grades frequently as high as 4 per cent., and in some instances as high as 51⁄2 per cent. The steepness of these grades, and the frequency with which they were to follow one another in the loop, would not only greatly increase the cost of operation, but limit materially the number of trains that can be run through the subway in a given period, and increase the possibility of accidents. The chief engineer to the Commission, Mr. Seaman, after careful study of the problem, found that it would be possible to modify the plans so as to increase the height of the tunnel, to reduce the grades, to decrease their number, and to do away with the double deck stations and tracks. To make these changes it will be necessary to change two of the stations, and in order to make proper connection with the crosstown line in Canal street, it is proposed to unite the two stations at Leonard-Franklin street and at Howard-Grand street, into one station at Canal street. It is also proposed to operate the loop as two double track railroads, instead of one four track road, but with cross-overs to be used in case of accident, or when needed for the shunting of trains. Eventually this might lead to the connection of the Williamsburg bridge with the Brooklyn bridge, which would naturally serve the purposes of the elevated roads in Brooklyn which connect with these two bridges. The other set of tracks would be operated in connection with the Manhattan bridge, through the proposed terminal at Chambers street, and thence down William or Nassau, crossing under the East river by a tunnel, and connecting with some future subway in Brooklyn.

This modification simplifies a very complicated plan; eliminates two double-deck stations, making all tracks on a level; fits in with a proposed future line across Canal street to the North river, connecting with all north-bound and south-bound routes which would intercept it, with the Fourth avenue subway and the Manhattan bridge; and increases very materially the safety of operation. It is estimated that the operating capacity would be increased fully 25 per cent., and also that the time of construction would be materially decreased.

At the close of the year, these plans were being perfected, and unless some unforeseen difficulty arises, they will be worked out in detail and substituted for the ones now under contract prepared by the Rapid Transit Board.

Transit Conditions Peculiar.- The two chief problems in passenger transportation that this city since consolidation has had to face are congestion along parallel north and south lines in Manhattan, and congestion due to lines of Long Island travel converging at East river crossings, especially the Brooklyn bridge.

The growth of Greater New York and its suburbs makes constant increase in north and south travel in Manhattan. The elevated roads began operation after the surface roads were over-taxed. Similarly, the subway began operation after the elevated railroads were over-taxed, and now the subway is itself over-taxed. There is no remedy other than additional rapid transit lines running the length of Manhattan. Reference to a map of the city will show that the present subway is half on the east side of the city and half on the west side, the two parts being connected by the east and west tracks through Forty-second street. A new subway traversing the entire easterly side of Manhattan is imperatively needed, with which connections can be made with several East river bridges. Recognizing the importance of such a route this Commission, during the past six months, has been giving careful attention to this subject, in order to be able to propose a route of the greatest possible efficiency and, in view of the city's finances, of the least possible cost. The result has been that at the close of the year this Commission formally initiated proceedings for an east side subway through Lexington avenue and south through the heart of lower Manhattan to the Battery — a plan more fully discussed further in this report. Similar steps have been taken regarding a new subway from the Manhattan bridge through Canal street to the Hudson river. Next in importance for Manhattan is a through west side line. It is also desirable that the Broadway-Lafayette avenue division of the Brooklyn loop system be progressed as rapidly as possible, and that the Manhattan division of the loop should be extended south of the Brooklyn bridge terminal.

The drawback to passenger transportation from the Long Island boroughs has always been the fact that traffic has converged to over-crowded foci where passengers disembarked at single points in the easterly edge of Manhattan, whence they were obliged to walk considerable distances to their places of business or pay

extra fare. The transit lines approaching lower Manhattan from Harlem and The Bronx, although congested, have at least landed their passengers for a single fare in the various business districts of lower Manhattan and almost at the doors of their factories or offices. The Long Island boroughs will always be inconvenient in this respect until their transit lines shall extend through Manhattan to the North river, or otherwise pierce the various business localities of lower Manhattan. More East river crossings will stop the extreme congestion that now exists at the Brooklyn bridge. The Battery tunnel, Manhattan bridge, Williamsburg bridge and future tunnels will accomplish this. But merely increasing the number of crossings is only half solving the problem. The transit lines crossing the East river bridges should not terminate as soon as Manhattan is reached at points that are sure to be congested, but should continue across Manhattan. Distribution and not concentration should be the aim. Every evil result of focal congestion at a single terminal is exhibited at present at the Brooklyn bridge. Nine separate elevated routes are fed over a single elevated track across the bridge and about twenty-five surface lines over the single track in the roadway. This limits the number of trains or cars that can operate on any one of these lines and affects transportation throughout the entire city.

An entirely different problem arises in the outlying and thinly settled parts of the city. There it is both the down town congestion through which suburban passengers must pass and the slow and inadequate transportation in the outer districts. As a rule the people living in the suburbs fail to recognize that the downtown congestion is quite as harmful to their localities as the lack of sufficient suburban transit lines. For the main cause of insufficient cars and trains in rush hours on the suburban lines is the limit imposed by downtown congested districts on the number of cars than can pass a given point. For instance, the trains that can proceed to six Brooklyn elevated lines must all go through Adams street. If the downtown congestion of the whole city could be relieved, many more cars and trains could operate in the suburbs. Consequently it is plain that the most pressing

problem that confronts the city is the relief of congestion in Manhattan, downtown Brooklyn, and at the East river.

Suburban Rapid Transit. The lack of sufficient transit lines, and especially rapid transit lines, in many of the outlying districts is most serious. The suburbs of the city are constantly growing and extending. If there is not adequate transportation at a fairly rapid rate of speed from the circumference to the center of the city, natural growth is interfered with. As down town streets become more and more crowded, street car transit from the suburbs becomes so slow as almost to prohibit the growth of these localities that lack rapid transit. A clerk or workingman cannot afford to give much over two hours a day to going to and from his work. The expenditure of even two hours a day is economic waste, and is reflected in the loss of working ability on the part of the population. Some method of reaching the growing suburbs must be supplied other than by surface cars. Subways are very nearly ideal but their great expense makes them out of the question for many distant localities at present. As rapid transit roads increase, the tendency should be, and doubtless will be, to do away with the long street car rides from the suburbs to the center of the city, and instead employ the street car lines to carry passengers to the rapid transit lines, transferring them to rapidly moving subway or elevated trains. There is no reason why existing elevated railroads, which in the Boroughs of Queens, Brooklyn and the Bronx now terminate far short of the city line, should not be extended on some proper basis to meet this demand. Some of the elevated lines could have their carrying capacity greatly increased by adding one or two additional tracks. Even if the city builds subways as fast as it can afford to do, the elevated railroads will continue to be a necessity for a long time, and it does not seem right to cause a generation of people great inconvenience in transportation while waiting for the time to come when the subways may supersede the elevated railroads. We do not refer in this connection more to the elevated railroads in Manhattan and the Bronx than to those leading into the Boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens.

Steam Railroads. These are an important factor in the city's progress, connecting as they do the city with the outside world,

but it is remarkable that their usefulness in relation to city travel is almost negligible. The trunk lines entering New York from the north carry almost no passengers from one point within the city to another. The same can be said of the Long Island Railroad in the Boroughs of Queens and Brooklyn. People will not pay a fare of fifteen or twenty cents when by some other method they can travel for five cents, and up to this time there has been no disposition on the part of any of the steam railroads to compete with the elevated and street railroads for the five-cent fare business. The Long Island Railroad Company a few years ago entered into an agreement with the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company whereby each should keep out of the territory of the other. The result seems to have been that parts of Queens county are dependent on the Long Island Railroad which charges a high fare and seems to care little for urban traffic, yet prevents the street railroads from entering its territory. The steam railroads, like the New York Central and Long Island, have received valuable privileges from the city. They claim franchises to operate in city streets. The city, in the case of the Long Island Railroad, has paid part of the expense of constructing its Atlantic avenue tunnel and elevated. Extra tracks were permitted to the New York Central Railroad in Fourth avenue with a view to carrying urban traffic. Needed space within the city is taken up by these roads. They have no standing to say that they will carry no traffic that does not in itself pay, but they should recognize that they have a duty to use their lines as part of the rapid transit system of the city.

B. FOURTH AVENUE SUBWAY, BROOKLYN.

Situation July 1st.- On assuming office the Commission found appointments made by its predecessors as required by law for a final public hearing to take place July 25th on contracts for the construction of the Fourth avenue subway. The preliminary steps had all been duly taken by the Rapid Transit Commission and the approval of the Board of Estimate and Apportionment, including the setting aside by it of the sum of $23,000,000, had been given. Pursuant thereto the hearing as so arranged was