| Average number of passengers per mile run, | 57.4 | ||
| Average distance travelled by passengers, | 81.4 | ||
| Average tons per mile run, | 90.0 | ||
| Average distance, whole number of tons carried, | 177.0 | ||
| Length, | 496 miles, | ||
| Freight tonnage, | 150,673,997 miles, | ||
| Passenger, | 84,069,398 miles. | ||
412. It is of course an object on every railroad to make the gross receipts overbalance the gross expense by the largest possible amount. The elements which determine the gross receipts are,
The charge per mile, for transport,
The number of units transported,
The distance carried,
of which the company’s directors can control the first only, except as adjustment of rates may attract business.
Reduction of tariff, to a certain degree, has the effect of increasing the receipts by augmenting the number of fares; but the reduction may be carried too far. So, also, for a certain distance, increased rates will increase the whole receipts; but in this case, also, the extreme must be avoided. The point to be arrived at is, evidently, that at which the difference of expense and receipt is the greatest, and this is not necessarily when receipts are the greatest.
We can make the receipts nothing either by making the charges so large that nothing can bear them, or so small as to vanish. Even when the receipts are 0, we still have the expense of moving the empties.
By forming a table in which one column shall show the different charges, and the second the corresponding amounts transferred, with the consequent receipts and cost of working, we shall find which rate of charge will give the greatest difference between expense and receipt.