Demise of the Interurbans

[Jim Holland]

Greetings!

	Yes - this is a more detailed version of what Ed Tennyson had told me
earlier!  Kind of painful to read.
	I believe everyone is entitled to an opinion (there will always be a
group totally opposed to rail and that is just a part of the diversity
of life) but to be vindictive about it is another thing.  Anne seemed to
be more of the latter!

Edward H. Lybarger wrote:

I sent the inquiry about the tax out to someone who was there!  You too
will
enjoy Ed Tennyson's response:

   Yes, federal bureaucrats ruled that interurban strip tickets (3.5
cents
each zone) were not tax exempt if the fare exceeded 35 cents.  The same
bureaucrats ruled that Blue Ridge Bus commutation tickets (Ten Trip)
were
exempt. I was there at the time.  Canonsburg (from Pittsburgh) was just
under 35 cents (maybe six zones) so when the 1948 fare increase of 20
percent went in, Canonsburg (and Finleyville, etc) became taxed on the
rail
but not on the bus. Instead of a 20 percent fare increase, it became a
35
percent increase. The fully loaded Canonsburg trippers fell off to weak
loads. Full length Washington and Charleroi trips were already taxed.
The
operators and the Ohmer registers got a real workout to collect that
tax,
the purpose of which was clearly stated to reduce the demand for public
transit.

I told Mr. Fitzgerald that he needed to hold the six-zone (no 9 zones at
3.5
cents) fare below the taxable limit, but he was adamant. The system
needed
the 20 percent after wages had doubled without any fare increase. If he
gave
the interurbans a break, Anne X. Alpern would be in court crying unjust
discrimination against the City of Pittsburgh. She was Hell-bent to
eliminate rail transit from Pittsburgh and Allegheny County, but had
already
got approval in 1941 to eliminate  Washington County operations. Tom
Fitzgerald made sure the Office of Defense Transportation ordered
service to
continue, court or no court, Anne Alpern and Mayor Lawrence drop dead.

Because of this fare problem, the interurbans got the short haul travel
which left cars nearly empty out in the sticks, while Blue Ridge got the
long hauls that paid the bills. In 1948, the system averaged 40 cents
per
car mile, but interurbans only half that. That is not as bad as it
sounds,
since city cars averaged 11 miles per hour and interurbans 17 mph, so
the
earnings per hour (by which operators are paid) were $4.40 for city
lines
and  $ 3.40 per
interurban hour. Operators got $1.55 plus about thirty (30) cents
"fringes"
so there was no loss on the interurbans, but they did not carry their
artificial share of the system "overhead" (office, not trolley wire).
RAILWAY AGE explained it very well years ago. "You lose money on every
shipment but you would lose more if you did not carry what you did at a
small "loss."  The overhead would be shifted to other lines, increasing
their costs. Anne Alpern was not interested in service or economics. She
wanted P.Ry.Co. to pave Dave Lawrence's streets and eliminating street
railways was the way to do it. The Public Utility Commission would
require
rail abandonments to repave the vacated streets. In Philadelphia,
National
City Lines cut a deal with the City Street Commissioner (of the Road
Gang)
to repave at a bargain rate just to rid the streets of street cars. 
Again,
never mind the economics or the riders.  I fought that one, too, but the
Streets Commissioner was closer to the Mayor than I was.  The Mayor's
limousine was sometimes stuck behind a trolley on a 27 foot wide street
with
parking on both sides.  Congratulations on your Museum's progress.

E d  T e n n y s o n

-----Original Message-----
From: owner-pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org
[mailto:owner-pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org]On Behalf Of Jim Holland
Sent: Friday, August 18, 2000 11:43 PM
Subject: Demise of the Interurbans

Greetings!

        I have heard that in 1948, the federal bureaucrats applied the
15-percent travel tax to interurban strip tickets but not to Blue Ridge
Bus commutation tickets.  And this helped to do in the Charleroi and
Washington interurban lines.

James B. Holland

James B. Holland

        Pittsburgh  Railways  Company  (PRCo),   1930  --  1950
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