ORDER.

It appearing that on September 19, 1918, the Fitchburg and Leominster Street Railway Company filed with the Commission a local passenger tariff numbered "M. P. S. C. No. 1, Supplement No. 2, cancelling Supplement No. 1," and that said tariff has been suspended by order of the Commission until December 1, 1918, and

It appearing that on November 29, 1918, said company filed with the Commission a local passenger tariff numbered "M. P. S. C. No. 1, Supplement No. 3, cancelling Supplement No. 2," to become effective, with the permission of the Commission, on December 5, 1918, and

It further appearing that a full investigation of the matters and things involved has been had and that the Commission under date hereof has made and filed a report containing its findings of fact and conclusions thereon, which said report is hereby referred to and made a part hereof,

It is

Ordered, That the Fitchburg and Leominster Street Railway Company be hereby notified that its local passenger tariff "M. P. S. C. No. 1, Supplement No. 3, cancelling Supplement No. 2," may be made effective, under this authority and for the reasons stated in the report which is made a part hereof, on December 5, 1918.

It is

Further ordered, That the local passenger tariff of said company now under suspension and numbered "M. P. S. C. No. 1, Supplement No. 2, cancelling Supplement No. 1," be further suspended until said tariff is cancelled by the taking effect, as above provided, of the local passenger tariff of said company numbered "M. P. S. C. No. 1, Supplement No. 3, cancelling Supplement No. 2.".

It is

Further ordered, That a copy of this order be filed at the office of the Commission and that a copy hereof be forthwith served upon the Fitchburg and Leominster Street Railway Company.

By the Commission,

NOVEMBER 30, 1918. [P. S. C. 2281]

ALLAN BROOKS,

Assistant Secretary.

HOLYOKE FARE CASE.

Notice of the Holyoke Street Railway Company of proposed changes in rates of fare for passengers upon its railway.

Mrs. EMIL W. KROEPEL for Holyoke Ward 3 Improvement Association.

GEORGE H. LANE

JOHN CRONAN

EDWARD S. ALDEN

for Holyoke Central Labor Union.

WILLIAM E. CORRIDEN for Town of South Hadley.
NATHAN P. AVERY for Himself.

On December 31, 1917, after careful investigation, the Commission authorized the Holyoke Street Railway Company to increase its rates of fare. The proceedings were based on a petition asking the Commission, if it should find the company fairly entitled to more revenue, to determine the particular method by which it should be obtained. Three plans were submitted. Two were similar, involving the application of the so-called "zone system." In other words, they preserved the 5-cent rate

within the thickly settled central district of Holyoke, but reduced the area which it covered, thus creating an outer zone to and from which a higher fare would be charged. The third plan involved merely the substitution of a 6-cent fare for the existing 5-cent rate in the Holyoke territory, without the creation of any new zones. All three plans, however, provided for a 7-cent unit on the long country line from South Hadley to Amherst and Sunderland, where the unit was then 6 cents.

At the hearings the company expressed a preference for a "zone system" of charging, but did not urge the preference strongly. On the other hand, the communities represented were opposed to such a system and preferred a mere horizontal increase in rate. The conclusion finally reached by the Commission was that the "zone system" ought to be given a fair trial, upon the ground that Holyoke is a city where there is much short-haul riding, that a higher fare than 5 cents within the central district would discourage such traffic and encourage jitney competition, and that it was this central district which had furnished the profits of the company in the past. An inner and an outer zone were therefore created, having the following limits upon the through lines, measured from City Hall:

Briefly stated, the fares established were as follows:

1. Five cents for any ride within the limits of one zone. 2. Ten cents cash or 63 cents by tickets for any ride from a point in one zone to a point in the other; tickets to be sold at the rate of 6 for 40 cents. 3. Special tickets sold at the rate of 7 cents each, good for local rides between any point in the inner zone and Smith's Ferry (5.62 miles from City Hall) or intermediate points on the Northampton line.

4. Workingmen's tickets sold at the rate of 7 cents each, good during certain morning and evening hours between any point in the inner zone and the city boundary (6.7 miles from City Hall) or immediate points on the Westfield line.

5. Lap-overs, so that passengers might ride between South Hadley Falls and South Hadley Center, and between Willimansett and other parts of Chicopee for a 5-cent fare.

6. Special tickets sold at the rate of 10 cents each, good between points on the Fairview line in the city of Chicopee and points on the other Chicopee lines.

7. Free transfers at City Hall, available to passengers using tickets as well as to those paying cash fares.

8. A 7-cent unit of fare on the Amherst and Sunderland line.

Upon the basis of the company's figures, it was estimated that this new scheme of fares might yield $110,000 additional revenue yearly. It was stated, however, that the plan was to be regarded as tentative and experimental, and subject to review at the end of a one-year period.

The new fares became effective on February 17, 1918, and the record of passenger receipts has since been as follows:

It will be seen that in the 9 months there was an actual decrease in revenue. The month of October, when the influenza epidemic

was at its height, was responsible for most of this, but even in the other 8 months the increase was but $4,723.45, or not quite one per cent.

The company now proposes to secure the additional revenue which it needs, even more badly than it did a year ago, by a further development of the "zone system."" Under this new plan the central area and the adjacent "outer zone" would both be somewhat contracted, as the following table of proposed limits on the through lines will show by comparison with the one given above:

Beyond Mountain Park on the Northampton line there would be two other zones, one 1.91 miles and the other 1.86 miles in length. Beyond Bray's Turnout on the Westfield line there would be one other zone, 1.9 miles in length. Beyond South Hadley Center, the Amherst and Sunderland line would be divided into 9 zones, ranging from 1.8 miles to 2.6 miles in length. The fares proposed, briefly are as follows:

1. A 5-cent fare for a ride within any one zone, excepting the central area where this fare would carry only to and from City Hall.

2. A cash fare for a ride covering all or parts of two or more zones, equal to 5 cents multiplied by the number of zones, the central area being regarded as two zones with City Hall as the dividing point.