I don't like calling the dual contracts "the era of private subways". The history of the subway is such that every time it starts to look like it fits an ideolo

I don't like calling the dual contracts "the era of private subways". The history of the subway is such that every time it starts to look like it fits an ideological narrative (be it pro-capitalism or pro-socialism), you learn some detail that completely pulls the rug out. Yes the price of a subway fare was originally fixed at 5 cents. But that wasn't some top down "regulation" imposed on otherwise successful private ventures by lefty city government. The reality is the subway was never wholly public or private. In modern terms it was built as a P3. The city contracted to have the subway built, but it did not have all the funds it needed for this project, so part of the payment was that the contractors would be granted a monopoly to also run the service and collect the fares for 50 years. The 5 cent fare cap was one of the stipulations which the city put into the contracts so that the private companies couldn't turn around and gouge the public using their monopoly on something built with large public subsidy in the first place.