Don’t forget in Pittsburgh they also get free family health care for life when they retire after 25 years. If I remember that right and they pay nothing for it or any copays. They have changed some of this for new hires, but there are more drivers retired then currently driving and they get to vote themselves goodies even when they no long work. Such a deal!
Yup. We actually have a rather nice light rail system, but a lot of people quit riding it because the cars are always packed like sardines. Because they don’t have the money to schedule more trips. Because more than half of what they have is going out the door to pay for pensions and retiree health care.
If public transit won’t work in Pittsburgh it won’t work anywhere. Downtown is very small and compact, hemmed into a triangle. As a result parking is scarce and very expensive.