Bruce Gaarder wrote:
[blah blah snipped]
Maybe Mr. Leurquin isn't familiar with the concept of price elasticity. Metro Transit is: they know that a fare increase, even though the new fare is way below what it costs to drive and park a car, will cost a lot of riders.
It actually COSTS FAR, FAR more to drive and park a car, than to take a bus. The problem is, the car drivers DO NOT PAY those costs. Roads and parking are greatly subsidized by all taxpayers. So is the current bus service, but the amount of tax dollar support for cars is magnitudes greater.
I have no problem with people wanting to drive their cars. I drive mine. I only want decisions regarding funding of other forms of transportation to be informed by the real amounts being spent on car transportation. With that knowledge, the free market will give us a variety of transportation choices.
I want the anti-bus, anti-LRT, anti-urban-living people to stop using the false argument that "without subsidies the bus/LRT/whatever couldn't operate." Neither could cars. $90 million highway interchanges don't grow on trees.
Chris Johnson Fulton -- former suburbanite
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