Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1955-12-09

1855, the Commission invited
proposals for the furnishing o.
all-bus mass transit service il
the District of Columbia anC
minor contiguous areas, com
mencing August IS, 1856, to re-
place the service rendered unit
that date by Capital TRANSIT
Company. The franchise anc
charter of Capital Transit Com
pany terminate as of August IA
1856, pursuant to P. L. 389 o.
August IA. 1855. 84th Congress
LIST session. SO Stat. 724.
The Commissions invitation
specified that the applicant
must be prepared to furnish al
of the property. facilities, equip
ment and services that will bt
required" and further specified
that each application
Should present the manage
ment experience in transporter
ton operations; proposed
method of financing: number.
type and size of BUSES; general
administrative and mainte-
nance plan; routes; schedules;
proposed fare structure: esti-
mated cost of operation: esti-
mated gross revenue; and eSti-
mated net income"
The invitation further spec
flied that proposals would b.
received until 1000 am. on Mon
day, October 10, 1855. AS of thai
time, responses to the invitation
were received by the Commits
sion from six proponents, iden-
titled as follows:
/. Tydings Group. Applica-
ton signed by Willard E. Tyd-
lngs, counsel, Raymond Git
lehman, assistant counsel. and
Paul L. Holland, engineer.
2. Metropolitan r a p i d
Transit. BY Gordon T. Thomp-
son, secretary, and A. Joseph
Wright, vice chairman.
3. Washington Rapid Trans
it. BY I. William Stempil. vice
president.
4. Metropolitan Transit Co.
operative. BY Gregory Rankin,
counsel and Edison L. Tenny-
son, consultant.
5. B. G. F. Transportation,
Inc. BY Morris Fox. president.
6 Kampelman Group. BY
Max NJ. Kampelman. counsel.
Review of Applications-Tht
Commission Immediately com.
menced its review and evaluatior
of the applications, in order tc
determine the actual ability OF
the proponents to commence
operations as of August Is. 1856
The review disclosed that nc
prepayment had presented data
demonstrating its actual ability
to finance the project, but all
proponents desired more time
to develop their proposed plans
Accordingly. commencing Oc-
tober 10. 1855, the Commission
held a series of informal con-
ferenceS with each of the pro-
ponents. looking towards the
development by one or more of
them of a firm proposal, covering
the following specific topics dis
closed to the proponents: Organ
ization. type of service, manage
ment experience in mass trans
portation. proposed method of
financing, number. type and size
of buses, general administrative
and maintenance plan. routes
and schedules. proposed fare
structure. estimates of revenues,
expenses and net income. and
assurances of ability to perform
performance bond.
These conferences continued
through December 7, 1855. and
all of the facilities of the Com
mission in respect to statistical
economic, engineering, financial
and other data which might be OF
assistance were made available to
each proponent.
Application Withdrawn
BY letter of November 5, 1855.
the Metropolitan Rapid Transit
group withdrew its application,
because of inability to finance its
proposal.
After the initial filing, each
remaining group made substan-
tial amendments to its initial
proposal, and made further ef-
forts to evolve a workable plan
for furnishing mass transit serv-
ice, replacing the Capital Transit
Co. service as Of August Is, 1856
At the request of the proponents
details of conferences and pro-
posals were not made public by
the Commission during thi:
period.
AS a result of the informal but
intensive investigation conducted
from october 10, 1855 to date
it appears to the Commission
that the proponents designated
as-Washington Rapid Transit
Metropolitan Transit Co-opera-
tive, B. g. F. Transportation. Inc
and the Kampelman group-havt
not given prima facie indication
of their ability to supply the
designated mass transit service
None of these proponents ha:
made the fundamental showing
of its ability to finance the pro-
posed operation. and other eS-
sential qualifications are sim.
ilarly lacking with respect tt
each of them.
The application of the Tyding'
group, as supplemented. appears
prima facie to the Commission
to present a feasible and fnan.
cially supported plan for supply