In the early days of the street railway industry the ease with which franchises could be obtained in most cities gave great en couragement to promoters. Usually, each line was organized as a separate corporation and operated under its own franchise. Fares were almost universally fixed at 5 cents regardless of the length of ride, which usually was short. Because individual routes were operated by separate companies, there were no free transfers and the actual cost of travelling from place to place within a city was frequently much greater than 5 cents. Then came a period of mergers of independent lines into larger systems, with the result, in most instances, that each community had a single unified sys tem with free interchange between routes. This added greatly to the attractiveness of the service and reduced the total cost of any trip involving the use of more than one route. The mergers un doubtedly permitted some economies in operation. On the other hand, they resulted in a considerably longer average haul for each cash fare paid. This trend was accentuated by the demands for service to outlying districts which resulted in lengthening the ex isting lines by substantial amounts. As a result, the number of passengers carried per mile of track was actually less in many instances than it had been in earlier days when the systems were smaller.
At the same time that the lines were being extended, the cost of labour and materials was increasing. By 1915, the situation had become serious, and it was greatly aggravated by the unusual conditions brought about by the World War. Shortly after the war, President Wilson appointed a Federal Electric Railway Com mission to study the situation and suggest measures for their re lief. The commission attributed the difficulties of the railways largely to three things: (I) high cost of labour and materials, (2) early financial mismanagement and (3) inadequacy of the existing fare system. In general terms the commission recommended that energetic efforts be made to effect economies in operation and to improve service, that some relief be given to the companies in the way of elimination of special assessments and taxes, and that regulation be imposed upon the independent motor-bus operators who had recently commenced to compete with the electric rail ways.
Comparatively little actual result came from these recommenda tions. Efforts to effect economies were, indeed, made, but they were offset by the continued rise in the cost of labour and mate rials. In the course of time most electric railways succeeded in obtaining higher rates of fare, though not in proportion to their higher costs. Eventually, too, the operation of motor-buses came under regulation similar to that of the electric railways. With re spect to the elimination of special assessments and taxes, however, no great progress has yet been made and a large majority of elec tric railways are still burdened with paving charges, snow removal charges and the like, in addition to franchise and other taxes.
Jitney and Bus Competition.—Shortly after the outbreak of the World War, there appeared on the streets of many Ameri can cities great numbers of privately owned automobiles, the driv ers of which solicited riders at 5 cents a head. Almost all of these operators confined their activities to the established routes of street railways where the traffic was the heaviest and the chances of securing patrons was the greatest. Because of the 5-cent fare, these vehicles became known as jitneys.
Jitney operation spread rapidly. All sorts and conditions of vehicles were brought into use. It seemed as if every man who had no steady job and could get the use of an automobile went into the business. At this time the jitney did not come within the purview of the statutes that had been enacted for the regula tion of public utilities in most States. Nor were there in existence any municipal ordinances to control or curb its activities. Thus, the jitney operators were permitted to do pretty much as they pleased. Street accidents increased tremendously and few of the persons injured were able to secure financial redress because of the financial irresponsibility of the jitney owners and their lack of accident insurance.
Despite the poor quality of its service, this makeshift transpor tation facility cut heavily into the revenues of the street railways. Had the unregulated competition been allowed to continue it would eventually have created complete chaos in the field of local transportation. After a few years, however, the public authorities were forced to take cognizance of the situation and legislation was enacted to improve operating conditions and provide protection for the public.
The real significance of the jitney was that it was the forerun ner of a new type of transportation vehicle which was to have a far-reaching effect on street railways everywhere. The original nondescript small automobile gave way to a vehicle with a box like body on a light truck chassis, seating about 12 passengers. This, in turn, was superseded by more substantial vehicles using heavy truck chassis upon which were built bodies capable of seat ing 20 or more passengers. From these beginnings came the mod ern motor-bus.
Naturally enough, the street railway industry was bitterly op posed to the jitneys. Even when this vehicle evolved into the early type of motor-bus most street railways continued their opposition. Their attempts to legislate the motor-bus out of existence, how ever, proved unsuccessful, as the new vehicle had some points of operating superiority over the street-car which offset its physical shortcomings. As bus operation became subjected to more and more regulation, however, many street railway companies changed their attitude and decided to enter the bus business themselves.