I,-. c/PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION, FIRST DISTRICT OUTLINE TRANSIT MAP OF NEW YORK CITY General Jurisdiction and Powers Supervision and Regulation. The Public Service Commissions Law of 1907 created two commissions and divi(led the state into two adlministrative districts. The Commission for the First District exercises jurisdiction in the four counties constituting the City of New York. The Commission for the Second DIstrict, with offices at Albany, exercises jurisdiction over the rest of the state. The duties of the Commission for the First District include the sul)ervision of various public service corporations, especially railroad, street railway, gas and electric corporations. The Commission is vested with all the powers of the former State Board of Railroad Commissioners, the State Commission of Gas and Electricity, and the State Inspector of Gas lMeters. The Public Service Commissions Law imposes duties upon corporations as well as upon the Commission. Common carriers are required: To furnish safe and adequate facilities at reasonable rates of fare; To publish schedules of rates; To refrain from granting rebates or making unjust discrimination; To have enough cars and motive power to meet all requirements; Not to issue passes except to railroad officers and other specifled persons. The Commission is empowered: To investigate the general condition, capitalization and management of all common carriers and to examine their books; To establish uniform systems of accounts and to prescribe the forms of annual reports; To investigate and to require reports of accidents; To order repairs and improvements to insure adequate service; To require increases in service; To fix maximum rates; To investigate complaints and to order the causes removed when advisable; To approve the use of franchises granted by the local authorities; To give or withhold approval of stock or bond issues; To give or withhold conseiit to the acquisition of stock in one corporation by another corporation giving similar service, and to decide whether any corporation may hold more than 10% of the stock of any public service corporation; To give or withhold consent to the merger of existing companies. t.. I,:l I r. 11 I X. NEW YORK CITY-BROADWAY AT 33D STREET, LOOKXIG UP-TOWN. TYPE OF NEW PAY-As-You-ENTER OPEN CAR The street railroad companies (including two short rapid transit lines operated by steam) subject to the supervision of the Commi.ssion operate 762 miles of line or road with 1,636 miles of track. They have a combined nominal capitalization (stocks and funded debt') ot $700,500,000. For car fares aggregating $67,570,727 they carry annually 1,360,000,000 passengers. The street and electric railways of New York City carry almost 18% of the fare passengers carried by all the street and electric railways of the United States and almost four times as many as are carried by the roads of New York State outside of New York City. They carry 50%/ more passengers than are carried by the steam roads of the entire country. They carry as many pa~.engers as all the street and interurban railways of Prussia, though the population of Prussia is nine times as great. The gas and electric companies under the supervision of the Commission have a combined capitalization of $378,900,000. The output of the central electric light and power stations amounts to 450,000.000 kilowatts per year. The gas sold is in excess of 32,000,000,000 cubic feet per year. The gas companies of New York City sell 22% of the coal and water gas sold in the United States, and almost four times as much as is sold in New York State outside of New York City. Rapid Transit. In addition to the above, the Commission lays down routes for rapid transit lines and builds, or causes to be built, underground or elevated rapid transit railroads over such routes. This work is performed by the Commission as the successor of the Rapid Transit Commission under the Rapid Transit Act, and is entirely distinct from the work of supervising and regulating public service corporations under the Public Service Commissions Act. The demand for additional rapid transit lines is so great that this department requires the maintenance of a large and efficient engineering department and staff of legal advisers. Fully 60% of the expenditures of the Commission are devoted to this work. 4 COMPARATIVE STATISTICS, 1907: UNITED STATES, NEW YORK CITY AND NEw YORK STATE Population United States..................... 85,542,316 100% New York City................... 4,278,526 5% New York State (ex. N. Y. City).... 4,146,807 4.87% Length of Single Track of Street and Electric Railways United States...................... 34,404 100% New York City..................... 1,538 4.5% New York State (ex. N. Y. City).... 2,347 6.8% Fare Passengers Carried on Street and Electric Railways United States..................... 7,441,114,508 100% New York City.................... 1,323,326,655 17.8% New York State (ex. N. Y. City).... 334,360,146 4.5% Passenger Car Miles on Street and Electric Railways United States..................... 1,583,831,199 100% New York City..................... 253,166,388 16% New York State (ex. N. Y. City).... 79,340,562 5.1% Employees, Street and Electric Railways United States...................... 221,429 100% New York City................... 32,717 14.8% New York State (ex. N. Y. City)..... 15,161 6.8% Output of Central Electric Light and Power Stations (in kilowatt hours) United States..................... 5,858,121,860 100% New York City................... 448,134,378 7.6% New York State (ex. N. Y. City).... 1,004,088,093 17.1% Coal and Water Gas Consumed (in cubic feet) United States.....................149,454,298,555 10070 New York City.................... 32,853,409,273 22% New York State (ex. N. Y. City).... 8,518,137,078 5.7% C(OMPARATIVE STATISTICS, 1907: GREA\TER LONDON, NEW YORK CITY, GREATER PARIS AND GREATER BERLIN Population Greater London................... 7,217,939 39% New York City.................... 4,285,435 23% Greater Paris..................... 3,848,618a 21% Greater Berlin..................... 3,013,000b 16% Passengers Carried on Street and Electric Railways Greater London.................... 871,171,495 26% New York City.................... 1,323,326,655 40% Greater Paris...................... 632,292,864c 19% Greater Berlin..................... 502,359,692 15% a-1906 b-1905 c-Partly based on 1906 statistics 5 Prevention of Accidents The secon(l years statistics coiml)ile(l l)y the Comiiiss(on as coinpare(l with tile first show a 30/4 reduction ill the numbl)er of persons killed on tile street railways of New York City. Th1le number of fatal injuiries (dropped(l from 391 ill the year 1907-8 to 271 in the year 1908-). thus showingll a saving of 120 lives. This saving togethier with an estimate(l corresp)ond(ling re(luctioll of 30%f- in the number or seriousness of other injuries to l)ersolls by street railway acci(lenlts, mlleans: (1) A saving to the comi)anies on account of (laiage clalils of al)out S1,000,000. (2) The prevention of economiic loss to the comiimunity of more than $2.000.000. Acci(lents arise from two princilpal causes: (1) Carelessness either on the part of oI)erating men, or of the victims, or both; (2) (lefects in track or equil)ment making a(le(luate control of trains or cars inmpossible in emergencies. The Commission's engineering staff ma(le thorough investigations of the rolling stock of all street surface railroa(lds, whlich showed(l that some of the companies, especially those op)erating in Mlanhattan an(l The Bronx, had allowed their tracks, trolley wires, cars and(l other eqluip)ment to (leteriorate to such an extent that it was a common l)practice for certailn companies to withdraw from service in a single (lay 20/, of the cars operating over their lines. The Coimmission issue(l or(lers for the complete overhauling an(l rel)air of all trolley cars. This work, which was un(lertaken in the fall of 1907, was continuie(l throt1uh the vear 19)08. Every car was sent to the rel)air shopsl), thoroughly ovcrhaule(d anl rel)aire(l, and had to l)ass insl)ectionll b)y the Comnlission 1)efore beillngput l)ack into service. I1)y the early l)art of the year 1()0(), this work was completed at an exp)en(liture of over a million (lollars 1)by the compl)anies. After it was (lone the same companies, which in 1907 ha(l been compelled to withdraw 20%/, of their cars from service in a (lay, rel)orte(l the withdlrawal of less than 5%/, in a (lay. The Commission also ma(le a careful stud(ly of the fend(ler (qluestion. Acci(lent reports showe(l that many fen(lers an(l wheelguar(lds faile(l to 6 do the work expected of them, and in some cases were the causes of fatal accidents which 'they were designed to prevent. The Commission appointed a Committee on Safety Devices, which held public tests of fenders and wheelguards at Schenectady, N. Y., and Pittsburg, Pa., il September and October, 1908. The tests were conducted at different speeds on pavements reproducing actual street conditions in New York City, with the same types of trolley cars used there, and witl dummlies made to resemble human beings as closely as possible. Upon receiving the report of these tests, which were supervised by the Electrical Engineer of the Commission, orders were issued to all street railroad companies in New York City to equip their cars with fenders or wheelguards of a type to be approved by the Commission. In general, wheelguards were prescribed for the congested districts and projecting fenders for the suburbs, although the Commission favors the use of both where possible. The companies are now complying with these orders and 'by the end of the year it is expected that all trolley cars in the city will be equipped with fenders or wheelguards of approved types. FENI)ER TEST WITI LIFE LIKE DUMMY. ONE OF A LONG SERIE- OF TESTS MADE BY TIlE COMMISSION AT SCHENECTADY AND PITTSBURG Car Equipment and Service The subway, which was designed to carry a maximum of 400,000 passengers a day, is now transporting close to 800,000 passengers a day in the height of the busy season. To lessen the rush hour congestion due to this phenomenal increase of traffic, various improvements have been made at the suggestion or order of the Commission. Two of the most important of these improvements are the installation of a system of speed control and the equipment of cars in the express service with side doors in the middle of each car. By the former, the interval between express trains in rush hours was materially reduced, and by the latter, the time taken in loading and unloading trains will be shortened and the capacity of the cars nmade fully available. W\ith these changes and the placing of guards upon station platforms to expedite the loading and unloading of trains, the express service has been greatly improved. The Interborough Company is now turning all subway cars in its express service into middle side-door cars. Already six trains with sidedoor cars are in operation, and by October 15, 1909, it is expected that the company will have all cars used for express service so equippel, and enough of them to allow the maintenance of a minute and a half headway during rush hours. Another improvement in contemplation is the lengthening of the station platforms in the subway. These platforms are only long enough to accommodate eight-car express trains and five-car local trains. It is the intention to enlarge them so that they will accommodate ten-car express trains and eight-car local trains. When this improvement shall have been made, the capacity of the subway will be increased fully 255/o and probably will have reached its limit. By examining the plans of new cars, etc., which the companies purchase from time to time, the Commission is assured that the new equipment added is up to the best standards. Within the last two years the receivers in charge of the Mlanhattan lines and the managers of other companies have shown a desire to get only the best types of cars. For instance, both the Metropolitan and Third Avenue systems have put on 8 large "Pay-as-you-enter" cars while the Interborough, in purchasing new equipment for the subway, has placed orders for all-steel cars. It is estimated that $12,000,000 to $15,000,000 has been spent by the companies in New York City during the last two years in purchasing new and repairing old equipment. The effect of overhauling and repairing trolley cars had an excellent illustration in the case of the Brooklyn Bridge. One company, which operates 16% of the cars crossing the bridge, was found to be responsible in September, 1907, for 62%o of the delays in bridge car service. In September, 1908, after this company had repaired its cars by order of the Commission, an inspection showed that, while it was still doing 16% of the trolley business, it was responsible for only 135% of the delays. The average number of fare passengers carried each day during 1908 was 3,711,076; in other words, the companies must provide facilities for moving during each twenty-four-hour period passengers equal in number to 847% of the entire population of the city. In a large city like New York, where the volume of traffic fluctuates periodically, where it is estimated that 250,000 strangers enter and depart from the city every (lay and where the Commission's statistics show the passengers carried by all transportation lines are increasing at the rate of some 55,000,000 a year. the difficulty of the regulation problem becomes apparent. For example, in the summer months the subway carries about 550,000 passengers a day, while in the middle of winter it is called upon to transport 800.000 a day. Large fluctuations in traffic are also caused from day to day by the weather conditions. The chief difficulty, however, results from the enormous fluctuation during the various hours of the day. Fully one-third of all the passengers traveling in one direction during a (lay are carried in two hours out of the twenty-four. One-third of the traffic comes in one-twelfth of the time. Almost half of the traffic to Brooklyn over the Brooklyn Bridge comes between the hours of five and seven in the afternoon. In the main, the orders of the Commission require the companies to operate on the most congested lines during the rush hours as many cars as the physical limitations of the lines will permit, and during other hours of the day a sufficient number of cars to give-during certain periods-seats enough for all passengers offering at certain points. This is an elastic provision which enables the companies to supply extra cars when needed and to withdraw superfluous cars when traffic is light. While the desideratum of a seat for every passenger has by no means been attained, especially during the rush hours, the general situation shows a marked improvement. 9 Rapid Transit The Present Subway. The only sutl)way now in operation inl New York City is the one owne(l by the city an(l operated b1) the Interl)orotlgh Rapid Transit Comrpany. The roadl is 25 miles long. It runs the length of Mlanhattan Island with four tracks betweell the B:rooklyn Blri(lge station and 96th Street. There it (livi(les, one l)ranch going almost north through the western part of The l-'ronx antid the other northeasterly through the same borough. The western branch terminates at 242(l Street or Van Cortlandt Park and the eastern branch at 180th Street or Bronx Park. Below the B1rooklyn BIri(lge station the subwayv has two tracks to the Eattery, and at Blowling Green, two tracks branch off and( go to Blrooklx-n by tunnel under the East River. A person can board a subway train at Atlantic Avenue in the heart of lBrooklyn, travel tlunder the East River and through the heart of Alanhattan andl Th'le Bronx to Van Cortlandt Park, a dlistance of more than 17 miles, witlhout changlillgcars and for a single fare of five cents. Under Construction. The Comiimission is o0\V stul)ervisigng the collstruction of the B'rooklyn loo) subwlay, (lesigne(l to connect the tllree SU'BWAY CONTIRUCTI)N': SIOW)ING SE('TI()N )OF BOo)iKL,Y LO L()I INES IN DEI,ANCEY STREET 10 downtown bridges over the East River, namely, the Williamsburg, the Manhattan an(l the Brooklyn Bridges. ()nly the Manhattan portion of th;s line, which is to cost about S10,000,000, is being built, but the Comnlission1 plans to advertise for bi(ls for the completion of the Brooklyn portion of the Loop. This is to be a four-track subway and, when completedl, can be operated as a sel)arate road running belt trains over and between the bridges, or as a link in a larger system operating through Mlanhattan anll BIrooklyn. Fourth Avenue Subway. The Commission, in MIay, 1908, awar(led contracts for the building of the Fourth Avenue subway in Brooklyn. This line, which is to cost more than $16,000,000, runs from the Brooklyn end of the new XManhattan Bridge out Flatbush Avenue extension to Ashland I'lace, where it turns south into Fourth Avenue and runs out Fourth Avenue as far as 43d Street. Extensions of it to Fort 1lamilton on the south and Coney Island on the east have been planned, lbut contracts have not been awarded. Work on the Fourth Avenue subway itself has been delayed by an injunction preventing the Board of Estimate from approl)riating money for the work, on the ground that the city was too close to its debt limit to warrant the expenditure of S16,000,000. The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court has (leci(le(l that the del)t limit margin on June 30, 1908, was more than $100,000,000, but this decision is now awaiting the result of an appeal to the Court of Applleals. New Subway Projects. The Commission has laid out, and proposes to advertise at once a new subway system which will cost more than $100,000,000. This system includes the B roadway-Lexington Avenue line, which will provide a new four-track, north and south subway running the length of Mlanhattan Island from the Battery to the Harlem River and through The BIronx in two branches; one going northeasterly to Pelham Bay Park and the other northerly through Jerome Avenue to \Woodllawn Cemetery. It also provides for a new crosstown subway through Canal Street from the Hudson River to the East River. This subway will connect with a line going over the new Manhattan Bridge and with the Fourth Avenue, ] rooklyn, subway on the Brooklyn side of the bridge. It also includes the construction of the Brooklyn portion of the Brooklyn Loop and the two branches of the Fourth Avenue subway to Fort l-amilton an(l Coney Island. It is prol)alle that the Commission will ask for alternative bids for the construction of this new system, either by mtuncipal funds or by l)rivate capital on the plan of the indeterminate franchise-made possible by the amended Rapid Transit Act. The latter plan allows corporations to build with their own money, but reserves to the city the right of 11 buying them out at any time after ten years, the road eventually becoming the property of the city at the end of a period long enough to amortize its cost. Subway construction in New York City is the most expensive form of street railroad known. It costs from $1,000,000 to $6,000,000 a mile. The present subway, which consists of about 25 miles of road, or more than 60 miles of track, has cost the City of New York about $50,000,000, while the Interborough Rapid Transit Company, the lessee, reports about $35,000,000 expended for equipment, etc. At its present rate of income, this subway is paying about 8% per annum on the total investment, or about 14% upon the investment made by the lessee. (GRANI CENTIAL S'BW'AY STATION 12 Gas and Electricity There are 34 companies that exist nominally for the purpose of furnishing gas or electric energy in Greater New York, but all of the larger companies are dominated by the Consolidated Gas Company or friendly interests so that at the present time less than three per cent. of the gas sold in New York City is pro(luced by the so-called independent companies. The Consolidated Gas Company itself is capitalized at $100,000,000, but less than one-half of that amount is directly invested in gas property. The remainder is invested in the stocks of other companies or in loans to the Astoria Company, which has planned and partially completed in Long Island City the largest and most perfectly equipped coal gas plant in the world. From the Astoria works gas is brought into Manhattan through a five-foot tunnel under the East River. The Consolidated Gas Company also owns practically all of the stock of the New York Edison Company, which yields a return of 15 per cent. upon its cost to the Consolidated. The New York Edison Company, which furnishes nearly all the electric energy consumed in Manhattan, has in its Waterside stations Nos. 1 and 2 on the East River, the largest power houses in the world. A\s illustrating the rapid progress made in the field of applied electricity, it may be mentioned that between the time when the company let the contract for the power-house and the time when it was ready to install the steam and electrical apparatus, there had been developed a new type of machine so superior as to induce the company to throw into the scrap heap the apparatus already purchased but never used. There are upwards of 1,000,000 gas meters in use in New York City and as many consumers, while there are more than 100,000 electric meters set in consumers' premises. The Commission has prescribed uniform systems of accounts for gas and electric companies, as well as the forms of annual reports to be used by them. The Commission also has endeavored to bring about an approach to uniformity in contracts made with consumers and has required the companies to post publicly in their offices all rates and contracts, besides forbidding rebates and other forms of unjust discrimination. "Breakdown" service by the electric companies has been resumed since the Commission was organized. This service is the furnishing of current to persons or firms having their own electric plants, at times when these plants are either broken down or overloaded.. When the Commission came into office the furnishing of this breakdown service had been discontinued and there was much complaint from consumers. The matter 13 was taken up with the electric companies and the rcstllll)t'on of the service was ma(le without the necessitv of a formal ortler 1)3 the Commission. In the two years endllling June 30, 190(). the Commission teste(l a total of 653,248 gas meters. The most of these were new meters, or nmeters which had been remove(l and repaire(l, but inclutllel in the total were 11.278 meters teste(l upon compllaints either of co(nsumers or of the companies. O)f these "complaint" mneters 4536, or 40.21c, were foun(l to be more than 2%/c fast; 1249. or 11.1/. lllore than 2'/(. slow an(l 5493, or 48.7%,k were between 2%c fast andl 2/( slow —the variation from absolute accuracy allowed by law. The result in cases of fast meters was to bring about the repayment by the gas companies (voluntarily on their part) of several thousand dollars in overcharges. PORTION OF TIIE ELECTRICAL LABORATOIRY OF THIE CO)MMISION The Commission also urge(l tlie electric light companies to put into general use the newly invented Tungsten an(1 Tantalum electric lamps. These lamps, which have metallic films, instead of the carbon films used for so many years, give a much greater illumination for the same amount of current. The companies in New York City are now generally fur 14 nishing them to their customers. It is part of the policy of the Commission to insist, as far as possible, upon public service corporations holding public franchises giving their patrons the benefit of modern methods and all up-to-date inventions. Commissioners and Staff The offices of the Public Service Commission for the First District are located in the Tribune Building at 154 Nassau Street, New York. In this building the Commission occupies 20,000 square feet of floor space in parts of six floors. The employees of the Commission number more than 600 and the total pay-roll is about $70,000 per month. The annual expenditures of the Commission amount to about $1,000,000, of which amount $91,000 is paid by the State and the balance by the City of New York. Fully 60% of the expenditures of the Commission goes to the maintenance of a large engineering force engaged in the preparation of plans and supervision of construction of subways. Members of Commission and Officers. \Villiam R. Willcox, Chairman, WVilliam McCarroll, Edward M. Bassett, Milo R. Maltbie, John E. Eustis. Travis H. Whitney, Secretary, George S. Coleman, Counsel, Henry B. Seaman, Chief Engineer, E. G. Connette, Transportation Engineer. Communications in regard to the work of the Commission should be addressed Public Service Commission for the First District, 154 Nassau Street, New York City. 15 UNiVERSIT OF MICHIGAN 3 9015 02328 0350