Mr. Jester said, in his shocked reaction to the lrt ticket machines, that the system wouldn't make any money. I'll reassure him that it was never intended that the system would make money.
Even after blowing off more than $700 million in capital costs and however much more the city and met council push in for "transit-oriented development", it would be lucky to come up to the approx. 33% portion of operating and maintenance costs paid by fares. Note well that the estimated rate of "fare evasion" in Portland is at least 10%, and that's including the fact that there is the "fareless square" around downtown where you don't need to pay. Want to take wagers on the number of people who will use lrt to get around downtown Minneapolis without paying? Of course, the stated plan was to increase the transit police staff by 1/3 when the lrt starts operating. Bruce Gaarder Highland Park Saint Paul [EMAIL PROTECTED] _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:mpls@;mnforum.org Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
