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posted by mrpg on Wednesday November 21 2018, @07:50AM   Printer-friendly

The Guardian:

New York City’s subway and bus service is already in crisis. It could be getting worse. And more expensive.

Officials at the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) warned last week that without a major infusion of cash, they will have to drastically cut service or increase fares on the system that carries millions of New Yorkers around the city.

[...] The system’s financial straits have gotten worse in part because it has fewer riders, and is collecting less money in fares. Expected passenger revenue over a five-year period has dropped by $485m since July.

“They’ve entered this death spiral,” said Benjamin Kabak, who runs the transit website Second Avenue Sagas. “The subway service and the bus service has become unreliable enough for people to stop using it. If people aren’t using it, there’s less money, and they have to keep raising fares without delivering better service.”

Bike-sharing and ride-hailing apps have emerged as alternatives for commuters. Is mass transit finding itself in a valley of death between those who are price-conscious and those who want maximum convenience?


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  • (Score: 2) by Mykl on Thursday November 22 2018, @02:47AM (4 children)

    by Mykl (1112) on Thursday November 22 2018, @02:47AM (#765052)

    Get rid of all the ticket machines, ticket police, turnstiles and all the other crap that slows it down and just let people ride for free

    Actually, the Victorian government did a cost-benefit analysis of Public Transport about 10 years ago. It turns out that the revenue generated by tickets is outweighed by the cost of ticket machines, policing, etc etc. It would actually save the government money to make public transport free. Why didn't they do it? Because "the public wouldn't value something they got for free".

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 22 2018, @03:30AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 22 2018, @03:30AM (#765058)

    NYC did an equivolent study not long ago and came to the same conclusions. The net offsets from highway maintenance, emergency response etc. per seat-mile outlayed for cars was higher than the seat-mile costs for every customer riding public trans, including all of the outlay for the PPE and operating costs. I remember seeing a documentary on it a few years ago. Which is to say, while the transit systems budget may not allow it to operate properly those cost cutting measures aren't saving money. In fact they are increasing the cities capital liabilities, just on a different part of the balance sheet.

    If I was to guess I'd say what you're probably looking at, is some old fashioned embezling.

    SSDD

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 22 2018, @03:40AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 22 2018, @03:40AM (#765061)

    I thought that was a capital I in your name, but it's not, it's a lowercase L. So close.

  • (Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Thursday November 22 2018, @03:06PM

    by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Thursday November 22 2018, @03:06PM (#765213) Journal

    Why wouldn't they do it? I'll give you a few reasons.

    1. You can't skim money off of something that is given away for free.
    2. Your sister's kid needs a job, and he's not qualified for anything, so you need that police agency kept up.
    3. Your other sister's nephew by marriage has a worthless degree, and needs a management position, so that's another job.
    4. At election time, you can point to all the employed people who pay taxes, thanks to you.

    If you start thinking, you can probably come up with more reasons.

  • (Score: 2) by pipedwho on Thursday November 22 2018, @11:04PM

    by pipedwho (2032) on Thursday November 22 2018, @11:04PM (#765355)

    True. But, what's really cool is that the last time I went to Melbourne, a big rectangle drawn around the inner city area was completely free to travel on trams and trains. The tram system in Melbourne is fantastic. Pity Sydney got rid of theirs 50 years ago, and is no performing a half arsed attempt at bringing something back when all the tram side roads were sold off to build houses, and the road system has grown in a way that makes it pretty much useless compared to just running buses. Even electric trolley busses would have been a better idea. But, no, instead lets dump a few billion AUD on a few tiny tram line extensions and ignore the fact that it won't actually improve travel times in those areas.

    BTW, appropriate username for this topic. :)