[speedgibson] Speed Gibson: Guess What Else Needs a Bailout?

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Posted by Speed Gibson:
Guess What Else Needs a Bailout?
http://speedgibson.powerblogs.com/posts/1231128073.shtml


   Well that didn't take long! The Transit fares were raised 25 cents in
   October and [1]Metro Transit is already broke again. To be fair, they
   didn't promise that would fix everything. Their 2008 action included
   the option to raise fares by another 50 cents in 2009. Happy New Year.
   Ridership was up big in 2008, though that 8 percent gain suddenly fell
   to 3 percent in October. Sure, the sagging economy could explain this,
   but not a sharp decline the very month the increase took effect. With
   gas prices back down, obviously some drivers now find their cars the
   cheaper option, or cheap enough vs the added commute time and
   inconvenience of public transit. I'll further speculate that the "lack
   of Global Warming" we saw in December would explain the minuscule 0.4%
   gain that month.
   Anyway, the theory is that increased ridership is bad for business,
   even when fuel prices are falling fast. I don't buy it. Given the very
   high fixed cost of public transit, additional fares should almost
   totally fall to the bottom line. Adding a few people to every bus
   requires no more buses, no more drivers, and uses very little
   additional fuel to travel the same number of miles.
   No, we all know what's again at the bottom of this rat hole: Light
   Rail. It's time the Met Council came clean on the true costs of
   running the Hiawatha Line. It's also time for the Legislature to put
   the brakes on any more LRT given the $5 billion deficit.

References

   1. http://www.startribune.com/local/37071094.html