Quote:
Originally Posted by ardecila
Also, transit systems were on the brink of bankruptcy long before cars became popular and suburbanization began. Only in Japan, and possibly other Asian countries, can transit systems meet their expenses through ticket sales. In all other developed parts of the world, transit systems require heavy subsidies, just as highway systems do.
|
^ One can easily turn this into a chicken versus egg argument.
People "fled" transit systems because of cheap gasoline, Federally subsidized sprawl that allowed for very cheap housing in extremely low density areas with ready accessibility to resources due to a spaghetti-like array of high capacity road networks, cheap gasoline, etc...all Federally built & subsidized.
The original railroads and transit systems, however, were built by PRIVATE companies. So Govt intervention, while not starting this mess (people were moving to suburbs and buying cars long before that, true), certainly accelerated the process.
My "free market" spin is an old argument, and one which you've already heard. Make driving cost what it really should cost, and we'll see how many people will choose (or not choose) to take transit instead.
And this brings about a much deeper issue: should representative Govt really give people what they "want", as opposed to what is in their collective "best interests"? I think too many Americans believe the former, but not I.