Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1955-09-08
Prefer Trolley to Bus

stressed falsely by those
who would blindly deprive
Washington Of its street rail-
way system. we would like to
point out that service and
public preference as well as
the wellbeing of the COM
munity must be considered.
Minneapolis recently scrap
ped o vast street railway sys-
tenn in favor of buses. This
conversion enabled the transit
company to divest its power
equipment. rail vehicles, stored
supplies, etc, at a handsome
profit. Real estate, such as
storage yards and carbarns.
was sold at inflated profit. AS
a result, the company has been
able to keep It's books in black
ink. However, this one-time
profit will never again apnear
in forthcoming annual reve-
nues. Therefore, the color Of
the ink in the ledgers has not
been determined by more eco
nomical operation Of buses.
Service has been drastically
reduced, so the bus system
renders considerably less trans
portation than did the street
railways. Many former transit
riders now commute or shop by
automobile. Further, the con-
version enabled the company
to fire 1000 tmore than half
OF the employees. We need not
describe the fact that this I'M
employment did not aid the
community.
Yonkers, N. Y. recently
scrapped a street railway sys-
TEN In favor Of buses. Almost
Immediately. headways were
cut from 5 minutes to 20
minutes due to lack Of
patronage. Meanwhile street
congestion mounts as former
streetcar patrons attempt to
commute by automobile.
In Brooklyn. N. Y, one Of
the busiest streetcar lines
which had trolleys only a min
ute or so apart Is now served
by buses on quarter hourly
headways while former street.
car patrons walk several addi-
tional blocks to a subway, or
travel by taxi.
In Seattle, which switched
to buses over q dozen years
ago, there has been q contin-
uous effort by citizen groups to
restore rail service.
In San Francisco, where all
major decisions by the transit
commissioners must be ap-
proved at the polls by public
referendum, the voters have
consistently disapproved con-
version of street railways to
bus operation. Certain bus
lines which were formerly
healthy trolley lines had to be
discontinued because Of lack
Of patronage.
Schenectady. N. Y, commit
ted financial suicide by con-
verting from streetcars to
buses, and was the first large
city to be without any public
transit. Now, secondhand
buses and school buses-in i'll
repair and individually owned
and operated-provide a spas
modic service. Miami. Fla.
Springfield, Mass, and the
Quad Cities OF Illinois and
Iowa have been served notice
by their respective transit
companies that because buses
cannot provide economical
service and fail to attract
patronage, all service must be
discontinued.
With very few exceptions,
conversions to bus operation
have resulted Immediately in
substantial fare increases.
Although comparisons have
been made in Detroit between
streetcars on busy commercial
streets and buses on limited
access freeways. there are no
cases on record in which buses
operated faster than streetcars
under the same operating con-
ditions. Usually. bus service
has proven slower.
These examples of service
and public preference items
are typical Of many more. Ger
tainly, the city of Washington
does not wish to have hun
dreds Of men lose their jobs.
to reduce the frequency and
seating capacity OF public
transit. to force more people
to revert to the private auto
mobile on already overcrowded
streets, and to bring swift
death to all public transit
service.
We have studied the merits
and disadvantages of the mo-
tor bus. trolley coach, street.
car. lightweight rapid transit,
heavyweight rapid transit
(such as in New York City, I.
rail buses. self-propelled rail
ALL