4 ms·

The MTA is run by New York State, and therefore at the whim of Albany cronyism [1]. This is why it’s so dysfunctional. I wouldn’t necessarily blame the transit

The MTA is run by New York State, and therefore at the whim of Albany cronyism [1]. This is why it’s so dysfunctional. I wouldn’t necessarily blame the transit unions. Edit: also, there’s a history of multiple private subway companies in NYC, it didn’t work out. 1. https://www.cityandstateny.com/politics/2021/01/how-the-mta-operates/175306/ https://www.cityandstateny.com/politics/2021/01/how-the-mta-...

adam_arthur 4y ago
Yes, combination of the misaligned incentives of government coupled with a public sector union. Given the lack of a profit motive, a well run government needs incentive structures to motivate results towards societally good outcomes. Too bad none of the local, state, federal governments do. Would be easy to institute if the will were there though Edit: To address your edit, the private subway systems failed after NY instituted a price cap on fares, IIRC. And inflation destroyed their profitability over time due to this. Once the subway system was made public, development pretty much halted entirely, outside of an extension every few decades. Subway systems are private in Japan
- cmeacham98 4y ago
  You seem to be magically appending "with a public sector union" to the real cause of the majority of MTA's problems. Sorry, but I don't buy this guilt by association: How does the union cause a significant portion of MTA's problems?
  - adam_arthur 4y ago
    It compounds them. Government has no incentive for real results, union leads to highly overpaid employees who are frequently caught not working on the clock. Two separate problems for sure, both bad for the rest
    - cmeacham98 4y ago
      > union leads to highly overpaid employees who are frequently caught not working on the clock Can you demonstrate this, or provide any evidence for it at all? The reason I ask this is because you seem to be automatically assuming Union=Bad with no reason to do so.
      - adam_arthur 4y ago
        Happens all the time in the MTA, just Google it
        cmeacham98 4y ago
        So in other words, you can only prove the MTA has lazy employees, and are assuming that the union is causing that (with no evidence). That's what I wanted to know, thanks!

adam_arthur 4y ago

Yes, combination of the misaligned incentives of government coupled with a public sector union. Given the lack of a profit motive, a well run government needs incentive structures to motivate results towards societally good outcomes. Too bad none of the local, state, federal governments do. Would be easy to institute if the will were there though Edit: To address your edit, the private subway systems failed after NY instituted a price cap on fares, IIRC. And inflation destroyed their profitability over time due to this. Once the subway system was made public, development pretty much halted entirely, outside of an extension every few decades. Subway systems are private in Japan

cmeacham98 4y ago
You seem to be magically appending "with a public sector union" to the real cause of the majority of MTA's problems. Sorry, but I don't buy this guilt by association: How does the union cause a significant portion of MTA's problems?
- adam_arthur 4y ago
  It compounds them. Government has no incentive for real results, union leads to highly overpaid employees who are frequently caught not working on the clock. Two separate problems for sure, both bad for the rest
  - cmeacham98 4y ago
    > union leads to highly overpaid employees who are frequently caught not working on the clock Can you demonstrate this, or provide any evidence for it at all? The reason I ask this is because you seem to be automatically assuming Union=Bad with no reason to do so.
    - adam_arthur 4y ago
      Happens all the time in the MTA, just Google it
      - cmeacham98 4y ago
        So in other words, you can only prove the MTA has lazy employees, and are assuming that the union is causing that (with no evidence). That's what I wanted to know, thanks!