4 ms·
If you think that money from tolls is actually going to go to buses and improved public transit and not just into some Bel-Air businessman's brother's pocket, I
by Balgair 10y ago
If you think that money from tolls is actually going to go to buses and improved public transit and not just into some Bel-Air businessman's brother's pocket, I have a bridge to sell you in Brooklyn.
- Symbiote 10y agoI know things are done differently in America, but the profit from London's congestion charge is invested in public transport by law. For at least the first few years, it was entirely spent on improvements to buses -- giving much more capacity, and faster journeys due to the reduced congestion. * Schedule 23 of the Greater London Authority Act 1999, to be precise, but the whole act is a 500 page PDF, so my curiosity ended there: http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1999/29/pdfs/ukpga_19990029_en.pdf http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1999/29/pdfs/ukpga_19990...
- Balgair 10y agoThis is also true here, but someone has to build or design those improvements to buses. The contract will typically go to someone's brother's shell company or something, especially in California. The approach to the Golden Gate Bridge cost a million dollars per foot of road. Yes, seismic this-and-that, environmental reports, noise studies, etc, but the corruption is just rampant in Cali.
- dx034 10y agoWon't happen in the EU. It's forbidden for any public entity to give a contract such as this one without tendering it. Certainly not a perfect system, but it counteracts corruption pretty well.
- alkonaut 10y agoSame in Stockholm. I can't see how being funded by tolls vs being funded by tax money would change the corruption problem?