Join the discussion on the following article:
Record transit ridership reported in 2012
Strange New York City is not on the list and I would guess that they should be next to LA.
The article fails to define what constitutes a small, medium, and large community. Therefore, until this is defined, the numbers are meaningless. As an example, Frog Station, WI. Is it a small community? Or a medium community? It does exist. It has a population.
And what exactly is public transportation? The roads are used by the general public. The track used by freight trains is privately owned and not open to the general public. Therefore, roads should be considered as part of public transportation while privately owned tracks should not. Especially considering the roads are the right of way for moving most of the general population, as well as their goods.
Back to Frog Station. It has public transportation because it has two well marked county highways, which would be two more than in many states. The public uses those highways to move their products to market. This is public transportation.
Now if the article wants to be really accurate, it would say up front it was all about heavy taxpayer subsidized public transportation not paid for by those using it.
@Anthony: Maybe it’s because in New York there has always been a high rate of public transit usage so there wasn’t much room to go up.
@ANTHONY J DOMBROSKI - might be due to the storm.
Mr Guse once again you are absolutely 100% correct in your outstanding assessment of this situation. Please somebody provide financial backing in 2016 for this man so he can be elected president of our great nation and remedy all the troubles in this country so that we can be all happy and content.
C’mon, “public transportation” refers to common carrier means of moving people - in trains, light rail vehicles, buses, etc. It does not refer to cars. It’s the difference, e.g., between 350 people riding a two-car light rail train vs. those 350 people each driving a 200 hp private vehicle. People are tired of the jams, parking fees, wasted time and hassles. We have a generation of young people coming up who say they want easy access to public transportation. It is, indeed, a “sea change” in attitudes.
Say Jeffery the US transportation fund has been broke for 3 years now. It is supposed to be funded by the US gas tax but it has fallen short for years because no one wants to raise the gas tax or index it to inflation because they all want to get reelected. That fund pays for all the Federal contributions to all the Federal Airport funding , Federal highway funding , Federal funding for Mass transportation and lastly all Federal funding for rivers , harbors and lakes. It is now paid for by tax revenue out of the US general fund.
For those whose views on transportation issues are in lockstep with Jeffery’s, is it required to march with a Guse step?
I was riding a bus last week and a taxi pulled alongside displaying its fares. $2.25 just to get in the cab for starters, plus $1 for fuel surcharge. $.55 for every additional 1/4 mile or 60 seconds waiting time. The bus fare is $2, $4.50 for a day pass.
Attention Jeff: People who use public transit DO PAY for using it every time we deposit money in the fare box or purchase a ticket. On the contrary, that’s like saying auto users don’t pay for using the highways they travel on, which is true, because that money is not being used to maintain the current infrastructure and is being blown on building us into bankruptcy on more new roads.