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A Miami-Dade Metrorail train pulls into a station in Miami. The service's ridership increased by 4.2 percent in the first quarter of 2012.
Rising gas prices apparently helped drive a 5 percent increase in public transit ridership in the first three months of 2012, the biggest first-quarter increase in 13 years, transit figures show.
 NBC stations WGEM of Quincy, Ill., and KTVZ of Bend, Ore., contributed to this report by M. Alex Johnson of msnbc.com. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. |
The American Public Transportation Association reported Monday that Americans took almost 125 million more rides on public transit in January, February and March than they did in the same period last year — an increase of 4.98 percent, the largest since the first quarter of 1999.
Watch US News videos on msnbc.com
Ridership fell sharply after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and had remained relatively stagnant until last year, according to the organization's tallies, which go back to 1996.
But in the first quarter of last year, the number of rides on trains, light and commuter rail, buses and streetcars began rising year over year — beginning about the time U.S. retail gas prices began their steep climb from an average of $3.10 a gallon in January 2011 to $3.96 a gallon three months later.
"More people are choosing to save money by taking public transportation when gas prices are high," said Michael Melaniphy, president and chief executive of the APTA, a Washington policy group that is lobbying Congress for new surface transportation legislation that would increase spending on public transit.
Karen Friend, manager of Cascades East Transit of central Oregon, said her agency's ridership has increased by 23 percent in the past year.
Saying the increase is probably "due to gas prices," Friend told NBC station KTVZ-TV of Bend, Ore., that "it was to be expected — it definitely was."
But gas prices aren't the only reason for the growth, Melaniphy said in a statement analyzing the APTA figures. With local economies rebounding, more people are commuting to new jobs, some of them on public transportation, he said.
"As we look for positive signs that the economy is recovering, it's great to see that we are having record ridership at public transit systems throughout the country," he said.
One of those systems is the Quincy Transit service in Quincy, Ill., which is racing to build more bus infrastructure to meet record demand. Its ridership jumped from about 400,000 in 2010 to about 500,000 last year, the city reported late last month.
There are some cautions about the APTA figures, however.
For one thing, passengers are counted each time they board a vehicle, meaning each segment of a trip with transfers — from one bus to another, for example, or from a train to a bus at a transit station — is counted as a separate trip.
And not all transit systems are included in the collation, especially rail systems. For those systems, the organization assumes the same percentage growth it finds for the reporting agencies.
Still, for many people, public options remain vital, said Catherine Hayden of Quincy, Ill.
"If you don't have a car and you have to go someplace and you have to be there — even people that work — they're very dependent on it," Hayden told NBC station WGEM-TV. "I take the bus to the doctor. I take the bus shopping — anything that I need to do."
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Relying on public transit is generally not a decision of choice these days.
Statistics generally don't take into account factors such as the high ratio of suburbanite gas guzzlers who simply drive to a park & ride then take a bus or train downtown, or a lot of newer riders being wheelchair cripples and the like who do NOT make the system more reliable but instead downgrade it.
But it should be.
This is exactly what progressive/liberals want. Al Gore and Barack Obama have said it before. Higher gas prices will FORCE Americans to ride mass transit. F them. I want to drive my car. Call me selfish, but life is too short to follow the lead of whiney progressive/liberals in the direction that they want to steer me. Not only that but some of the people who ride mass transit should be locked up in the looney bin, but we can't do that because of progressive/liberal policies too. Time to stop the madness in this country. Vote republican. Vote freedom. Vote individual responsibilty for everyone.
Yes, JH-479998, drive your car just 'cuz you can: life is too short. Just keep on thinking of yourself and let others and future generations suffer and clean up your mess.
JH can act as chauffeur for everyone who can't drive, like the estimated 3 million Americans who are living with seizure disorders, or senior citizens who no longer can drive their own vehicles, or veterans of war who are severely disabled and can no longer provide transportation for themselves. JH--callin' you selfish, just like you asked.
jh
let me guess, you probably live in some suburban nightmare where you have to drive to get a gallon of milk. You call that freedom?
And do you realize that you managed to say "vote freedom" and that "some of the people who ride mass transit should be locked up" in the same post? Do you even realize how hypocritical you are?
The republican party is not into personal responsibility, if they were they would raise the estate tax. How does inheriting your wealth reflect personal responsibility? That is the ultimate handout. At least when people receive Medicare and SS they've been paying into it their whole lives. That's not a handout, that's responsibility.
If the GOP were into personal responsibility they would fund good public education. Going to a good private school because daddy is rich or going to a bad public school because you were born in the ghetto has nothing to do with the child's responsibility yet he has to pay for it.
If the GOP were into freedom and responsibility they would legalize all drugs.
If the GOP were into responsibility they would not fight every attempt to hold financial institutions accountable.
The republican party is into keeping economic and political power in the hands of the few that already have it. Don't let them fool you.
JH-479998: Last time I checked, no one is being forced to ride mass transit. I'm not being forced to not own a car...I made the choice on my own because it is what was best for me and my situation. Likewise, you are not being forced to take a bus. Drive your car as much as you want. And tell your "individual responsibility/freedom" friends to let women, gays, etc make the choices they want about how to live their lives and take care of their own bodies. I'll take Democratic "in the boardroom" freedom any day over the Republican "in my bedroom" version.
JH -
Actually Reagan is the one President most to blame for for the lack of state services available to those with mental health problems.
This is exactly what progressive/liberals want. Al Gore and Barack Obama have said it before. Higher gas prices will FORCE Americans to ride mass transit. F them. I want to drive my car. Call me selfish, but life is too short to follow the lead of whiney progressive/liberals in the direction that they want to steer me. Not only that but some of the people who ride mass transit should be locked up in the looney bin, but we can't do that because of progressive/liberal policies too. Time to stop the madness in this country. Vote republican. Vote freedom. Vote individual responsibilty for everyone.
Yeah, I can see how being at the mercy of foreign oil is "freedom." By all means, why think of the generations that'll have to deal with the environmental issues you help contribute to? I've been using public transportation since I started college, I'm still using it after I graduated last year, and I plan to for a long time to come. Guess what? I've got a good paying job, all my college debt paid off, and enough money in the bank to buy a brand new car if I wanted.
That doesn't mean that having one is the right economical or moral decision. There's nothing on the bus that a good MP3 player and headphones can't fix. Through some friends that still attend college I'm able to use all the public transportation I want for less than $30/month. Yeah, let's see your car payment, insurance, parking, and gas bills stack up to that.
JH - what's the matter with you, got a big chip on your shoulder about mass transit, hmmm?
If mass transit ridership goes up commensurate with rising gas prices, that is a GOOD thing, so why insert your political views into it? Nobody is forcing you to use transit, but you WILL pay the going rate of gasoline prices if you choose to drive everywhere. Besides, you ought to be appreciative of those, like myself, who take transit regularly, if anything, to help reduce the vehicle congestion on the roads you use. Should I be locked up too?
One other thing, JH: all forms of transportation are subsidized, including drivers. You don't come close to paying the full costs of driving via the gas tax, just to let you know.
JH's post is a typical rightie post.
High on sound bytes, full of rhetorical flourish but hardly anything of substance and subject to limitless contextual and factual contradictions and fallacies.
In most of the rightie discourse on newsvine you will be hard pressed to find even an iota of reasoned thoughtfulness.
What a bunch of sheep.
I'm actually surprised that you can't match me for votes. Am I still on MSNBC?
Same here. I can't risk getting a speeding ticket or moving violation--it would have far-reaching consequences for my family and my job. In the years since I got my DL, I have sent a total of MAYBE 24 hours behind the wheel of a car. I do not own one, nor will I.
I am lucky enough to live in the same municipality where I work, and work is a 45 minute bus ride or a 1 hr 10 mile bike ride away. My work offers reimbursement of $20 a month toward bicycle maintenance which they can then take off the company taxes for a total of $240 a year. My municipality is becoming increasingly bike-friendly, though drivers generally don't know that cyclists are not allowed to ride on the sidewalk and accuse us of being 'aggressive cyclists.' Which some are but not all. Bus fare in my municipality is $1.60 for a one-way trip, $3.50 for a full day, $25 a week for a weekly unlimited ride on bus, train or light rail, and $64 for a full month of unlimited ridership on bus, train, and light rail.
My hubby is disabled and his fare is $1.20 for full day, $16 a week unlimited, and $45 for a full unlimited month. Bring a book, or headphones and MP3 player, or like me--I take my laptop and write my novels while on the bus; I can get a full chapter done on an evening with heavy traffic (yes I do actually love heavy traffic.)
And if you don't have any, just sit and watch. You learn so much about humans and human nature from watching people on the bus. You get the crazies, the homeless, the elderly the student, the business riders, the woman with six kids...but it's interesting to pick a person sitting on the bus and make deductive cues, like Sherlock Holmes, from their dress and manner. You learn things about yourself too, about your prejudices, your likes and dislikes, you catch yourself reacting to something negatively and ask yourself later 'why did I behave like that?' and then strive to be a better person if the situation occurs again.
There are a lot of benefits to public transit, and it's not just the cost. By coming into that close contact with all kinds of people, you learn better how to coexist.
JH @1.11
I read your comment and think, as I'm standing by myself at my transfer watching hundreds of cars going by, all the same direction, all the same speed, all waiting at traffic lights at the same time;
"Who are the sheep?"
Fixed.
The people taking transit actually help keep traffic to tolerable levels. Where I live, if it wasn't for mass transit, they might as well just shut the city down.
Congrats Obama, between destroying our economy beginning when you were a senator to raising gas prices, you've finally achieved the progressive goal: make cars unaffordable to operate. You must be so proud, soon only the rich will be able to drive.
And don't forget, because there is low PAID ridership, the transit authorities regularly have "ride free" events, then use the ridership results of these events to show public adoption of the service. Even during pay periods, the public is subsidizing each rider's ticket, often by substantial amounts.
@Valhalla Phil: No, it's the oil hedge traders who have made cars expensive to operate. Obama has twice dipped into the strategic reserve to lower oil prices. Get your facts straight.
It's far easier to keep your attitude straight than to keep your facts straight.
I don't even know where to begin shredding this piece of crap posted here.
Jesus ...i mean ..look ..petrol prices are rising because of speculative trading by hedge funds ...and..and ...righties telling progressives that they are pro-rich ? That is indeed rich ...and also where do you get off ....oh @!$%# it all.
What's the @!$%#ing point. It's not that a rightie can ever make sense.
So that's all it is to you? The votes?
Just post what you think people will vote up?
Explains a lot.
Actually JH, you have a low vote count looking at all the votes from those tearing you a new AHole like you deserve. You don't think the billions in oil subsidies pertain to you? Or the billions more that keep up your roads not covered by gas taxes? You don't even know what freedom is. It is time to build high-speed rails next to the interstates with light rail/bus hubs to connect to smaller towns like airports (heavily subsidised) do. Natural gas buses would be ideal. Where does all this hatred come from anyways?
It would seem that this article is somewhat out of date, given the current situation. Oil is around $83/bbl - a sign that economies around the world are slowing...
Not a choice that can be made as often as it should be in Los Angeles, because of years of inept planning by a generation of very highly paid and overpaid ingrates.
The unfortunate comment about the 'wheelchaircripples' (ref. #1) just shows how little is really known about mass transit systems. First of all, in cities where mass transit works well, for example, San Diego and San Francisco, a large number of disabled can be seen enjoying mass transit service. In cities where mass transit does not work well, for example, Los Angeles, the disabled are few and far between upon the buses and trains.
Second of all, the transportation of the disabled is one of the primary reasons why the federal government dictates that mass transit systems should exist at all. With the exception of cities that were historically intelligent enough to build mass transit systems before government mandates existed, such as New York City, and Chicago, this is one of the reasons why most American cities have any mass transit system.
The other reason is to reduce traffic, and to reduce air pollution. These are two things that the federal government which subsidizes all of these systems takes a personal interest in. And making another $ is not one of the reasons that theses systems were ever built, a fact that I see continues to confuse those who have not tried to learn about basic economics.
With higher gas prices and the recession curbing spending, cannot say it's surprising.
When public transit riders start paying "their fair share" of the costs, it will be good news.
The Verrazano Narrows Bridge when built in 1964 had a toll of 10 cents, which would be eliminated when the bonds taken to build it were paid off. (cough, cough, snicker, snicker)
Today, the toll on that bridge is $13.00. And if you ever drive it, you will know little of the toll receipts are being used for its maintenance. However, the vast majority of tolls collected ARE used to subsidize the fares bus and subway users in NYC pay for their commutes.
So, besides being raped by federal/state/local sales and excise taxes at the pump, a good portion of proceeds in NYC at least also get used to subsidize mass transit riders at the expense of car commuters.
In the case of NYC, I will admit that the transit network IS generally sufficient for any city resident to use to get from home to work. However, for those that need to be in a number of places, in the city, out on Long Island or into New Jersey, mass transit is NOT a realistically feasible alternative.
"Raped" car commuters?
While I sympathize with your complaint about having no alternative besides commuting by car (I'm in that same position, though I live in a semi-rural area). However, try to see the bigger picture. Commuting by car is the most inefficient way possible of doing so. The higher price you pay on bridge tolls is designed not only to help the infrastructure as a whole absorbs shocks when public transportation booms and car commuting busts, or vice versa. It's also designed to discourage the vast majority of car commuting, both because the NYC/metro area just can't hold that many cars and because cars are hugely harmful to the environment, both local and global, as compared to public transportation.
The price you're paying is closer to the realistic cost, in terms of total impact, that your lifestyle has on society and the long-term environment. If everybody paid it, we'd get more environmentally conscious in a hurry.
If you don't choose to avail yourself of your share of the benefit of public transportation, that's your problem.
Public transit also has an indirect benefit to motorists; without it, all those train/bus riders would be driving instead, which would increase traffic.
Maybe the tolls are used to keep congestion down in the city. Think how many more cars would stream across the bridge into crowded Manhattan without a high toll.
London already does this for their city center whether there is a bridge or not. I believe its coming to NY soon if they haven't already done it.
But maybe all these people crying freedom with their cars just want the freedom to sit with thousands of their friends on the road going nowhere.
Cities are dinosaurs, their carbon footprint is huge compared to suburban and rural life. As telecommuting and high speed Internet expand, they will become less and less relevant.
Most transit riders, like myself, have a car. We pay tolls, tabs, property taxes, sales taxes, Federal income taxes (Yeah, I'm part of that 55%), insurance for the cars, etc. And on top of it, we pay for a bus pass...because the aggravation of being caught in traffic for hours on end is just not worth it.
On the train I take to work, I'd say that the majority of the riders are choosing mass transit over their personal vehicles. So, yes, it is a "decision of choice" for many.
In my opinion, it is freedom. I enjoy my trip to work, rather than arriving frazzled and stressed like I do when I drive. I can read, listen to music or podcasts, or simply close my eyes and rest. I even choose to walk to the station rather than drive.
I've seen a steady increase in ridership since the train I take first started operating 6 or 7 years ago. At first, people were wary, thinking they were going to be crammed in with unsavorable, smelly passengers. They thought it would be inconvenient compared to their vehicles. But more and more people tried it and realized that it's actually an easy and pleasant way to get to work. The other passengers, rather than being the feared gang members, druggies, and unwashed homeless people, are actually just normal people also trying to get to work.
AND CONGRESS does not want or put threw any of President OBAMAS proposals to UPDATE and FIX our badly needed TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM that is in SHAMBLES.
Here in MASSACHUSETTS it is like going back 200 years to DIRT ROADS. It is a JOKE !!!!
CONGRESS SUCKS. No the REPUKES and TEA SHYST SUCK royally !!!!!
Public transportation, even in major cities, is a joke. The auto makers in the '40s and '50s brainwashed us into believing that every American was entitled to own their own vehicle... not just worthy of one, but entitled to it. Now in a realm of high car repair costs (I just coughed out $2,400 to get my transmission rebuilt), absurd yo-yo gas prices across the nation, and a plethora of ownership expenses (insurance, registration, smog check, city and state taxes, etc.), owning a car is a joke...
But because of this sense of entitlement among our citizens for private transportation, this country has not been maintaining nor improving its mass public transportation systems. The demand went away with an easier economy, and now that it's back, upgrading these systems costs anywhere between six to ten times what it would have just a mere 20 years ago for the same repairs and additions.
And yes, sorry right-wingers, it IS a Republican-inspired issue. Look at any national efforts over the past 30 years for anything related to energy conservation and public transportation, and there is a sharp decline in interest and funding for such projects.
That's a lie. Democrats have been pushing all kinds of absurd spending bills to placate unions then spend the money on socialist programs instead. You wouldn't even need one hand to count the number of public transit systems that are solvent, all require massive subsidies. That money could be used to improve roads, bridges, etc. instead of fulfilling some socialists wet dream.
Do you ride it on a regular basis? Trip to the mall? The museum?
To the mall, to the museum, to the market, to work, to any one of the dozens of street fairs and festivals going on in summer, to the movies, to library, the blood center (no driving after donating) and the pub. Cheaper than parking and gas, and the added time isn't as much of a factor when you're studying or using it to write letters to your family.
My take on public transportation? I pay and they ride for free or a subsidized discount....
When public transportation stops where I live , and not the projects and drops me off where I want, The Fresh Market, not walmart, then we can talk about taxpayer funded public transportation...
I get taxed and someone else gets the convenience and cheap fares....no thanks
As a bus rider and a car owner I have to ask what are you on about? You pay? Where I live it's anywhere from $2.25-2.50 to ride the bus, I live about 5 miles from work, what are you paying for? Are you assuming that everyone rides the bus because they have no other choice, are you that dim? I pay my taxes and my bus fare so screw you. As an adult who's chosen not to have children I'd like to know why I have to pay for your kids to go to school, Oh that's right as a member of this civilization I have a duty to my community (for the religious "I am my brothers keeper"), that's why genius. When did total self obsession become a virtue?
I pay $361 to NJTransit for my commute to NYC. Plus $89 to Newyork MTA for the subway ride. Plus $100 a month for parking at the train station. (Total $500 a month just to be able to get to work)
Did you say you pay for my ride ? Cheap fare ?
Come let me smack you on your dumbass for that stupid remark.
I pay $100/month for a monthly pass, I don't drive and I have to deal with when they stop service.
The line that's three blocks from my house ends weekend service come September, but you know what? There are three more lines that go by my neck of the woods.
Funny, I don't remember you paying my ride. As for cheap fare - here it's $6 for an all-day pass, $2.50 per ride because we don't have a transfer system.
The MBTA in Boston is eliminating weekend commuter rail service as of July, 2011, despite protests from riders. People take the trains on weekends into and out of Boston, to go on outings to historic areas, to beaches, to concerts, to visit family and friends, to sports events, etc. The "T" claims that it must eliminate service due to financial loss, yet more people are using public transportation. Go figure. I often wondered if a weekend train pulling three full cars would be less costly (fuel wise) than a train pulling six cars with three or four of them being empty. I suggested fewer cars on weekends to the "T", and was told that it was too difficult to couple and uncouple cars.
The answer is to build more BUSES!!!! Jeez, how depressing.
The correct answer is to build LIGHT RAIL transporation and improve RAIL transporation. Build a MONORAIL straight down the middle of the Freeways. Imagine, you're sitting a traffic and a Monorail zips by, how many days are you going to sit in traffic while that monorail zips by? Not long. That is why the Oil Robber Barons who also own the Automobile Industry don't want you to see that monorail, EVER!!!!
We are at the tipping point, corporations have gotten so large they cannot get out of their own way to do something for the good of the consumer and their own environment. They are the model of psychosis, run by psychopaths like Cheney, or sociopaths like Bush.
In the US, you've gotta change buses 5 times to get across town. We really need to retire the Oil Robber Barons and their GOPer lap dogs, they are turning this country into something worse then Third World.
Fixed rail is the dumbest public transit option in most cities. It works in places like N.Y. but will is a dumb idea in places where the population is spread out.
Buses are much, much, cheaper and flexible. You can change the bus routes to reflect ridership. Rail/light rail is dumb and expensive.
More Busses. That's funny considering the Feds just shut down many bus making companies for safety violations.
Touchdownplay:
The Feds shut down private bus companies. Haven't seen then shut down any public transit buses yet because public (i.e government funded/run) have a LOT more oversight.
It's Obama's war on capitalism which means eliminating competition with government. All part of the Marxist doctrine, replace private enterprise with government run companies.
News for you-you better hope that the light rail you're envisioning has better ideas of scheduling.
I live in Salt Lake City, Utah. About 20 months ago I parked my car in the driveway and have not driven it since. It was an experiment built on a ton of reasons; money, the thought of being RIF from my job, the constant rise in gas prices, insurance prices that are ridiculous thievery, the life long listening to what we are doing to the earths environment, etc. So my kid and I take the bus everywhere. I got RIF from my job and have been out of work for a year.
What I have found its it takes hours to get anywhere. The buses are always early or late and transfers are impossible. It is hell going shopping and what use to take a half hour, takes three hours. I shop at stores I absolutely hate because they are closer to the bus line. No one wants to higher someone that does not have a car and drives. My kid and I have millions of stories about almost being hit by cars; because in Utah people do not get out of their cars, therefore they have all the rights and pedestrians have no rights. In Salt Lake the bus lines pretty much run 7:00 am to 7:00 pm. So if you work 8:00 am to 6:00 pm, you can get to and from work; any other work schedule you are totally screwed.
I have been looking at my car lately and I am seriously thinking of changing my mind on this experiment. I never much drove that much in the first place. I have a 2000 Toyota Echo and in the city it gets about 33 miles to the gallon. I just kept telling my kid that someone has to stop driving and really it is only the poor people that take the bus; so I do not think I am saving the environment.
That might be the problem in Utah, but in CA it is far from the poor only riding. If you want your bus system to change (run later, run faster) you have the power to make that happen. Send letters, vote, go to community meetings, most transit systems what to hear from their riders. DO something to help make it work. Use your car to go to the store you want, but don't do it every day. Set up a list of places you need to go and do it all at once, then the rest of the week you take the bus and all of the important stuff is already done. You will feel better about riding... it does help the environment... it also gives you relaxing time. Read a book on the bus, make out lists of things to do, work on homework, enjoy the time with your kids. This is the aspect that people don't think about when they ride is the free time, become creative on using it, and you will find how much you can get done. ( :
I live in Salt Lake City, too, and the mass transit is pretty bad: some of the highest fares in the country, overpaid/useless executives, bizarre schedules. I used to ride TRAX (light rail) quite a bit to downtown, until they really messed up the routes. I pay the same price to ride 3 miles as a person who rides 30. Until that is fixed with zone-based fares, I won't be riding mass transit in SLC again. Last I checked, it cost me less than 75 cents in gas to get to and from work in my hybrid.
But, I rode my bike to work on a beautiful morning today and no one mowed me down, so it's all good.
I like the idea here that at age 65 I can ride the buses for free. Of course someone has to subsidize my free ride, but I would think you "I have a right to drive my car so I will no matter what" people will be happy to get old folks off the roads.
lol.. good point
wow this stirred up some strong opinions.
The next time you vote - think first.
I used to be a public transit commuter. Every day for two hours a day. No thanks. Moved out of the BIG CITY and moved to a smaller city where my commute is in the comfort of my car. Traffic? Not much - it moves sufficiently for me - it's better than being stuck underground crowded among strangers who sometimes smell or try to cop a feel. I'd rather drive my car :)
ALL HAIL THE LATEST RECENT STUDY!!!!
Recent studies show that most recent studies don't amount to anything.
I recently started taking the train into Philly...and it has nothing to do with gas. It's the constantly rising tolls and parking. $30 bucks for tolls and parking for working in the city 3 hours vs $7 train and transfer ROUND TRIP. I'm not even counting gas.
Gas is not the deciding factor. When the price of gas goes down, the ridership will not change at a similar pace. I guarantee that.
I see far too many cars on the way to work in the morning with Obama bumper stickers, many of them gas-guzzling SUVs. What's up with that?
They're called limousine liberals, "Do as I say, not as I do!". Gore was a big one.
That's called a strawman
Interesting that people react so strongly to this article. I consider myself a moderate conservative, and I'm still shocked that the GOP refuses to hop on this cause.
I live in a big city where public transit is efficient, less expensive than driving, and used by many; not just poor, elderly, and ill, but many businessmen and -women on their everyday commute. Talk about "freedom"- how free are you from the oil companies, car manufacturers, car payments, gridlock, air pollution, parking fees, maintenance fees, tolls, insurance companies, speeding/parking tickets, emissions tests, and advertisers trying to sell you new cars/car paraphernalia?
I realize public transit is not a valid option for everyone, and I'm not suggesting that people "shouldn't" drive, but doesn't having another transportation option give you MORE and not less "freedom"? No one wants to take your car from you. They want to give you more options and alternatives. How anyone could make that sound scary and controlling is beyond me.
It's not scary, it's robbing funds from road and bridge repairs. Very few can get by without massive subsidies.
Those of you who do not want to participate in mass transit will be forced to do so whether you like or not!! The peasants must be controlled!
Now, if only my city had mass transit that served me..............
And while I am on the soapbox, let's have some fast trains. I am so tired of getting my butt kicked by air travel.
The transit system has saved me alot of money I dont have to pay gas and insurance just the buss pass fair (72 USD for a month) However the downside is it takes me an hour 10 minutes to get where i want to go when it only takes 20 minutes to drive.
I guess my time is more precious to me than yours is to you. That's 50 minutes you can't spend with family, at the gym, out to dinner with the wife, chatting with the neighbors, etc.
Indeed however my budget has no where for a car right now and I take a book along usually.
Almost a $1,000 a year to ride a bus. Damn. And then you also risk being attacked. Especially if you are asian.
Actually, Valahlla, with the cash I saved on gas, I got a Kindle and spend the commute reading or writing up my to-do list. I'm about to take another certification exam and did most of my studying on the nightly bus. I also use the time to send email to friends and family (before the Internet, it was handwriting letters), study, or meditate. I can do none of those things behind the wheel of a car.
As soon as mass transit is taken seriously as a competitor to the auto industry, Republicans will demand that they be allowed to privatize it.
They have already some privatized transit. For example the local transit system no longer served the fair area where i lived so they brought in a private company tickets went from 2 dollars to 4 dollars.
Like Greyhound?
Was not grey hound but it was a private company that you could hire to bus people too events. It was yellow school buses.
It's more than just gas prices. People are loosing their cars or cars are breaking down and people don't have money to fix them. The people are broke. Cars are expensive. Obama has got to go. If he can't get DC working then give someone else a shot.
transit is a state issue not federal. And for things to change more then just Obama has to go a whole structure rework bring in all new people lol.
The problem is we the tax payers pay for this and it don't pay for it self because if you look on the buses and trains most of the people riding on them are Illegals not AMERICANS and yet we the tax payers have to pay for it That is what is wrong with this world we pay taxes so the DemocRats and most of the Republicans spend way more than we can aford to pay in taxes and You people that vote for DemocRATS want us to give more I work very hard for my money I am a roofer and I send my kids to a private school because my first kid went to public school and I said none of my other kids would go Thur that hell hole again so I pay taxes I pay school taxes and my kids don't even go to public schools SO WHAT WE NEED TO DO IS CLOSE ALL STATE RAN SCHOOLS AND GIVE OUT VOUCHERS TO EACH AMERICAN KID AND LET THE PARENTS DECIDE WHICH SCHOOL THEY WANT TO GO TO THEN ALL KIDS WILL BE ON THE SAME PLAYING GROUND THAT IS FOR ALL YOU DEMOCRATS CAN'T CRY ANYMORE
Does anyone in here feel safe on public transportation? Too many thugs.
I am rarely harassed on public transit but people leave me alone. I have seen some fights break out but those were swiftly taken care of. Police in my area crack down on transit stations regularly.
Fun fact it is punishable under the US patriot act to assault a transit employee.
Hey smt123-3055206 You are about as dumb as the DemocRATS you vote in office If i make a lot of money I should not be able to give it to my kids when I die Do you people listen to what you say or do you just fell you are owed something for doing nothing I bust my ass and pay for my kids to go to Private school because all you good doers want ever Illegal to go to the same school as we Americans do so now you can deal with it your child is in the place they are because of you not the Republican party it is because of the DemocRAT party that the public school system is a disgrace not the Republican party I was a DemocRat for about 20 years of my life then I started to think for my self and it did not take long to see what was wrong with the country it is people like you that think it is someone other than your fault for the way your life is I paid for everything my self and I fell I should be able to keep what I made I do not have to give it to you because you do not want to work as hard us then that is your fault not mine
I live in Los Angeles and started taking the train in November. Since then I have lost 10 lbs, read 14 extra books, saved $420 in gas and saved my company $2,200 in transportation reimbursement costs. It's not alway pretty, gang bangers and mentally unstable homeless people take the train along with school kids and business people but I've never witnessed any altercations. My commute does take about 10 minutes longer than driving each way but when I get home I'm not stressed out from navigating traffice so I don't waste time decompressing.
The problem is why should I have to pay more taxes so you can ride a train or a bus then you should pay more in taxes so I can drive a car or truck how do you like that if you want to ride in a train or bus then you need to pay what it would cost to have the train or bus run you around not pay two dollars and then want me someone that don't ride on one pay the difference so you can say you are saving the plant it I mean lets be honest here you want some else to pay part of the cost so you can ride a bus or train Now think about that you want me a person that does not ride the train or bus to pay for part of the cost does that sound right to you when you think about it NO IT DOES NOT
I am glad I can still drive my 12 MPG Shelby GT500 to and from work. All those strokes in Prii can bite it!
I like my 11 MPG Dodge Ram with the Hemi too. It could probably get better mileage than that, but I don't have any major roads to get on to go to work, it's mostly stop signs and red lights.