Transit Frustrations in Fern Hill
Complaints over reduced streetcar frequency meet a defensive retort from the T. R. P. company superintendent.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Fern Hill has practically fifteen-minute car service mornings and evenings, said Superintendent Boutelle of the T. R. P. company today, discussing the complaint that the service on that line has been inferior since the Puyallup short line was completed. The regular Fern Hill trippers are run as always, continued Mr. Boutelle, and in addition the Spanaway cars stop there every thirty minutes. Our short line has taken fully 1,000 passengers off the old Puyallup line and consequently we have discontinued some of the cars on the latter line. There isn't business on that line beyond Fern Hill to warrant more cars than are now being operated, but as far as Fern Hill's service is concerned it was never better. The statement that the service is worse than it was seven years ago is ridiculous.
“The statement that the service is worse than it was seven years ago is ridiculous.”
Public transit frequency and the shifting of routes to accommodate new lines are ongoing themes in Tacoma's urban planning history, showing that the 'transit desert' debate dates back to the streetcar era.
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