New Shuttle

Close to 100,000 commuters cross San Francisco Bay every day between San Francisco and the eastbay cities (Oakland, Alameda, Berkeley). One day most of them will scuttle by rail or motor over the long-promised bridge, for which test-borings are now being made. But currently they pay 21-c- for the 40-min. trip on one of two boat-&-train ferry systems. In the belief that many commuters would be willing to pay $1.50 to cross in 6 min.

Air Ferries, Ltd. began two years ago to fly Loening amphibians back and forth every 20 min. In time Standard Oil Co. of California, an original stockholder, took control of the company. Unsuccessful, it ceased operations last Autumn. Last week a new air ferry was begun by Walter T. Varney, famed pioneer airman of the West.

In place of the big Loenings, costly to operate, Varney Air Ferries started with a fleet of new five-passenger Sikorsky S-39's. Like any craft on such a route, they must submit to the severest treatment: rapid-fire succession of take-offs & landings, continued splashings of salt water. On the eastbay the new line operates from San Francisco Bay. Airdrome at the edge of Alameda. On the San Francisco side it inherits the circular wooden "landing button" at a pier just north of the clock-towered Ferry Building. The Varney schedule calls for 13 round trips daily. Fare: $1.

Son of an early billboard-advertising tycoon of California, Walter Varney is advertising-wise. When, as the first airmail contractor in the Pacific Northwest (1925), he found people reluctant to send their letters by plane, Varney advertised. Last year he sold his well-developed system (Salt Lake City-Pasco-Portland-Spokane-Seattle) to United Air Lines, whose transcontinental system it joined at Salt Lake City, turned his attention to the highly competitive San Francisco-Los Angeles route, already operated by three other airlines on a three-hour flying schedule. He put highspeed Lockheed Orions on the run and lopped a full hour from that schedule. For a time he charged a higher fare and offered to refund 10-c- for every minute the plane was late up to 50 min. Later he cut his fare to meet his competitors'.

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