On public transit

I recently attended a public meeting regarding a fare increase proposed by our local bus system, Sun Metro. After the presentation about Sun Metro's request to collect more fares from passengers, the presenter was quizzed for several minutes about why Sun Metro wasn't trying to get more money from passengers (that makes sense somewhere, you'll just have to trust me on that one).

The questioner expressed concerned that the buses were always empty. The snickers and mild derision from the rest of the audience, most of whom depend upon the bus for transportation, should have been enough to clue our fair activist that he was wrong and was heading down a path that, while well-worn, terminates in a dead end.  But he persisted and probably walked away from the meeting just as mad as he was when he got there. You can explain things to people, but you can't understand it for them.

The road that I take to work every day is nearly empty at 6 a.m. If the government designed the road just to meet the demand at 6 a.m. there would be gridlock the rest of the day. My bed is empty two thirds of the time. I could save a lot of money by designing a bedroom that handled average demand, but I wouldn’t be very comfortable at night.

Yes, local taxes pay 75% of Sun Metro’s costs; there is a social benefit in having public transit. Sun Metro gets the veterans who use a wheelchair to their doctors' appointments. Sun Metro gets the poor people looking for work to their job interviews. Sun Metro brings customers to the struggling business owner. And, if by some unfortunate circumstance you become unable to drive, Sun Metro is there, assuring that you will still be able to get to where you need to go.

If you are ever unable to drive, you will not complain that Sun Metro buses are too empty or run too frequently. While you and I can leave our house at 8:30 to get to a 9:00 appointment, that veteran in a wheelchair has to leave at 6:30. That poor person looking for work finds many jobs unavailable because the bus service doesn’t start soon enough or run late enough. Riders on many popular routes often find they have to stand because all the seats are taken; riders who use a wheelchair or ride a bike have to wait for the next bus.

Yes, there are going to be empty buses. Sun Metro didn't design this car-dependent city that is difficult to serve efficiently using buses; until recently, they didn't even have a seat at the table. Public transit is an absolutely essential social service that needs to be improved, not decimated by the unrealistic expectations that it run at 100% capacity 100% of the time or that it be entirely self-sufficient.