[Mpls] public transit redux

[Mary Treacy]

Now that the busses are running and the fuss has passed I'd like to enter 
the fray....Last night it took me four hours to get home on the bus -- the 
reason:  the non-public privately operated 800 pound gorilla that dominates 
the public transit system.  What no one seemed to want to talk about during 
the strike is the huge segment of the MCTC-like "system" that continued to 
operate from the suburbs to downtown and from suburb to suburb.  That 
system, most or all of which is owned by the foreign (Canadian) based 
Laidlaw Co, has a virtual monopoly, funded in large part through MCTC.

Back to my trip home:  The #223 bus (with its bright  MCTC stripes and small 
print "NEST" logo)  broke down somewhere, no one seemed to know where, and 
never did show up.  The Laidlaw/First Student respondent was no help 
whatsoever, assuring me and my waiting colleagues that it wasn't HIS fault 
there was no bus.  The next bus, an hour later, also broke down with the 
same cadre of riders, now over an hour late for their next transfer.  That 
driver assured us that "those things happen" and that it would be well over 
an hour before we got relief -- well after any transfer possibilities, of 
course.  Moreover, the dispatcher cavalierly reported to the driver that the 
last run "just wouldn't happen anyway..." -- either they ran out of busses 
or just didn't care, or both.

Laidlaw/First Student -- whatever flat it's flying under in your community 
-- leases buses for $1/year from MCTC. They are subsidized for every rider, 
including the very lucrative stops they make under the Metro Mobility flag.  
They are registered as a fleet so pay no vehicle registration.  They pay no 
state or federal tax on fuel.  Who knows what they pay the drivers.

Last night's fiasco is just a sympton and precursor of the service and 
customer relations we can expect from the privatized public transit system 
so dear to the hearrts of our political leaders. Those four hours convinced  
me that, though the busses are moreorless running, the problem persists.

Mary Treacy
Windom Park
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