Dinosaur's Demise

The nation's last major privately owned urban-transit line, O. Roy Chalk's 1,099-bus D.C. Transit System, Inc., is about to pass into public ownership. President Nixon late last month signed a bill authorizing the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority to acquire deficit-plagued D.C. Transit and three smaller suburban bus companies. W.M.A.T.A., a public agency created in 1967 to plan and develop the capital's proposed $2.98 billion rapid rail transit system, will pay at least $50 million for the package, and will spend a like amount on modernization.

D.C. Transit's demise marks the end of an era. For nearly a century after Abraham Brower began running horse-cars along New York City's Broadway around 1830, privately owned transit systems throughout the U.S. were the only trains in town. Robber barons made fortunes on them, street traction stocks became a mainstay in widows' portfolios, and the Toonerville Trolley was enshrined on the funny pages. Then ridership began to fall off as automobiles flooded the streets, and local governments and independent transit authorities had to rush in and buy out the lines to keep them running. One by one, private companies fell into public hands: Detroit (1922), New York City (1932, 1940), Cleveland (1942), Chicago and Boston (1947). After Atlanta went public last March, D.C. Transit was the outstanding survivor of this particular breed of dinosaur. With its passing, the largest privately owned city system is Rapid Transit Lines, Inc., whose 400 buses serve central Houston.

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