Manhattan is in a very unique situation that does not apply to many other cities. even its transit system is beset by thirty four billion dollars of debt even w

Manhattan is in a very unique situation that does not apply to many other cities. even its transit system is beset by thirty four billion dollars of debt even with taxes on tunnels that cars use to support it and money from the state government. plus there are too many stories about service woes and when you pay out more in salaries alone than rider fees how can you expect to stay ahead of the game. the state of many metropolitan transit systems is very similar, tens of billions in deferred maintenance, high payroll costs, and even worse is not keeping up pensions. the folly many cities fell into was trying to make light rail work, the idea of build it and they will come did't pan out and some expansions that a few networks have tried were more expensive than the original build. to make up for money short falls and force ridership some agencies resorted t cutting bus service. can we save transit, sure, but it has to be adapted to how people live and not be built out to change how people live. it needs to be taken out of the hands of politicians who love cutting ribbons on expensive projects that don't deliver. any good transit solution will need to involve better road planning, fully integrated traffic signaling, and pushing to provide better service that earns riders instead of passing laws to try to coerce them