Paying for Transportation
Posted by Fred Jandt
Mass Transit magazine editor
Transit agencies across the country are struggling for operating funding. MARTA in Atlanta can’t even get the state government to give it the time of day to consider dipping into capital funding to make up operating budget deficits. And the New Jersey governor’s proposed state budget would cut more than $60 million in aid for NJ Transit. And the age old comment, “I don’t use it, why should I pay for it,†reared its ugly head in regards to the NJ governor’s decision. That has to be one of the stupidest things I’ve ever heard.
I have to say, I hate the thought some people have that since they don’t use mass transit they shouldn’t pay for it. There are about 200 million registered vehicles in the United States by recent estimates. And the current population is upwards of 300 million. Do the math — not everyone owns a car. And that’s before you stop to consider people being registered for more than one vehicle.
So if I’m not using the roads, why should I pay for them?
Doesn’t that sound ridiculous? I can already hear the rebuttals now. Everyone uses roads even if you’re not driving. Well, the food you eat was trucked to the store you bought it from, so you use those roads. And so on. Now couldn’t the same arguments be made for public transit? Everyone uses public transit even if they don’t ride a train. The empty parking spot at your local grocery store was there because someone else road the bus.
The fact of the matter is that a lot of people don’t realize just how affordable public transit is. How much is that ¼ of 1% sales tax to you really? Now compare that to a 75 cent fare increase for every ride on every rider on a transit system. The latter hurts those riders a lot more than an increase in a general tax, but for the ones not riding transit, it’s out of sight out of mind.
Transit benefits everyone, yet continually it’s expected for the ridership alone to bear the burden of funding it through fare increases and service cuts. I know the gas tax will be held up as an example for the other side. See, drivers are paying more! But the effects of a national gas tax are spread out throughout so much more. Those extra costs filter down to higher prices on many other items. Have you checked the price of a gallon of milk lately?
People are using public transit more than ever. The systems are bursting at the seams with riders. And yet states continue to slash funds from these agencies, making them force the realization of not being able to service those same riders. Really in this time of bank’s melting down for poor business practices, does it make good business sense to turn away customers rather than increasing service?
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Thanks for reading the MT Position updated every Friday,
Fred
fred.jandt@cygnusb2b.com
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April 13th, 2009 at 7:56 pm
I’m not arguing against your ideas of who’s to pay for mass transit. But you’re simply replying a rebuttal for those who complain of why should I pay for something I don’t use? What you’re not doing is coming up with a sensible solution to the problem, where’s the money going to come from to finance these operations? It seems like thus far mass transit has been treated like a luxury item, sort of a tax handout to those who can’t drive for whatever reason, whether they are too young, too old, disabled, or too poor. True there are a large number of them that take mass transit as a matter of choice rather than necessity. They’ve incorporated mass transit into their travel habits in going to and from work or school.
The small fare that we charge them to ride doesn’t even cover salaries of all employees that work in the system both white and blue collar. And just how much does each bus cost nowadays? I believe the last new busses that were purchased by our transit service just a couple years ago ran somewhere over $300,000 each! That’s mind boggling to the average rider. It’s hard enough to understand that it takes 30 riders per hour just to pay the driver’s hourly wage. And he’s not just some bus jockey that’s trying to earn his way through college although this may be true for some of them. But most are career employees. They’ve got many years experience behind the wheel in all kinds of traffic and weather conditions and people condtions. It’s a tough job to sit there hour after hour, day after day , week after week, month after month, year after year, and decade after decade. Few have that kind of stamina and still have a cheerful smile every morning to greet you with. I’ve been at it for close to 37 years and no one pre-dates me in the transit system, not even the managers. Last sentence gave me away: I’m not a manager myself obviously. I’m 6 years from retiring.
But the point is, the money is going to have to come from somewhere if tax money can no longer support the system that the customers and all of us expect. Maybe a road use tax or contributions from local industries that have a number of employees that use the system would help. Those are two ideas that I had to give my 2 cents worth. Some of you may come up with more ideas. Let’s hear them.