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Philadelphia Transportation Company

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Philadelphia Transportation Company
A PCC-type trolley and a Brill trackless trolley of PTC, wearing the company's standard paint scheme of green-and-cream in 1968 at 7th Street & Snyder Avenue
A PCC-type trolley and a Brill trackless trolley of PTC, wearing the company's standard paint scheme of green-and-cream in 1968 at 7th Street & Snyder Avenue
Overview
LocalePhiladelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Transit type
Headquarters200 W. Wyoming Avenue,[1]
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Operation
Began operationJanuary 1, 1940
Ended operationSeptember 30, 1968 (taken over by SEPTA)
Technical
Track gauge4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) (Broad Street Subway)
5 ft 2+1⁄4 in (1,581 mm) (streetcar/trolley lines and Market–Frankford Line)
PTC fare tokens

The Philadelphia Transportation Company (PTC) was the main public transit operator in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from 1940 to 1968. It operated a citywide system of bus, trolley, and trackless trolley (trolleybus) routes, the Market-Frankford Elevated (now L), the Broad Street subway (now B), and Delaware River Bridge Line (now PATCO Speedline).

A private company, PTC was the successor to the Philadelphia Rapid Transit Company (PRT), in operation since 1902, and was the immediate predecessor of the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA). Organizationally, its legacy continues as SEPTA's City Transit Division.[2]

History

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The earliest predecessors to the PTC were an extensive network of independent and competing[3]: 32  horsecar lines that carpeted the city and nearby suburbs shortly after the Civil War.[4]: 3 [3]: 29–30  These generally ran every few minutes at speeds comparable to walking pace, but saved the effort.[3]: 22, 33 

In general, streetcar lines in the city attempted to route through the central business district. Towards this end, several operated in an "L" shape, such traveling north/south on one radial into Center City, and then east/west on the other.[5]: 503–506  The majority of the lines were single track in the city and ran in one direction, due to the narrow street widths.[5]: 502  A rare exception was the double track along 8th Street in Center City, around which developed the city's shopping district.[3]: 35–36 

During the late 19th century, the horsecar lines were replaced first by cable cars and then, in the 1890s, electrified trolleys.[4]: 6–7 [3]: 30  The greater capital investment required by these latter systems prompted corporate consolidation, and eventually all the city's street railroads were unified into the Union Traction Company (UTC) in 1895.[4]: 7, 17 

The UTC also unified the city's transfer system, such that the first streetcar ride on any line cost 5¢ (the regulatory maximum;[3]: 176  $2 in 2025 money[6]), but transferring to the next streetcar cost only 3¢. As the transfer passes had no expiration date, passengers would buy large blocks for future use, and the policy worked similarly to a fare reduction to 4¢ for the diligent commuter.[5]: 506–507 

The new UTC was affiliated with local grandees,[4]: 17  but extremely unpopular with the general public. During an 1895 conductors' strike, non-workers supported the strikers with violence, vandalism, and a boycott of the limited operations the company could put together with strikebreakers.[3]: 46–47, 172  Following a change in local politics, the city attempted to break the UTC's monopoly in 1901, awarding franchises for grade-separated rapid transit lines to entrants affiliated with the new administration. Instead, the UTC bought out the new companies, forming the Philadelphia Rapid Transit Company (PRT) to operate all forms of public transit in the city.[4]: 83–84 

In 1907, the PRT built the first portion of modern Philadelphia's rapid transit system: the Market Street Elevated.[3]: 171–172  By 1911, improvements to service had made the PRT relatively popular.[3]: 172  Part of PRT's newfound popularity arose from an investment in new rolling stock, including the custom-designed Nearside streetcar.[7] In the 1910s, the PRT began trialing motorized buses to supplement or replace its trolley services.[3]: 175 

The 1920s were turbulent for the PRT. The city's rapid transit system expanded with the Market Street line's Frankford Extension,[3]: 173  and the PRT broke ground on the incipient Broad Street Subway.[citation needed] Nevertheless, "knowledgeable people noted that the money from trolley operations was drying up."[4]: 174  As early as 1919, President Thomas E. Mittens had begun attempting to remove financiers from the PRT's board of directors.[4]: 144  In 1925, Mittens, threatening bankruptcy, first obtained a fare increase to 8¢. Then, he attempted to extort the Philadelphia Electric Company, which supplied PRT most of its power, into a merger or lowered electric rates, by opposing regulatory approval of the Conowingo Dam.[4]: 173–177, 218–219 

PTC was established on January 1, 1940, by the merger of the PRT and several smaller, then-independent transit companies operating in and near the city. PTC operated the rapid transit lines in Philadelphia, principally the Market–Frankford, Broad Street, and Delaware River Bridge Lines, leasing their fixed infrastructure from the City of Philadelphia. PTC's network also included the Philadelphia trolleybus system, which was much smaller,[8] along with numerous bus lines.

Suburban transit lines at the time were operated by other private companies, including the Philadelphia Suburban Transportation Company, known as Red Arrow Lines (now D (SEPTA Metro)), the Southern Penn Bus Company (various bus lines), and the Philadelphia and Western Railroad (Norristown and Strafford interurban lines).

Among PTC's first actions was to begin replacing its aging fleet of vehicles. In 1940, the company placed orders for 130 PCC streetcars, 50 trackless trolleys, and 53 motor buses.[9]

In 1944, during World War II, white PTC workers engaged in a wildcat strike aimed at preventing the promotion of African American employees to conductors and other positions. The strike ended when President Franklin D. Roosevelt ordered troops into the city to run the cars.[10][11]

In 1955,[12] majority control of PTC was acquired by the National City Lines holding company, which had a record of replacing trolleys with buses in other cities.[2][9] NCL followed suit in Philadelphia. In 1954, the PTC trolley system included 45 lines, using more than 1,500 trolley cars.[12] Between 1954 and 1958, three-fourths of the trolley lines were abandoned, and 984 trolley cars had been scrapped, replaced by 1,000 new buses.[9] In the year 1956 alone, Philadelphia Electric estimated that revenue from PTC declined 16% due to the substitution of new gasoline-powered vehicles.[4]: 356 

The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) was established in 1964, as part of efforts by the Pennsylvania legislature to coordinate government subsidies to various transit and railroad companies in southeastern Pennsylvania. The provision of public transit service was becoming increasingly unprofitable in the 1950s and 1960s,[2] and cities across the country were municipalizing their transit systems or creating regional public transit authorities. SEPTA acquired the Philadelphia Transportation Company, taking possession of PTC at noon on September 30, 1968.[13] The total price paid to PTC stockholders for the purchase was $47.9 million[1] (equivalent to $329 million in 2024[14]).

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b Meyer, Eugene L. (September 29, 1968). "SEPTA to Take Over PTC Tomorrow, To Cap Five Years of Negotiations". The Sunday Bulletin. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Section 1, p. 8. Archived from the original on August 9, 2019. Retrieved 2019-08-20.
  2. ^ a b c Hepp, John (2013). "Public Transportation". The Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia. Rutgers University. Archived from the original on March 31, 2019. Retrieved 2019-08-20.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Hepp, John Henry IV (2003). The Middle-Class City. University of Pennsylvania. ISBN 0-8122-3723-4.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wainwright, Nicholas B. (1961). History of the Philadelphia Electric Company, 1881-1961. Philadelphia: Philadelphia Electric Company. LCCN 61-17626.
  5. ^ a b c Wheatly, W. W. (1903). "The Philadelphia Rapid Transit system, II". Street Railway Journal. 21 (14) – via HathiTrust.
  6. ^ 1634–1699: McCusker, J. J. (1997). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States: Addenda et Corrigenda (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1700–1799: McCusker, J. J. (1992). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1800–present: Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Retrieved February 29, 2024.
  7. ^ Borgnis, Mervin E., The Near-side car and the legacy of Thomas E. Mittens, Voyager Books/Winchester Printers, Harper's Ferry, WV, 1994
  8. ^ Sebree, Mac; Ward, Paul (1974). The Trolley Coach in North America. Los Angeles: Interurbans. pp. 209–212. LCCN 74020367.
  9. ^ a b c Schneider, Fred W.; Carlson, Stephen P. (1983). PCC From Coast to Coast. Glendale, California: Interurban Press. pp. 140–146. ISBN 0-916374-57-2.
  10. ^ Everts, Bart. An Anniversary to Forget. 2014. Hidden City Philadelphia. Retrieved 2017-12-18.
  11. ^ "Executive Order 9459—Philadelphia Transportation Company, Possession and Control by the Secretary of War | The American Presidency Project". The American Presidency Project, University of California, Santa Barbara. 3 August 1944. Retrieved 27 January 2023. [A]s President of the United States and Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy, I hereby authorize the Secretary of War to take possession and assume control of the transportation systems of the Philadelphia Transportation Company
  12. ^ a b Springirth, Kenneth C. (2008). Southeastern Pennsylvania Trolleys. Arcadia Publishing. pp. 10–11. ISBN 978-0-7385-5692-5.
  13. ^ "Where Were You When SEPTA Took Control of P.T.C.?". SEPTA. Archived from the original on 2014-07-31. Retrieved 2014-08-07.
  14. ^ Johnston, Louis; Williamson, Samuel H. (2023). "What Was the U.S. GDP Then?". MeasuringWorth. Retrieved November 30, 2023. United States Gross Domestic Product deflator figures follow the MeasuringWorth series.

Further reading

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  • Wolfinger, James. Running the Rails: Capital and Labor in the Philadelphia Transit Industry (Cornell University Press, 2016). xii, 292 pp. ISBN 978-1-5017-0240-2.
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