I don't really understand what your post has to do with the one it is replying to, but I agree with you that lowest bidder RFPs are not capitalistic competition

I don't really understand what your post has to do with the one it is replying to, but I agree with you that lowest bidder RFPs are not capitalistic competition. ...but what is the answer? You can't have a free market subway system that throws any old traffic down the tubes like you can with roads. So there has to be some kind of centralised ownership. (indeed, the NYC subway used to be a system of independent private systems, and they all failed as businesses). Personally, I don't see how the blame here lies with the usual tired party politics blame game. There are so many different factors at work.