand
and decided to take over actual
control. WolfSon group officials
told the Senate committee they
did so because they decided
Improvements could be made"
One of the reasons why the
Senate voted a $4,000 investi-
cation of Washington transit
problems was the regularity with
which the Capital Transit Co.
voted dividends and concurrently
asked for higher fares.
At recent hearings, Chairman
Payne. Republican. of Maine.
brought out that since the ad-
vent of the Florida stock control
purchase. these investors have
reclaimed $50 per cent of their
investment and now have an an
nual declared dividend of 80 per
cent on their stock.
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