REAL   ESTATE







AND







NEW YORK, AUGUST 2, 1913





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i   HOW THE SUBWAYS WILL AID REAL ESTATE





Building   Operations   Will    Be    Stimulated   Anew   and   Land  Values
Increased—The   City  Will  Be  Amply  Repaid  For   Its  Investment.*





By FRANK HEDLEY, Vice-President and General Manager of the Interborough Rapid Transit Company.





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III





TRAN.SPORTATIOX facilities forma
topic that has been uppermost in
the public mind, particularly in large
cities, because of their personal contact
with every individual and the large part
they take in his having convenient access
to his destination and a comfortable
mode of traveling thereto.

The New York Railway Company's
lines carry about 1,200,000 passengers a
day, the great majority of whom, par¬
ticularly on week days, move in a
southerly direction in the morning and
in a northerly direc¬
tion at night, and
in each instance in
about two hours'
time. The simile of
the neck of the bot¬
tle has often been
used as an illustra¬
tion of this condi¬
tion, while that of
the funnel is equally
applicable, the trav¬
eling public pouring
through the narrow
part.

In many cities the
business   or   general
delivery   district,   as
it   is   often   termed,
is,      geographically,
relatively   near    the
centre,   as,   for   in¬
stance,   in   Chicago,
and  to  a  somewhat
less degree in Phila¬
delphia,     and     also
Boston,    where    the
car      lines      radiate
from   the   centre   of
the city like  spokes
from   the  hub   of  a
wheel.    In  Manhat¬
tan, however, the sit¬
uation is quite the reverse, while south
of Fourteenth  street the conditions are
still further complicated by the narrow¬
ness  of  the   streets  and  the   increasing
amoimt  of  vehicular  traffic  due   to  the
marvelous growth of the city during the
last decade.
Buildings Higher, But Streets No Wider.

Buildings of twenty, thirty, forty and
in some cases of more than fifty stories
are replacing buildings of siXj eight and
ten stories, and consequently housing
vastly increased numbers of persons, but
yet the width of the streets remains as
it was one hundred years ago. As a re¬
sult, not only are certain thoroughfares
choked with pedestrian traffic practically
all day, but the vehicles themselves,
while greater in number, are also larger
than they were, because the small de¬
livery wagon is now rapidly being re¬
placed by the automobile.

A   few   facts   regarding   our   elevated

»From an address delivered by Mr. Hedley
before the  Electric   Club  of  Chicago.





and subway lines I think will be of in¬
terest. On the elevated lines steam
operation was in vogue until 1903 when
electricity superseded steam. The pres¬
ent minimum interval on the elevated is
fifty-two seconds.

The subway was opened October 27,
1904. At that time the interval run was
lYz minutes with 8-car express trains.
Today we are running 10-car express
trains on a minimum interval of a min¬
ute and forty-eight seconds, at a speed
of twenty-five miles per hour, including







is I





from   Subway  Workings.
LEXINGTON  .WENUE  SUBWAY  CONSTRUCTION

stops, thus increasing the capacity over
the initial operation 72 per cent. With
our original subway operation on a two
and a half minute interval our trains
exceeded the schedule running time to a
greater extent than is the case at
present. Now, even with the heavy con¬
gestion we have, our trains are gener¬
ally on time or but a few minutes late
during the heavy rush.

The Most Recent Improvements.

This we have been enabled to do by
reason of the installation of speed con¬
trol, the lengthening of station platforms
and by the reduction in the station stops.
The speed control signals are placed at
the approach of all express stations on
both the local and express tracks, and,
while one train is unloading and loading
in the station, the following train is per¬
mitted by these signals to approach
safely under a predetermined rate of
speed to within a short distance of the
rear of the preceding train.

Should the motorman exceed the pre¬





determined   speed,   the   automatic   trip

being in up position would set the brakes
just as would be done by running by
any signal at danger. This, you will
see, is absolutely safe operation and per¬
mits the second train to make the sta¬
tion stop in the very least possible time
after the preceding train has left the sta¬
tion.

We have also equipped our motor cars
with flash-light signals so that the
motorman receives the flash when all
doors are closed, thereby saving the
time of the hand
signal being sent
through the train.
This is done by
means of the use of
one of the circuits
in the jumper or
connecting cable be¬
tween the cars.
There are times, of
course, when this
signal circuit fails
(sometimes only for
a station or two
on the trip) in
which event the
men resort to the
bell signal.

The  Leap  in  Prop¬
erty Values.

The     increase     in
the   assessed   valua¬
tion of real estate in
the Borough of The
Bronx in New York
City   from    1903   to
1912   illustrates   the
return to the city of
the money advanced
by  it  for  increasing
the      transportation
facilities of the peo¬
ple.     Until   the   transit   lines   were   ex¬
tended  to  the  outlying  districts  with  a
single five-cent fare, the majority of the
population were forced to remain in Man¬
hattan Borough, and only because it was
beyond  their  means  to  pay  more  than
one   fare,  which  would  be  necessary  if
they  lived   outside   Manhattan  and  had
to come there to work.    The time con¬
sumed in  going to and fro was also a
very   important   element,  and   in   conse¬
quence     unsanitary     tenements     were
crowded to a degree affecting not only
the health but the morals of the people.
It  is  the  duty  of  the  public  authori¬
ties to see that the citizens are properly
cared for in regard to their transit needs
at all times, and the investment of the
city   funds   in   improving  transportation
faculties is just as necessary as the ap¬
propriations   for   education,   public   im¬
provements, etc.

In the City of New York the report
of the engineers employed by the munici¬
pality forced the authorities to the view





E.xoavated    .Mattriai