Posted on 05/31/2010 2:55:32 PM PDT by narses
Freep-mail me to get on or off my pro-life and Catholic List:
Please ping me to note-worthy Pro-Life or Catholic threads, or other threads of general interest.
Ping.
I already pinged His Greeness. But thanks.
Although the education requirement for transit drivers is less than a high school diploma, they receive nearly 11 percent more in total compensation than do private-sector employees with four or more years of college education.
The average compensation for all transit employees exceeds the average salary for U.S. employees with college degrees by more than 30 percent.(34)
Public transit fringe benefits average 50 percent of employee pay--nearly double the fringe benefits of the average private-sector worker.(35) Hence, when fringe benefits are added to the equation, the average transit employee receives 70 percent more in compensation than the average U.S. employee (Figure 6).(36) "
All of these schemes follow the same model of government/public funding that syphons money from
tax payer pockets to special interest groups that
support the government. The taxpayers are stealing from
themselves to support criminal legislators.
All of these schemes follow the same model of government/public funding that syphons money from tax payer pockets to special interest groups that support the government. The taxpayers are stealing from themselves to support criminal legislators.We get it - socialism SUCKS!
I was just thinking about suggesting mass transit to YouCut last week.
I think we should all take as many pics as possible of empty city busses rolling by and then post here or at some other central spot on the net.
It’s ridiculous.
And the few routes that do have people riding them — you guessed it, everyone on board got their bus pass either directly from the city (for free) or with a voucher (for free)!
Socialism. Incompatible with Christianity. Incompatible with Freedom. Incompatible with America. But I repeat myself.
Hey Willie, can you hear?
Excellent article, thanks for the post.
Dang that article was long. But it’s true.
I hate Dart. Dallas is just not conducive to public transportation. Too spread out and people work too many places. Huge buses go by empty.
But if one speaks out against Dart, one is a called a racist.
Don’t ask me why.
Racist = free market lover, racist = individualist, racist = anti-communist. Revel in the label.
El gusto es mio.
Last week, I passed a bus going from Bedford to Cleveland. The only “rider” was the driver! What a job! Ralph Cramden would be so happy!
There is a passenger train now between Boston and portland maine. Recently it was reported that it turned a profit. What that really meant was that it did not need a bigger subsidy this year.
The train station shares space with the local Trailways. Twenty times the people use the busses between the two cities becasue the busses acutally go where the people want...like the airport.
My daughter used it once and th four other people in her car were RR employees who go down to Boston for the day because they retired with free passes.
The busses are also quiet, smooth riding and safe. The train called the Downeaster, is a leftist feel-good money waste.
It certainly would be nice if FR had a means to see the entirety of that (or any other similar) list.
Especially after you've run out of other people's money.
Over $1 billion was spent on the highly underutilized Phoenix light rail system. If we hadn’t blown all that money, we could have been hospitable to those illegal aliens for a little longer.
I commute to the greater DC metro area everyday. To take mass transit I’d have to:
1. Adjust my schedule because it doesn’t run as early as I leave.
2. Drive about 20 miles to the Metro Stop.
3. Park the car, which is either $4.75/day or $55/month if you can get a reserved spot.
4. Pay $4.10 to get one long bus ride from work. Total ride 45 minutes.
5. Ride the bus to work (this might be free or maybe a dollar or so). Total ride 20 minutes AFTER you get on the bus.
6. Ride the bus from work to bus station (maybe a dollar or so). Total ride 20 minutes AFTER you get on the bus.
7. Pay $4.10 to get to a station that is 20 miles from home.
Total ride 45 minutes.
8. Drive 20 miles home, which is the worst part of the commute in the afternoon.
Total time: At least 65 minutes not including driving to/from Metro stop and waiting for bus each way.
OR
I can drive to work. Leave when I want and get there in 45 minutes in the a.m. and get home in about an hour or so in the afternoon. Driving is faster and cheaper.
As a transportation engineer with some background in public transportation I find this analysis about as useful as Rand Paul’s comments on the Civil Rights Act. There are many people who depend on urban mass transit as a basic means of mobility. I realize the guy sitting in the suburbs with a Hummer and a mortgage supported by my tax dollars doesn’t care a wit about an elderly woman who cannot drive any more, or a young couple who can’t make two car payments. I ride public transit every work day and see these people. They count out their quarters and pay their fare, which is more than I can say for a lot of people in this society.
The absolute lack of empathy and understanding of the economic condition of our society in this article is just stunning. I’m waiting for the Cato Institute to write about all the tax subsidies for the general aviation airports that support a handful of private planes and serve little additional public purpose, or all the special legislation that benefits the investment banks.
There is nothing “conservative” about a policy that ignores the basic needs of persons who have no other means of mobility than walking. If these think tanks would give out of their theoretical settings and spend some time with real people on our mass transit systems they might come up with some constructive improvements rather than the shallow economic analysis presented here.
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