Show Eight Cent nt Car Fare Is More Than the Traffic T r ff c Will Bear M MEMBERS E EMBERS IBERS of the public utilities tics commission of Utah have rca reached be i the YA point where they cannot ignore the int interests rests o of the public They have been f fair ir to the public service corporations of this state giving them financial relief on every petition The Tho public has been tolerant and has acquiesced in the commissions commission's decisions because it is inclined to consider tile the burdens of the utilities The breaking point however is r reached ched in this proposal to establish 8 cent fares increasing the traction expense of every Salt Lake Lake- resident from 50 to 80 per oer er cent The original pet petition tion of the street car company carried eJ all that the traffic could comfortably bear Dear as well as a a. few questionable features Forcing th the public to walk or t to confine confino its business operations to the districts in which it lives is not calculated to swell the traction company rC revenue as anticipated in the supplementary petition Downtown b business businessmen men and property owners who do not protest ar are indifferent to the advantages advantages advantages of reasonable street car fare The Th Herald believes that the traction is entitled to a fair rec revenue o on a l legitimate ti tc valuation ai based on proper prope m management We do not believe howe however cr that the company can cnn show that the increased cost of doing business warrants an m cent 8 cash cash f fare re with a cent hent ticket fare faje plus a transfer charge of 1 cent when originally the cash fare was vms 5 cents cent with a a. 1 cent ticket fare and no transfer charge The petition is tho the forerunner of poorer service The volume of or traffic is bound to decrease to a 1 point which will more than offset what the company com corn pany wicks socks to collect in the additional fare The majority of those living the business district will walk Families six eight or ten blocks of that spen spend Sundays at the parks will choose between th the days day's the toll of which is paid to the street car company and necessities A street streetcar car ride is still a 1 luxury to them I Residents of suburban points will make their visits visit to Salt Lake Cit Gity less frequent The Tho traction company is doing more than defeating its own purpose in seeking to place this additional burden on the public It is hurting hurting hurt hurt- ing the cit city it is forcing forcin and sectional population It is cutting into the legitimate pro profits fib of every C business institution in tho the down downtown wn districts Prohibitive car fare is bad for the city th the company compan an and the people The public utilities commission n is facing a serious task It is called callea upon to do more investigating more ShI studying ng than it ever did Jid before The com com- mission is intended to be more than a court it is also a defender of the public interests The company's ns case has case has been thoroughly presented by 1 and att The men with with- the tho company viewpoint and every argument in iu the company's behalf was thoroughly presented The Tile The public is lot so fortunate It lacks lea leadership in the prosecution of its rase Only spasmodic efforts efforts' have bc been n made to protect the public in in- This was was' anticipated 1 by t the e law which created regulation of utilities nn and made the public utilities commission the keeper of a public trust The Tue rl e commission cannot waver wa What it gives the company V L' L takes from the public It t must realize that it cannot c. place undue burdens on the public without dam damaging the tile city and ancl the state R Regulation of public service utilities utilities ties tics is on trial The Tue people are to soon know whether it is designed in the interest of the companies exclusively or offers a measure of public protection Regulation nc which establishes and recognizes monopolies of service and nna fails to consider consi consider cr the tile public interests in in the fixing of rates cannot endure in any well-governed well state |