[PRCo] Re: "Television is keeping people at home,".......

[Jim Holland]

My apologies, Ed!

	Didn't mean this to point fingers - just to point out the parallel. 
And while the WP corporate decision was made, the lines hung on thru the
advent of TV and were possibly affected by TV keeping people at home in
1951 and 1952!

-----Original Message-----
From: Edward H. Lybarger wrote:

But please remember that this is an urban area, not a series of 
small towns 50 miles away.  Please also remember that I've never 
said TV didn't cause smaller passenger counts...what I said was 
that West Penn made the corporate decision to get out of the trolley
business before Pittsburgh's first TV station went on the air.

Ed

-----Original Message-----
From: pittsburgh-railways-bounce at lists.dementia.org
[mailto:pittsburgh-railways-bounce at lists.dementia.org]On Behalf Of Jim
Holland
Sent: Sunday, May 06, 2001 3:04 AM
To: -->- PRCo -- WP -- JTC -- The Big *3* -<--
Subject: [PRCo] "Television is keeping people at home,".......

.......from the January--1954  *ERA Headlights*  
(although OT for Pgh., it is a subject discussed 
here relevant to WP)  --  and I quote:::

        ......."and not even $55,000 worth of newer interurban 
cars and better service can lure them away in their leisure time, 
say officials of Portland Traction Co.  They report an 11% drop 
in traffic on the Oregon City and Bellrose lines since introduction 
of the eight 'new' cars from Pacific Electric last spring."
        "The company feels that while there may have been some 
increase in use of automobiles in the area, most of the drop can 
be blamed on TV, pointing out that competing bus lines of another 
company have suffered a similar drop in traffic.  The Traction 
Company's city bus and TC routes have had an 8% decline in 
passengers in the same period."

-- 
James B. Holland

        Pittsburgh  Railways  Company  (PRCo),   1930  --  1950
    To e-mail privately, please click here: mailto:pghpcc at pacbell.net
N.M.R.A.  Life member #2190; http://www.mcs.net:80/~weyand/nmra/