Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1955-10-18
Must the Trolleys Coz

While special steps had TO
be taken during the transit
strike to get the buses and
cars rolling again. It does not
follow that all provisions Of the
measures enacted during the
heat Of the emergency are the
best that can be had. A case
in point Is the mandatory re-
moyal Of the streetcars and
tracks next August. The dis
turbing thing about the terms
nation feature Is that 3 long,
range major upheaval In the
nature OF our transit facilities
Is to be brought about. not
Is the result Of long-range
planning BY experts in the field
but as the by-product Of .
labor dispute.
Our orphan company here.
like the one in Atlanta. Ca.
and others. has been the foot
ball OF varying schools Of
thought as TO what constitutes
the proper kind Of owner. The
Capital Transit Co., a merger,
was eonseryativeIy managed
by the North American Co.
and had been in existence
barely two years when the
Public Utility Act Of 1885 de-
cided that holding companies
could not own nperating cons
panies. The North American
Co. was later ordered ID sell
Capital Transif which Louis
Wolfson then 6biiRingly res-
cued from the kiutches cf the
holding company. Now the IN
dependent operator is to 60.
this time with his streetcars.
The fate of q Transports
ton system built up over q
period Of many years Is en-
titled to something more than
summary Judgment. What is
the use Of spending 100000
for - mas Transportation
survey II any Recommendation
it might make as to transit
lines are to Be disregarded in
advanced Is 1t consistent for
the city government to be In
favor Of q proposal TO build
transit lines through Federal
aid funds tThe Star. September
III and at the same time scrap
all the transit lines the city
now haS2
Downtown subways and OUT
lying surface lines and the
use Of q medal strip for tracks
between highways offer an at
tractive il future alternative
to the proposed tumble Of pri-
vate cars and buses which
would make the traffic mess
more smelly without solving
the problem Of efficient mass
transportation. Streetcars are
an indispensable part Of such
a PLAN since the trafiic dem
asity Is not sufiicient TO support
rapid transit trains to All parts
Of the city. However. after our
present streetcars are gone,
the tracks removed, the car
barns converted and the tine
maintenance shops and their
forces dissipated, there seems
little possibility OF re-estab-
lishment OF any rail system
whatever. The losers will not
be Mr.. Wolfson, who picked up
q bargain at d forced sale, but
the employees who are dis
placed the riders who will
spend hours instead Of min
utes In transit daily. the shop-
pers who will increasingly turn
to suburban centers, the down
town merchants who will lose
business because Of the time
required to get to their stores,
and ultimately perhaps even
the District If property Is re-
moved from the tax rolls If it
can no longer serve q useful
purpose. This would be q stiff
price to pay for reducing the
rate base.
Attention is invited 10 the
transit setup in Toronto. on
tario, described In the August.
1855, journal Of the institute
ton Of Electrical Engineers,
which sounds much like the
situation here:
THE need for the subway
arose in the usual manner: the
growth Of the city Of Toronto
into a metropolitan area with
a population OF more than q
million had congested the
downtown streets sufficiently
to reduce the average speed in
the rush hour to about 6
rn.p.h. as far back as 1896.
Additional streetcars would
/. have added to the congestion
rather than relieved 1t, and
the logical solution was a
rapid transit system on a
private right Of way: q subway
was the most economical
compromise
Whatever is done about