RAPID TRANSIT. 789 



tween passengers carried and car mileage becomes essential, and 

 from this it appears that electric railways show a less number of 

 passengers per car mile than either of the other classes, the num- 

 ber of passengers carried per car mile being, for cable railways, 

 4"38 ; for electric railways, 3*46 ; and for railways operated by ani- 

 mal power, 4'95. Thus the electric railways carry a less number 

 of passengers per car mile than either of those operated by cable 

 or by animal power. The assumption is made in the census report 

 that this variation is explained by the fact that electric roads, 

 being new, occupy lines over which the passenger traffic has been 

 but partly developed. 



The expense per car mile and per passenger, the cost of road 

 and equipment, and the volume of passenger traffic are essential 

 for a full understanding of the financial side of the question. 

 From the statistics reported it is seen that the total cost of road 

 and equipment per mile of line (meaning thereby street length) 

 is, for cable railways, $350,324.40 ; for electric railways, $46,697.59 ; 

 and for railways operated by animal power, $71,387.38 ; and the 

 number of passengers carried per mile per year is, for cable rail- 

 ways, 1,355,965 ; for electric railways, 222,648 ; and for railways 

 operated by animal power, 596,563. From these figures it appears 

 to be true that cable railways attain their greatest efficiency 

 where an extremely heavy traffic is to be handled, and that elec- 

 tric railways and those operated by animal power are used where 

 the traffic is not so heavy, or is more generally diffused. 



The operating expense per car mile is: For cable railways, 

 14'12 cents ; for electric railways, 13'2l cents ; for railways oper- 

 ated by animal power, 18'16 cents ; and the operating expense per 

 passenger carried is, for the different powers as named, respect- 

 ively, 3*22 cents, 3*82 cents, and 3*67 cents ; but, including interest 

 charge per car mile at assumed rate of six per cent, the sum of 

 operating expense and interest per car mile is : For cable railways, 

 20*91 cents ; for electric railways, 17*56 cents ; and for railways 

 operated by animal power, 21*71 cents. These charges, both act- 

 ual and estimated, show a somewhat greater expense for cable 

 roads per car mile than for electric roads ; but when the interest 

 charge is considered on the basis of passengers carried, and added 

 to the operating expense, the sum of operating expense and inter- 

 est per passenger is as follows : For cable railways, 4*77 cents ; 

 for electric railways, 5"08 cents ; for railways operated by animal 

 power, 4*39 cents, showing a less cost for operating expense and 

 interest charge per passenger for cable railways than for electric 

 railways. In the first instance, the greater charge for cable rail- 

 ways is on account of the much greater cost and equipment per 

 mile ; while the greater number of passengers carried by cable rail- 

 ways per mile reduces the ratio of expense on the passenger basis. 



