[1] This cartel[2][3] consisted of the major steamboat lines operating on the Hudson River between New York City and Albany.
In response, the HRSA cut its fares to $2 ($61 in 2023 dollars) per one-way ticket, and scheduled the steamboat Peekskill so that it competed against the Westchester for passengers and freight.
[11] Vanderbilt then entered the competition, assigning his steamboats Champion and Nimrod (which had formerly operated only on Long Island Sound) to make the New York-to-Albany run as well.
[11][b] At first, the People's Line made only daytime runs between New York and Albany at a price of $1 ($31 in 2023 dollars) per one-way ticket.
[17] Finally, Vanderbilt had other sources of income due to his extensive steamship, freight, and other businesses in the New York City and New Jersey areas.
[16] The passenger season came to an end in December 1834 when heavy ice forced the annual halt to all Hudson River ship traffic.
[12] At the end of December, the HRSA designated Robert Stevens to negotiate with Vanderbilt and determine what it would take to have him exit the Hudson River passenger business.
Drew began making the New York-to-Albany run three times a week in March 1835, charging $1 ($30 in 2023 dollars) for a one-way ticket.
[12] Drew attempted to buy a second boat, but HRSA pressured steamboat owners in the New York City are to not sell to him.
[20] On July 21, 1835, Drew formed a new company, the People's Line Association, and pledged to challenge the HRSA even more forcefully than Vanderbilt had.
[9][19] Some time in the late 1830s, Isaac Newton, part owner of the steamship De Witt Clinton, was admitted to HRSA to keep him from establishing a competing line.
Law enforcement ironically arrested Hancox, after members of the HRSA signed a document accusing him of causing the "accident".
At issue was the basic tactic used to keep competition at bay: Bribes to keep other ships idle, the New York Herald newspaper estimated, were running $250,000 ($7,153,125 in 2023 dollars) a year in 1839.
In 1840, Newton and some other investors built the North America, first Hudson River steamboat to use anthracite coal for fuel rather than the increasingly expensive pine wood.
The financial advantages were so large, there was no point in Drew remaining part of the HRSA (where his profits subsidized less efficient shippers).