Santa Fe Wins

Transportation in Southern California has long been a monopoly of the Southern Pacific Co. and its associate, Pacific Greyhound Lines. Last week that monopoly was cracked wide open. In a 100-page decision on a case which had required 30 months of litigation, 17,205 pages of testimony transcript, California's Railroad Commission gave Santa Fe Transportation Co. authority to inaugurate passenger service between San Diego and San Francisco, with a basic fare rate of 1 1/2-c--per-mile and tickets interchangeable between streamlined trains and air-cooled busses. Wherever Santa Fe train and bus lines meet, the passenger will be free to transfer from one to the other. The Santa Fe train-&-bus relay will carry passengers from San Francisco to Los Angeles in nine hours and 35 minutes, which is faster than present Southern Pacific or Greyhound services, and for $6, which is cheaper.

While the decision itself is an example of Government control of transportation, the Commission's reason for making it harks back to Adam Smith. The report pointed out that California is an area where millions travel by private automobile; that if only 7% to 8% of the motorists could be lured to train-&-bus service by its speed and cheapness, the volume of carrier traffic would be increased by 100%. Best possible stimulus to speed and cheapness, said the Commission, would be competition precisely of the sort Santa Fe will give Southern Pacific.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.