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Note my comment below, parents quotes expenses aren’t grounded in actual audited finances. I’d just note that in the US at least, bus services generally operat
by comte7092 3y ago
Note my comment below, parents quotes expenses aren’t grounded in actual audited finances.
I’d just note that in the US at least, bus services generally operate at a loss and run many routes due to political reasons rather than efficiency/profitability.
- chgs 3y agoDoes the interstate system run as a profit?
- comte7092 3y agoWell, obviously not. I wasn’t intending to make a statement on whether or not public transit should be independently profitable, just providing context. I didn’t even touch on ridiculous regulations like “buy America” (aka all buses have to be manufactured in the US) that drive up the cost of transit in a way that private drivers would never accept.
- malcolmgreaves 3y agoPrecisely the right question to ask! Profit vs. loss has no relevance when one is providing a public service. The relevant question is cost: capital investment / creation cost & operating cost.
- comte7092 3y ago> Profit vs. loss has no relevance when one is providing a public service. I beg to differ. While profit shouldn’t be the only indicator under consideration, when you are operating a state owned enterprise under a fee for service model, profit is certainly a valid metric to consider.
- chgs 3y agoCost and benefit. You could spend £10b a year providing a 12tph high speed train from Wales AK to Prudhoe Bay, but there wouldn’t be a reasonable benefit from it.
- jujube3 3y agoThe interstate system is almost profitable for the government. Fuel taxes raise somewhere around 30 billion to 40 billion a year, and the amount spent in interstate system maintenance every year is about that amount. If they increased the tax slightly, and stopped siphoning money off of it to fund non-road expenditures, it would be in the black.