Cover story page 15

Accounting at the Speed of LightThe "650" and SchedulingSomething New in Timetables

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Computing, Sorting, Collating, Recording Go On in the

Accounting Department by Machines Infinitely Faster

and More Accurate than the Human Mind and Hand

•

EVEN BEFORE YOU ENTERthe room you are aware of an al-most continuous whirring, rumble,and humming of machinery. And

DANNY CROOKS, Supervisor in chargeof the electronic accounting forte, wiresa board for the "408" accounting ma-chine. He explains that differing oper-ations require different wiring set-ups.

as you look around, you see dozensof metallic objects. Some of themare large, cabinet-like affairs; othersare relatively small and resembletypewriters or adding machines.All of them appear rather formi-dable with their numerous electri-cal switches and mouth-like open-ings. The larger ones, while theyare inactive, might make you feela bit uneasy. You don't know why.Then they come to life, and you feelas if some quiet but powerful gianthas awakened. You watch a ma-chine perform, and you get the feel-ing that it has a mind of its own.

Then you realize that these ma-chines are very near to being ableto think. They are the MTA Ac-counting Division's army of 36 IBMmachines which, under the com-mand of Treasurer William W.Wakelee, are used extensively inaccounting and computational work

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KEY PUNCH AND VERIFIER SECTION of the IBM room. Here's where the electronicaccounting processes begin, because only IBM cards, punched with information fromoriginal records by these girls, can be used by IBM machines. Each card is punchedby one girl and verified by another. Standing at rear is the Key Punch Supervisor,Norma Weiss. Others, from left, are Helen Reoch, Wanda Taylor, Judy Ransom,Edna Cleveland, Marie Baker, Mary Russell, Dorothy Biedes, Doris Faught, WandaAmburgey, Carol Purcell, and Lena Rodriguez. All are Key Punch-Verifier Operators.

for recording, compiling, classify-ing, sorting, and calculating hugequantities of numerical data, literal-ly at the Speed of light!

You begin to wonder what thesevarious machines do, and how theydo it, and what the 20-or-so ma-chine operators do to and with thesemetal "creatures."

You make a few quiet inquirier,and almost before you know it youare getting a combination tour andlecture by IBM Supervisor DannyCrooks. He explains the uses of theequipment.

"This is a key punch machine,"he teils you, pointing to an objectthat looks like an incomplete type-writer. "It's the fundamental ma-chine in IBM processing. Basical-ly, it records, in code, informationtaken from some form or card that

has been filled in by hand How-ever, the information is first con-verted into numerical form, andthen "punched" into IBM cards bythe key punch. The basic informa-tion now appears on the IBM cardsas a bunch of holes, or punches.There are 80 vertical columns onthe card, and one punch in a givencolumn stands for a number, de-pending upon where it appears inthe column. For example, the 7th,8th, 9th and 10th holes in your pay-check stand for the four numbersof your employee number, whichstands for you. Letters can be in-dicated by two or more punchesin a column."

Danny then points to a machinewhich looks like the one used onThe $64,000 Question. "This is asorter. Its function is to separate

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SORTER is capable of arranging up to1,000 cards a minute either alphabetical-ly or in order of number. One use is toarrange labor cards according to em-ployee number. Operator: Sato Kurahashi.

COLLATOR will bring together ("col-late") cards from decks already arrangedin like order, such as paychecks anddeduction slips; or it will select certaincards from a deck. Operator Al ("Pat")Patterson has a stack of cards to sort.

AccountingBy Electronics

certain cards from the main pile,or deck. Sorting is done one par-ticular column at a time. The ma-chine separates from the deck andplaces together those cards whichhave a hole in the same place—in-dicating the same number—withinthat column.

"Here," Danny indicates anothermachine, "is a reproducer. It willmake duplicate cards, or it willcondense onto one card Part of thedata from other cards. The natureand amount of the data reproducedare determined by electrical cir-cuits between the holes of the mas-ter card and the mechanism whichwill punch the new condensedcards.

"This is an accounting machine-also known as a tabulator or aprinter," he continues, showing youanother large piece of equipment."lt will summarize, add, and sub-tract data in the cards fed to it,and will convert these data backinto typewritten form."

Danny pauses bef ore a largeglass-enclosed room. You Look andsee what appear to be three ma-chines, side by side. But there arenot three machines; there is one!"That machine is our latest addi-tion: the 650 data processor. Wegot it in mid-December. It has threeparts: the Power unit, the `memory'and calculating unit, and the card-reading and card-punching unit.The '650' does our mathematicalwork: storing, summarizing, add-ing, subtracting, multiplying, divid-ing, and totaling data which havebeen punched into cards and fed

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to it. lt can store, an a magneticdrum, 20,000 digits. It can add two10-digit numbers in less than 5/10,-000 of a second! And, it can re-ceive more than 1,000 Instructions'(in the form of punched holes )from the cards fed to it. It is keptin this enclosed room, which is airconditioned, because of its intricacyand sensitivity. It simply won'tfunction properly if the temper-ature exceeds 90°."

About this time you begin towonder how the "650" makes thesecalculations. "It's not a simplemethod," Danny teils you; "but it'snot as complicated as you mightthink. The machine multiplies byadding: 8 x 7 would mean that thenumber 8 is added 7 times. Todivide, the machine subtracts: 25

5 would be performed by sub-tracting 5 from 25 until zero — orless — is reached. The number ofsubtractions gives the answer, andthe remainder, if there is one, isconverted into decimal form in asimilar manner. The machine willalso give totals and sub-totals, ifasked to by the punched cards.

"All of these machines — and afew others which perform similartasks — are used to process datawhich are gathered and recordedeach day for such items as timecards, payroll sheets, farebox andcash turn-in cards, and reports ofmileage and fuel consumption. In-formation of this kind is essentialif the company is to know howmuch to pay its employees, whatvarious costs are, and what earn-ings are," Danny concludes.

How are these machines put tospecific use by MTA? Let's lookat a particular case: the processingof farebox and turn-in cards. Fare-

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ACCOUNTING MACHINE, often referredto as "the 408," has many applications,including preparation of paychecks, de-duction cards, and such daily reports asrevenue reports, bus mileage for eachbus, extra men's mark-up, cash receivers'audits, etc. Operator: Margie Wynne.

REPRODUCING PUNCH, here operatedby Laura Hinze, has a number of techni-cal IBM applications of interest only tothe expert. One simpler application isto punch employee number and depart-ment into cards concerning each em-ployee; for example, badge number anddivision number in operators' paychecks.

TYPEWRITER PUNCH, operated byHelen Reoch, is a combination standardtypewriter and punch machine. Typewriterunit is used for typing checks, invoices,letters of transmittal, and all accounts-receivable items. Simultaneously, punchunit converts into holes the letters andnumbers printed by typewriter. Eitherunit may also be used independently.

AccountingBy Electronics

box cards, filled in daily by Opera-tors, give farebox readings beforeand after a run to show the valueof the coins and the number of thetokens dropped into the box byriders. Turn-in cards show the valueof the money and number of to-kens turned in by the Operatorafter his run. These two reports arethe basis for determining companyearnings!

According to Danny, the follow-ing sequence of events occurs.

1. Farebox card information (theOperator's badge number, begin-ning and ending farebox readings,etc.) is punched into an IBM card.The information now appears asholes, in the appropriate columns.Information from the turn-in cardis also converted into a punchedcard.

2. The verifier keys these IBMcards again, to ensure that theywere properly punched — that thecorrect information is an the cards.

3. All of the farebox cards go tothe sorter, where they are separat-ed by farebox number and ar-ranged in the proper sequence, sothat .. .

4. The collator can make certainthat the end reading of a fareboxcard agrees with the beginningreading of the subsequent card.

5. The IBM cards are then re-arranged — this time by Operatornumber. The entire stack of fare-box and turn-in cards goes to the"650," which accumulates the val-ues, including token values, of thefares received and the cash turnedin by each Operator. The machinereads both sets of cards, and, bycomparing the fares and the turn-ins, determines the overage orshortage for each Operator. It thenpunches, for the Operator con-cerned, a new card for theseamounts.

6. These over-and-short cards goto the tabulator, which prints andtotals, according to Operator, theover-and-short report for that day.

The "650" also will compute totalrevenue, and will break down thistotal by division and line number,as "instructed" by the punchedturn-in cards. It will also makecumulative revenue totals— orsub-totals — an a monthly and year-ly basis.

With the completion of thesesteps, Accounting knows how muchmoney was earned an a given dayand how much was turned in foreach line.

That's quite a bit of data-juggl-ing in anyone's business! But it'sanother means of keeping MTA'sprocedures speedy and up to date.

•

6

The

"650"and

ScheduleMaking

THE "650" DATA PROCESSOR, ournewest, is a Iightning fast computer witha "memory." From her operating manual,Helene Bates is setting the controls onthe console unit for a calculator oper-ation. In this console is the computer.At left is the power unit, which trans-forms building current into high-voltagedirect current for use in electronic cir-cuits. (See also photo on next page.)

•

IN ADDITION to processingvarious accounting records, the"650" computer plays a vital, andsomewhat unique, role in schedulemaking. Its importance can easilybe seen by comparing pre-IBMprocedures with present ones. Ac-cording to Superintendent of Sched-ules and Statistics George F.Goehler, for a major line — withabout 500 one-way vehicle move-ments and ten time points — theSchedule Maker would in the pastcalculate and write about 5,000passing times. It would take morethan a day for just this detail work.With punched cards it now takesless than three hours of key punchand machirre operators' time. More-over, errors due to mental fatigueare reduced, and the ScheduleMaker has more time for creativethinking.

This electronic process ofscheduling transit lines was devel-oped in 1951 by SuperintendentGoehler and Treasurer Wakelee.Currently, MTA is one of the fewtransit companies which use elec-tronic computers for this purpose.

To see how schedules are devel-oped, and the role played by the"650," let's have Mr. Goehler out-line, in simplified terms, the stepswhich are followed:

"Basically, schedule making in-volves determining how many pas-sengers ride a particular line dur-ing given time periods; and thendetermining how many vehicles areneeded, and when, in those timeperiods, in order to accommodateall the passengers. How is thisdone?

(Continued on next Page)

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and frequency of vehicles neededper time period).

"Since headways are establishedat peak points, they must be ex-tended throughout the rest of thetrip in order to determine a com-plete schedule. This extension isdone by the '650; which also addslayover and recovery time. The`650' can then calculate the timesat which return trips should start inorder to provide Optimum serviceat peak points on the return run.

"Running-time information isalso punched into IBM cards. Thepassenger-data card ( in die atin gthe number of passengers carriedper interval and the headwaysneeded to accommodate them) andthe running-time card are broughttogether through the collator, andthe information is then condensedby the reproducer into one card: thetrip card.

"The trip card thus contains in-formation as to when and howoften vehicles must leave certainpoints to arrive at various peakpoints at the proper times. Tripcards, therefore, are the basis forOperators' paddles and for eventualtimetables.

"Some trip-card information alsogoes into Supervisors' and Informa-tion ( S&I ) Schedules. But beforethis schedule can be m ade, the«650' must rearrange the trip-carddata. This is so because the datafor the Supervisors' and Informa-tion Schedule must be in a patterndifferent from that which appearson the paddles. The 408 account-ing machine, which prints the orig-inal S & I schedules, is not able totransfer punched data from oneposition on the IBM card to a dif-ferent position for printing. Hence,the '650' must perform this job-again proving its versatility andvalue in solving complex Problemsof our changing times."

READ-PUNCH UNIT of the 650. Heleneis feeding cards into the "read" side.When she starts the machine, it sendsinformation to the power unit, whichconverts the information into data in aform which can be used by the computer.The computer sends the results of its cal-culations to the "punch" unit, whichpunches a card showing the calculationresults. This card is then fed into theoblong opening at right, whence it isavailable for further accounting needs.

The

"650 93

(Continued from Page 7)

"At several peak points, wherethere is relatively heavy loading andunloading of passengers on a givenroute, traffic checks are made.These checks determine: (1) Thenumber of passengers carried, dur-ing 20-minute periods, at the checkpoints. (2) Running times — or theamount of time needed — for ve-hicles between check points.

"The passenger data (1) arepunched into IBM cards, along withinformation on vehicle capacity.The cards are then fed to the '650.'The '650' first computer typicalpassenger loads; then, comparingdata on passenger loads andvehicle-capacity, the machine can com-pute headways (i.e., the number

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•

•

CAU 1A3 UPCCARI) neue,

UCLA STUDENTS at ticket office, Kerckhoff Hall, read MTA poster with mapshowing transit service to campus. One student reads timetable from stack an ledge.

Bruin Timetable with 3 Lines/ Part of Merchandising Program

FIRST OF ITS KIND ever to bedeveloped by MTA or its pred-ecessors (so far as could be ascer-tained) is the "Bruin" timetable,which went into effect Feb. 2.

Schedules of all lines providingdirect service from all areas toUCLA are shown an a single time-table, along with a specially drawnmap. The map shows direct lines

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EFFECTIVE FEB. 2,1959

DIRECT SERVICE

to

INCLUDiNG

CONNECTING LISES

SubJert to Ch.oge WWtaut NOtiee

!laue 1.

LOS ANGELESMET•OPOLITAN TRANSIT AUTHORITY

General Offiees1060 South Broadway

L.•Angele..15, Californialuforuation:RIchmond 7-4455.

New UCLATimetable

as well as ten connecting lines useof which would involve but a singletransfer to or from the university.The uniqueness lies in the fact thata single timetable shows all thelines serving a specific area.

Timetables are shown for the LosAngeles-Westwood-Santa Monicavia Wilshire Blvd. Line (83W),the Santa Monica-Westwood viaBrei itwood Shuttle Line (83B ), andthe Los Angeles-UCLA-Pacific Pal-isades Line (76).

"Production of this timetable isa fine example of the results beingobtained in our merchandising andbusiness development programthrough the cooperation of all MTAdepartments," declared ExecutiveDirector Ralph P. Merritt. "Needfor such a timetable was discoveredin talks by MTA with UCLA andWestwood Village Chamber ofCommerce officials, who wereworried about relieving the seriousparking situation an the campus.The timetable is one of a chain oflinks in our program.

"This program is geared to thebasic policy that ridership can bebuilt up where good transit serviceis available," Mr. Merritt pointedout. The program envisages:

1. Determining where needs anddesires exist for new or improvedservice, or where need exists forinforming the public as to current-ly available service.

2. Developing local communitysupport for transit through Cham-bers of Commerce, civic organiza-

COVER of UCLA timetable.

tions, and business and govern-mental leaders.

3. Distributing tim et abl es andother informational pieces in areaswhere service promotion is to beinaugurated. These printed piecesare distributed to supermarkets,banks, Chambers of Commerce,travel agencies, and occasionally tohomes.

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4. Releasing information to thepress, television, and radio to in-tensify the sales impact.

5. Advertising in local newspa-pers the specific service providedfor the area served by the news-papers.

In the case of the UCLA serv-ice, the problem was to make res-idents of the Westwood Villagearea aware of the service that isalready there. In addition to pro-duction of the new timetable de-scribed above, other steps in themerchandising program included:

1. Arranging with the prop erparties to have UCLA distributethe timetables at the AdministrationBuilding and in the student officeat Kerckhoff Hall. Similar arrange-ments were made for distribution inWestwood Village at the Chamberof Commerce, the Bank of America,and the Security-First NationalBank.

2. Preparing 50 posters 1294 by21" in size, showing the speciallydrawn UCLA timetable map inlarge size, and indicating wheretimetables may be obtained. Theseposters were placed an 12 bulletin

• CAROLYN STRICKLER, of Public Rela-tions, drew an original cartoon for time-table to catch eyes of UCLA students.

ARTHUR J. GRODE, Schedule Maker,prepared schedules for UCLA timetable.

boards an the campus and at 25strategic locations throughout theVillage.

3. Placing ads in the Westwoodpapers, including the campus news-paper, the Daily Bruin, pointingout the advantages of using MTAservice to UCLA.

4. Recommending to UCLA au-thorities that the new editions ofstudent guide books include apublic transportation section, ac-companied by the timetable map.Recommending also that the cam-pus map, in new issues, show wherethe bus station is located.

"Let's not forget, also," Mr. Mer-ritt pointed out, "that the best cam-paign in the world is of little per-manent value unless the utmostin courtesy is accorded to all whouse the service or seek informationconcerning it. Once UCLA studentsand Westwood Villagers find outthat our employees go all out tohelp them and to give them apleasant ride, MTA will gain newfriends and passengers. Let's makeit a point, also, as employees ofMTA, to teil people we meet —even our friends of long standing —what service is available. A word tothe wise is often sufficient."

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West Valley Freeway FlyerUp 177% in Ridership

FROM A BEGINNING total ofeight daily trips and a weeklyridership of 1,300 passengers to acurrent total of 20 daily runs and3,600 passengers a week — this isthe success story of the West Val-ley Freeway Flyer, Line 35!

Established Aug. 25 as a peak-hour limited-stop through serviceconnecting Reseda, Tarzana, Enci-no, Sherman Oaks and Studio Cityto downtown Los Angeles via Res-eda Blvd., Ventura Blvd., and theHollywood Freeway, Line 35 orig-inally consisted of four morning in-bound trips and four evening out-bound trips for commuters to andfrom downtown Los Angeles.

But the idea of the Flyer tookhold, and patronage increasedsteadily to 10, 11, 13, and (Oct. 6)14 daily trips. On December 1, aShoppers' Special service was es-tablished for Valley residents whowished to travel to downtown LosAngeles in the late morning orearly afternoon. Today, Line 35consists of 15 commuter trips ( sev-en inbound and eight outbound)and five shopper trips (two in themorning and three, outbound, inthe afternoon), for an impressivetotal of 20 trips — an increase of150%! Ridership has increased 177%over the first week's patronage!

This great and rapid growth is,however, only half the story. Morenoteworthy is the fact that, ac-cording to a survey conducted re-cently by our Operating Division,more than half the passengers uti-lizing this Flyer service had notused the bus before the inceptionof Line 35.

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According to General ManagerCone T. Bass, these figures Showthat the public will use transit märefrequently if the service fits theirneeds.

As to why the West Valley Free-way Flyer has been so successful,Mr. Bass stated:

"I3asically, the answer lies in thefact that a good product—in thisinstance, fast dependable service,and schedules that are convenientto commuters—was made availableto Valley residents. Also, it shouldbe pointed out that before the es-tablishment of Line 35, the onlypublic transportation between Re-seda and Los Angeles was a localservice which required a transfer.The Flyer service is a limited-stop,express, direct service requiring notransfer. This fact results in a sav-ing—between Reseda and down-town Los Angeles—of 18 minutes'travel time, plus the time needed tomake the transfer.

"Furthermore," Mr. Bass conclud-ed, "the public was infonned of theavailability of this new service.When a good product exists, andpeople know that it exists, they'lluse it. It's as simple as that."

WEST VALLEY FREEWAY FITER load-ing during p.m. rush at 6th & Hill Sts.

•

Commendations

W. J. GREEN

Operator of the MonthFor Feb.: W. J. Green

"TO EVERY anxious passenger,he gave a pleasant answer. Stran-gers in the City . . . surely appreci-ated his helpfulness as well as hissense of humor . . . Anyone whowanted to know where to get offheard him say, `I'll let you know.1 ,11 call you!' ..

"As 1 left, 1 asked, 'Are you al-ways like this to the passengers?'

" Surer he answered. 'lt makesmy work Basier!"'

On the basis of this letter ( quotedhere only in part ) from a passenger,a panel of judges selected W. J.Green for the February Operator-of-the Month award — an MTAcheck for $50.

Mr. Green began his transit ca-reer in 1934 as Conductor for theLos Angeles Railway Co. He cur-

Honored in JanuaryTHE OPERATORS listed below

received, in January, one or morecommendations, mostly through let-ters written by the general public.Congratulations to:

E. B. Adams, W. D. Adkinson, S. M.Alexander, D. J. Allan, J. R. Anderson,S. R. Anstine, D. J. Ballard, N. P. Beau-champ, H. C. Boyle, W. G. Brewer, N.B. Brooks, A. R. Brown, Manuel Burgess,R. A. Camunas, L. A. Chadd, H. A.Chaudoir, Gus Cholas, H. S. Christie,R. R. Clark, F. H. Clearwater, J. F.Cooper, R. A. Crabill.

A. A. Davison, C. G. Deguire, LeroyDevers, J. R. Dingley, J. A. Donovan,A. P. Drazin, R. D. Drusky, E. A. Evans,Harvey Evans, E. J. Filek, N. B. Frede-rick, Oscar Gibson, J. S. Goins, W. R. L.Goodman, A. G. Grebling, D. E. Grimm,W. Y. Guntharp.

H. R. Harrington, R. S. Harsche, G.P. Hayes, T. D. Heaney, P. B. Hill, L.L. Huntley, John Ingram, L. D. Jensen,W. E. Jones, L. W. Larson, C. B. Lewis,B. T. Lynum, Clyde Mason, G. S. Mat-tern, L. W. McComb, C. H. McCracken,A. C. Moore, H. W. Morrissey, H. C.Nields, H. G. Norie, H. N. Oehm.

A. C. Panzariello, E. G. Pike, V. C.Prettyman, E. G. Quincey, R. R. Rideout,R. C. Rodriguez, R. B. Schaefer, J. E.Schiff, A. L. Searls, W. G. Shafer, R. E.Shea, Albert Singleton, E. E. Smith, W.E. Steers, J. W. Stevens, M. B. Stewart,G. J. Stoddard, T. V. Swanson, J. R.Thompson, E. T. Thornton, A. F. Val-dez, E. A. Voline.

R. M. Walton, T. A. Warren, W. S. A.Weary, J. E. Wharton, M. L. White, 0.C. White, B. B. Williams, B. F. Williams,E. H. Williams, J. C. Williams, C. W.Wisler, E. E. Wright, 13. B. Zimtnennan.

rently operates an Line 5 (EagleRock-Hawthorne ) out of Division13.

He and his wife, Naomi, havelived for the past seven years inLa Puente, where they are buyingtheir home.

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New Faces 31n eionoriamMTA WELCOMES the follow-

ing new employees, who joined thecompany between December 28,1958, and January 31, 1959.ACCOUNTINGKey Punch Operators: Judy Ann Ran-som°, Mary Snyder°.PLANNINGJanitresses: Emogene Prine, Laura Sum-lin, Odessa Wiggins.Janitors: Roman Morales, David Parra,Jr., Tom Salter, Jr., Edell Shepherd, Wil-bert Smith, George Williams, Jr., HilliardWoodcox.TRANSPORTATIONGeneral Clerk (Scheduling): Arthur Isso-glio.PBX Operator: Bernadette Brisco.Operators: Lawrence Applebee, 11°*;Donald Armack, 2; Alfonso Arredondo, 2;Sidney Baer, 2; George Briggs, 6;Billy Brown, 7; Mario Carione, 3;Burley Carlisle, 7; Robert Carter, 20;Roy Cousins, jr., 11; Adolphus Cox, 2;Frank Delgado, 11; Walter Deuber, 7;Albert Dominguez, 8; Kee Gok Dong, 2;Homer Edson, 1; Russell Frazelle, 11;Walter Fujimori, 20; Robert Gray, 11;Donald Gregory, 8; Mario Grisanti, 10;Richard Hamilton, 6; Robert Harrte, 11;Harold Haynes, 6; Charles E. Jack, 3;Harry Johns, 8; Delbert Jones, 7; JackJones, 11; Robert Jordan, 6; Alan Kauff-man, 7; Wayne Kohl, 9; Billy Krech,6; Arthur Lennen, 6; Carmelo Marino,11; Raymond Miller, 2; Thyriss Munford,6; Thomas Naughton, 7; Dennis Osby, 6;Richard Parker, 11; Donald Pickett, 8;Alphus Pitt, 9; Cornelius Plenert, 8;Richard Richardson, 6; Abe Roberts, 11;Dwight Smith, 6; Robert Somers, 8;Charles Southworth, 11; Dee Sparks,8; Frank Spinella, 5; Leo Spinella, 5;George Stafford, 8; Johnny Thompson,2; Richard Thompson, 6; Carroll Tinker,11; Louis Warner, 8; Samuel Willis, 7;Richard Wilson, 6; George Wright, 6;Matthew Young, 2.MAINTENANCECarman: Roger Mendivil, 15.Cleaner-Operator: Augustine Estrada (re-employed ), 8.Clerk-Typist: Margaret Danna.Janitors: Joseph Davis, 7; James Mims,9; Dennis Rhodes, Jr., 11.Mechanics "B": Vincent Carione, 20;Mitsuo Hayashida, 3; Victor Rodriguez, 5.Mechanic 2nd Class: Masao Tengan, 10.

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Barnes, Helen E., wife of retired Mo-torman and Work Trainman Fred Barnes;Dec. 31; survived by her husband.

Dietz, George W., 52, Clerk, Division7; Jan. 29; survived by his wife, Ruth.

Farr, Harley M., 70, retired SafetyOperator and Trainman; Jan. 27; survivedby his wife, Laura.

Hanley, William D., 76, retired Con-ductor and Mail Clerk; Jan. 24; survivedby his wife, Bertha.

Uecker, Edward H., 54, Assistant Con-troller; Jan. 25; survived by his wife,Elsie.

Walker, Ralph J., 70, retired SeniorStock Clerk; Jan. 31; survived by hiswife, Jewell.

Woolman, William H., 54, Operator,Division 12; Jan. 25; survived by hiswife, Myrtle.

RetirementsMTA WISHES to extend a "Fare-

well and Good Luck" to the follow-ing employees who retired fromservice in November and Decem-ber. (There were no retirements inJanuary.)

Best wishes to:Operators Chester W. Lebcher (Long

Beach) and Erwin P. Linkroum ( VanNuys), 41 years of service each.

Station Master William L. Blakely( L.A. St.), and Operators Thomas J.McKee (L.A. St.) and Frank 0. Evans(EI Monte), 39 years each.

Operators Nicholas LaBorde (OceanPark) 37 years; Joseph Potts (EI Monte),32; Aksel Pederson (Long Beach), 30;John T. Pettit (El Monte), 25; Albert S.Mason (Long Beach), 17; and ErnestR. Edwards (Long Beach), 16 years ofservice.

Cleaner Earl C. Gilbert (West Holly-wood), 15 years.

Operators George E. Mitchell and 1.H. Brennaman of Long Beach, 14 and13 years, respectively.

Information Clerk Eiste Thomas (6th& Main), 13 years of service.

PURCHASES AND STORESJunior Stock Clerk: Rodney Shadle*.*Temporary employee.

**Division where employed.

174e Emblem

IN THIS ISSUE

Vol. 1 February, 1959 No. 7

COVER STORY

20 New Buses Arrive

PAT GOGGINS, Secretary toSupt. Frank H. Markley, of MacyGarage, points to the new "FREE-WAY FLIER" head sign an oneof the 20 new buses that went intoservice in February. It was the firsttime that this inscription had beenlettered an a head sign — a factwhich shows, says Pat, that "Free-way Flyers are here to stay" —although the appearance of thishead sign in the photo does notmean that these new coaches areall necessarily used in Flyer service.

Purchased at a cost of $540,000,or $27,000 each, the new 45-pas-senger, interurban-type buses havebeen assigned to four lines: threecoaches to the Long Beach-River-side Line (59); 13 to the Los An-geles-Pomona-San Bernardino Red-lands Line (60); three to the River-side-Arlington-La Sierra Line (62);and one to the Riverside-Santa Ani-ta Race Track Line (57).

The new coaches are based atthe Riverside Division.

This assignment released a num-ber of the 48-passenger, 5100-dasscoaches for use in the areas forwhich they were originally intend-ed, including the Pasadena OakKnoll (70) and Short (71) lines;and the West Los Angeles Line(83 )—although these lines are stillnot 100% equipped with the 5100-dass coaches.

The 20 new buses arrivedalready painted in the distinctiveMTA colors, and equipped withlight green needlepoint upholstery,tinted-glass windows, thermostati-cally controlled heating and ven-tilation, interior baggage racks, andbaggage compartments underneaththe floor. Numbers are 2025 to2044, inclusive.

Accounting by Electronics 2-6

The "650" and ScheduleMaking 7-8

New Timetablesfor UCLA 9-11Special Folder Shows

AH Service to Campus

West Valley Freeway Flyer

Ridership Up 177% 12

Commendations 13W. J. Green, Operator

of the MonthOperators Honored

in January

New Faces 14

Retirements 14

In Memoriam 14

New Radio DispatchingSystem Coming . . . . 16

Publishod every month for employees of theLos Angeles Metropolitan Transit Authority

and thcir families, by the Public RelationsDivision, Suite 203, Transit Authority Build-ing, 1060 South Broadway, Los Angeles 15,

California.

Carl P. Miller, Chairman.Clarence A. Winder, Vice-ChairmanRalph P. Merritt, Executive Director

Members: Don Belding, Fred S. Dean, Hay-den F. Jones, Russell A. Quisenberry, Arthur

J. Will.

James H. Raport, Publisher

W. Warren Silliman, Editor

Alan W. Ward, Editorial Assistant

15

Newiltadio DispatchingSystem to be Installed

THE MTA EMBLEM1060 S. Broadway, Los Angeles 15, Calif.Form 3547 requested

BULK RATEU. S. POSTAGE

PAIDLos Angeles, Calif.Permit No. 21231

INSTALLATION of a complete new radio dispatch-ing system, to replace the present inconvenient dualset-up, is under way and will probably be completedand in Operation about June 1, according to Superin-tendent of Electrical Department Leland E. Dye.

"The present systems, under which the former LATLmobile units are on one frequency and former MCLunits on another, make prompt transmission of mes-sages or instructions often difficult, and require relay-ing messages from one Dispatcher to the other," Mr.Dye pointed out.

"Under the new system, all mobile units will be op-erated on the same frequency and there will be onlyone dispatching center," he continued. "Moreover,there will be a minimum of interference from otherstations because of the Operation of the new equip-ment on what is called a `narrow band channel,' andbecause of the use of the latest devices to screen outunwanted transmissions."

The Dispatcher's office will be at TransportationDepartment headquarters at 12th and Sentous Sts., inDivision 20. The Dispatcher will have the option oftransmitting from a directional microwave antenna tobe placed on the roof of the Transit Authority Build-ing, 1060 S. Broadway, and aimed at an automatictransmitter on Mt. Modjeska, east of Santa Ana; or of

using a wired circuit to a transmitter on Mt. Washing-ton, in the Glendale area. The Mt. Modjeska beam,generally speaking, will be used to reach mobile unitsin the south and west; the Mt. Washington station, toreach units in the main Los Angeles area, as well as inthe north and east.

An entirely new frequency, as well as new call let-ters, will be assigned by the Federal CommunicationsCommission, according to Mr. Dye. All 85 mobile unitswill be changed over as fast as possible, but while thisis being done, it will be necessary to keep the exist-ing dispatching equipment in operation, he stated.