'Do we care about the public?': Cities
weigh free public transit amid rising costs
NBC News,
by
Ben Kesslen
&
Ludwig Hurtado
Original Article
Posted By: NorthernDog,
2/17/2020 8:07:09 AM
Michelle Wu, a City Council member in Boston, wants everyone to ride for free on subways and buses that crisscross the region. (Snip) Her position is shared by other progressive lawmakers across the country who say mobility is a human right, like health care and education, and think residents should be able to freely move around their cities, no matter their income brackets. They propose eliminating fares on city buses, light rail and trains to achieve their vision of universal mobility. But some experts warn that free rides wouldn't solve the issues besetting many public transit systems, including crumbling infrastructure
Reply 1 - Posted by:
mobyclik 2/17/2020 8:24:25 AM (No. 320832)
Maybe we should just eliminate money altogether and make EVERYTHING freeeee. People can go to their no paycheck jobs, put in an 8 to 10 hour day with a smile on their faces, knowing they're making life so much easier for their fellow Comrades. It'll be great.
12 people like this.
Reply 2 - Posted by:
F15 Gork 2/17/2020 8:25:15 AM (No. 320836)
Makes sense. How’s a bum supposed to get to the welfare office if he has to pay for transportation.
5 people like this.
Reply 3 - Posted by:
Historybuff 2/17/2020 8:33:28 AM (No. 320843)
In NYC the MTA runs the trains but the bums run the subway. Make it free and the trains won't run, but it will be free!
8 people like this.
Reply 4 - Posted by:
jacksin5 2/17/2020 8:37:27 AM (No. 320847)
That's a great idea! Get the homeless off the streets and into the subway! /s
8 people like this.
Reply 5 - Posted by:
Ida Lou Pino 2/17/2020 8:43:00 AM (No. 320855)
NYC subways were privately built and run until the late 1940s and early 1950s.
They made a handsome profit charging 5¢ per fare. The gummint then forced them to hire union labor. When they tried to raise the fare to 10¢ - - the gummint moved in and took over - - to save the 5¢ fare.
Yup - - the gummint did quite the job - - preserving the 5¢ fare!
7 people like this.
Reply 6 - Posted by:
Ida Lou Pino 2/17/2020 8:45:35 AM (No. 320860)
Sorry for the second post - - but - -
- - remember that Ralph Kramden was a NYC bus driver - - but he worked for a private company - - in the halcyon days before the city gummint took over the buses as well as the subways.
And here we are - - - - - - -
8 people like this.
Reply 7 - Posted by:
Frenesi1 2/17/2020 8:45:45 AM (No. 320862)
Not a right if it forces someone to cover the cost (that someone being a taxpayer)
6 people like this.
more wealth transfer that would have to be financed by others - even those outside the municipalities - wounds like a winner to me
2 people like this.
Reply 9 - Posted by:
harleynyc 2/17/2020 8:58:10 AM (No. 320888)
Here is N.Y. the MTA loses money on every bus and subway fare, so they make up for it by over-charging at the bridge and tunnels tolls.
5 people like this.
Reply 10 - Posted by:
stablemoney 2/17/2020 9:05:12 AM (No. 320901)
It's not my job to "care" about the public--- or add their bills to mine every month. "I" figure out how to get where "I" want to go, and "I" pay for it. Please do the same. Thank you.
5 people like this.
Reply 11 - Posted by:
Jethro bo 2/17/2020 9:13:16 AM (No. 320916)
What happens when the transit employees go on strike? Will labors right to strike trump the right to travel? And what about crime? Will all those right to travel criminals now make subways the most fertile grown for thief, assault, and murder? We see what homeless without constraints has done in cities like San Fran and LA. ANd we see how crime has risen in sanctuary cities. Free isn't free, its chaos unleashed.
5 people like this.
Reply 12 - Posted by:
Strike3 2/17/2020 9:32:01 AM (No. 320941)
She has it all wrong. It's not the fares that people pay that get the attention of the ruling elite, it's the unlimited amount of tax money, union paybacks and pay for play contracts that can be created to build and maintain these huge boondoggles. Ask California, they are the frontrunners in building and maintaining things that most people do not want or need.
I believe it's Boston that had something called the "Big Dig" that was a notable example.
3 people like this.
Reply 13 - Posted by:
MDConservative 2/17/2020 9:32:59 AM (No. 320943)
Has anyone ever seen those Star Trek guys pay for anything? Their food materializes for them - free. They teleport from place to place - free. One wonders what they pay for their communicators monthly. This is the fantasy world the knuckleheads think we're headed for...no, really. Now, those Romulans and Klingons...
3 people like this.
Reply 14 - Posted by:
DARling 2/17/2020 9:33:22 AM (No. 320944)
#4, exactly. Subways will become like parks in San Francisco. The productive taxpayers will no longer be able to use them.
3 people like this.
Reply 15 - Posted by:
padiva 2/17/2020 9:50:14 AM (No. 320964)
20 years ago, I was visiting Austin TX. The bus fares were about 50 cents per ride. College students with ID rode for free. There is nothing wrong with paying for the services you need.
1 person likes this.
Reply 16 - Posted by:
OldBuffalo 2/17/2020 10:28:58 AM (No. 321041)
Call me when they get to Free Beer. That one I can support.
1 person likes this.
Reply 17 - Posted by:
skacmar 2/17/2020 10:29:29 AM (No. 321043)
We have free mobility..... its called WALKING.
1 person likes this.
Reply 18 - Posted by:
bighambone 2/17/2020 10:32:35 AM (No. 321047)
Since nothing is free how does she expect to pay to maintain and replace the trains and relating infrastructure? She sounds like Elizabeth Warren was her professor.
0 people like this.
Reply 19 - Posted by:
DVC 2/17/2020 10:45:30 AM (No. 321066)
The leftist loons in KC are planning to do this soon. Always doubling down on failed ideas.
1 person likes this.
Reply 20 - Posted by:
janjan 2/17/2020 10:54:14 AM (No. 321085)
There is no such thing as 'free'. The public that the liberals pretend to care about are the ones who will get suckered in this scheme. The capacity will not keep up with the demand and another government run program will be destroyed. The system will be overrun by the homeless and other people with nothing else to do all day. But their intentions are good and that is all that matters.
0 people like this.
Right now, people can freely move about their own cities at their own will. Its called WALKING!!
1 person likes this.
Reply 22 - Posted by:
whyyeseyec 2/17/2020 11:02:23 AM (No. 321099)
Since mobility is a right, then start by making bridges and toll roads free - that is if the Left really means what it says.
0 people like this.
Reply 23 - Posted by:
Bur Oak 2/17/2020 12:09:00 PM (No. 321163)
If wishes were horses, beggars would ride and if turnips were watches, I'd have one by my side. Nothing is new under the sun.
1 person likes this.
Reply 24 - Posted by:
AltaD 2/17/2020 12:10:24 PM (No. 321165)
FTA: But cities should consider alternatives to eliminating fares, Richardson said, suggesting that they decriminalize fare evasion,
Isn't elimination of fees and decriminalizing fare evasion the same thing? Or is she suggesting decriminalizing fare evasion for only certain groups of people?
1 person likes this.
Reply 25 - Posted by:
FLCracker 2/17/2020 1:47:24 PM (No. 321259)
Is this another one of those new inalienable rights? Free transportation?
0 people like this.
Reply 26 - Posted by:
4Justice 2/17/2020 4:25:21 PM (No. 321443)
Lefties claim everything is a "human right" but I never see them giving away all their belongings, houses, food, clothes, water, cars, etc. to all those "deserving" poor. They want to always steal everybody else's stuff to give away, while they keep accumulating as much as they can.
1 person likes this.
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Liberals never run out of kooky ideas for give-away programs. People will be riding the buses and trains 'for fun' all day long if there are no fares.