Well one part they don't discuss is ridership numbers increased as the number of in town jobs increased, not because they built out their systems. Plus when fac

Well one part they don't discuss is ridership numbers increased as the number of in town jobs increased, not because they built out their systems. Plus when factoring in increased rail ridership much can be found in decreased bus usage. In some cities they reduce routes to force the issue. Plus none of these systems brings in enough in fares to cover a majority of their expenses let alone put a dent in their deferred backlogs. Instead the new angle is to go after rider sharing services with new fees and you can bet the scooter invasion is ripe for taxation. I do find it interesting they talk about the recent surge in EV scooters as being a benefit. I wonder who led that charge. I was amazed that just one company has twelve thousand scooters in the NYC area! Public planners cannot easily factor those in and given NYC weather where to these end up in winter? If you want to see the statistics as reported to the Federal Government on ridership numbers and cost per mile check out the spreadsheets at [1] the FTA California transit numbers show a decline and that two thirds and more are by bus in a 2018 June report. Plus the percentage [2]. A large share of the systems need replacement and this is not factored into new taxes. Throw in the transit only reduces emissions per mile when compared to solo drivers but worse those numbers are moving close to parity as cars become more efficient Mass transit is a good idea but technology is rapidly displacing it and it only appears cheap because riders don't pay but a fraction of the cost. In fact most are paid by people who cannot even make use of it [1] https://www.transit.dot.gov/ntd/data-product/monthly-module-adjusted-data-release https://www.transit.dot.gov/ntd/data-product/monthly-module-... [2] https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/3860 https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/3860