Historical Note
The Municipal Street Railway System was formed in 1919 when the City
purchased the dilapidated rail lines of the Puget Sound Traction, Light and
Power Company. The price of $15 million was the subject of controversy amid
City Council members; Oliver Erickson, who opposed the purchase, estimated the
true value of the lines at closer to five million. However, Seattle citizens
supported purchase of the rail lines by an overwhelming margin, and the
ordinance authorizing the purchase was passed in March of 1919. Allegations of
bribery for City Council votes in favor of the purchase continued for several
years; Mayor Hugh Caldwell, elected in 1920, initiated an investigation, but
the suspicions were never proven.
The Municipal Street Railway System was bogged down by debt and other
issues from its outset; for example, the first annual report (1919-1920)
complains of too much interference from the City Council, presses for
regulation of "jitneys," which were railways' major competitors for business,
and demands that the City refuse to recognize the rights of railway employees
to organize.
The System was administered by the Department of Public Utilities until
1932, when the Department was abolished; it then came under the authority of
the Board of Public Works. With a $10 million loan from the Reconstruction
Finance Corporation, the system was able to purchase buses and pay off the
Puget Power debt, and was reorganized as the Seattle Transit system in 1939
(see record series 9380 and 9379).
Content Description
The annual reports for the Municipal Street Railway System date from
1919 to 1936, although reports do not exist for every year. Two reports exist
for 1919; the second is a report on the finances of the Municipal Street
Railway System by the Comptroller. The reports include financial information
(in its first year of operation, the System operated at a loss of $18,000) and
information on routes, including schedule changes and revenue, as well as other
operating statistics.