MarketWatch: Mass-transit transit fares should be eliminated, not increased

[marmar]

Free ride
Commentary: Mass-transit transit fares should be eliminated, not increased

By Irwin Kellner, MarketWatch


PORT WASHINGTON, N.Y. (MarketWatch) -- All across the country, mass-transit systems are raising fares and reducing service when our national priorities suggest that they should be doing just the opposite.

In doing this, these systems are taking a very narrow view of their reason for being. They are looking at themselves the way a private business does -- balancing costs versus revenues.

Because they think like a private concern, they are responding to rising costs and reduced subsidies from their governments by increasing fares and, in some instances, cutting back on service, as well.
Instead, they should consider themselves in a broader context. They are organizations whose mission is more than simply transporting people from their homes to their offices in the morning and back in the evening. They exist to provide the best quality of life for everyone who lives in the regions they serve.

By raising fares and cutting service at this time, they are doing a disservice to the communities they serve.

For one thing, ridership is up. This is in response to last year's surge in gas prices to $4 a gallon and more. And even though such costs have since fallen, most riders are sticking with their trains and busses, having discovered the joys of reading, writing or simply napping while commuting. .........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/Mass-transit-systems-taking-wrong/story.aspx?guid=%7B7D3B4CEB%2D8C3A%2D4D5F%2D83FD%2DD26CA33FA5F9%7D

[Gormy Cuss]

1. That's the most intelligent argument on mass transit that I've seen in a long time.

Mass transit probably shouldn't be free right away (when BART has free rides for Spare-the-Air days it's a circus because of youth riding around the system on a lark) but I agree with the author that raising fares and cutting service is contrary to the mission of moving people more efficiently than having everyone travel as sole occupants in vehicles designed for five or more passengers.