Transportation is a public service, no need for user fees [fares]

What if instead of Fair Fares for some, we made public transportation free of fares for residents? We provide public services — garbage collection, firefighters, etc. — through taxpayer funds because they’re necessities. Transportation is integral to city living and should be thought of as a necessity.

https://www.amny.com/opinion/the-real-goal-should-be-fare-free-mass-transit-1.26350631

#swipeitforward

Awwww, yeah, make it funky now!!! Can y'all get us to our Tier II goal 💕
$1500 swipes about 550 Black and Brown youth that didn't get their MetroCard the first week of school. #SwipeItForward #SIFBack2Schoolhttps://t.co/O1Ki51JJjK

— Swipe It Forward (@swipeitforward) September 10, 2018

NY commuter gives his assessment of the state of #publictransit

timesledger.com I could not agree less with Larry Penner's assessment of local mass transit.

The cost per passenger mile of mass transit is way out of line. Mass transit is a disgrace. Have you ever noticed how almost every how every mass transit construction program goes ENORMOUSLY over budget and takes eons longer than originally planned & promised?

As particular examples, please consider the 2nd Ave subway in Manhattan and the Eastside connection of the LIRR. After spending not a fortune, but several fortunes, and close to half a century, on the 2nd Ave subway they hooked up a few stations, & seem to have forgotten about the rest of the line.

The slowwwwww progress & excessive cost, of the Eastside connection, would be comical if it wasn't so painful.

While it sounds good on paper, Mass Transit in NYC has been an expensive boondoggle.

Yes, it is used by tons & tons of people all of the time, but they don't have a choice.

Please find a copy of an old LIRR timetable from the 1930's or 1940's. You may be surprised to see that despite all types of improvements & new trains, travel times to Penn Station in Manhattan are about the same now as they were then. (At least for the Port Washington Branch, the one I use.)

If you take the Eastbound LIRR during evening rush hour, I'm sure you are familiar with the notably disgusting delays there have been during the past year or two. The LIRR blames it on AmTrak, but either way, it's mass transit.

AmTrak has a notably BAD record for not meeting the deadline for the installation of mandated safety devices.

The train tunnel under the Hudson River, connecting NYC with NJ, is VERY old & in SERIOUS disrepair. Additionally it is inadequate for the present traffic & certainly inadequate for any additional traffic; however, NJ has turned a blind eye to the problem & refuses to do anything about it.

And, while I'm on the subject, let me remind everyone that the MTA & LIRR are unable to support rail service from the fair box & demand contributions from other aspects of life (like mortgages payments, & bridge tolls, inter alia).

Investment in public transportation has funded notably expensive public works projects which have yielded only a pittance of an improvement to the transit situation. This is not unlike what the robber barons & exploiters of the RR industry did during the final quarter of the 19th century.

Please tell us, Larry, how much per linear foot have we paid so far for the 1.7 miles of the 2nd Ave. subway currently in service?

The Venerable Stan from Flushing

Op-ed: Public transit is key to tackling global warming

Crain's New York Business : "New York has a major opportunity to lead the nation in reducing emissions and to strike a blow against inequality by making significant and bold investments in public transit across the state. These could give most residents access to efficient, reliable and extensive public transit networks, and provide transit-dependent communities access to opportunities that are not readily available."

Free public transit important part of college success plan

#Autosprawl meltdown continues. US chose cars overs buses. Now, can't afford either.

Times Union : "AMSTERDAM – In a move that some say will hurt the chances of young people to get afterschool jobs, the city's transportation department is being dissolved because financial woes."

RVT Begins Clinton County Public Transportation; Free Through March 10

The Record Online : "LOCK HAVEN – Two years in the making, Clinton County’s first public transportation in a generation is now up and running. Today was the first day of service for Williamsport-based River Valley Transit, the agency charged with implementing the new bus routes. The blue, grey and red natural gas-powered RVT buses are serving the Lock Haven area from the Clinton/Lycoming County line to the WalMart off Hogan Boulevard in Bald Eagle Township."

Free public transit trial drew 98 employees from Medical Campus

The Buffalo News: "A program to get more people to take public transit to the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus drew 98 campus workers from member institutions that took advantage of a one-week free trial in May, the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus Inc. said.

The campus organization and public transportation officials partnered to offer the free trial to entice people to consider alternative forms of transportation to the growing Medical Campus."

In US, #publictransit sucks, while billions are spent fighting for oil to waste on cars

The New York Times: "Commuters from the East End of Long Island to the western edge of New Jersey suffered a transportation meltdown and four days of upheaval last week — all because of the faulty maintenance of a federal railroad they may never ride."

Auto-Free New York!

Auto-Free New York!: "Traffic jams in both directions crowd the East River Drive in this view looking north from the Manhattan Bridge (Sept 2016). Hundreds of millions of dollars of public money have been spent adding lanes and ramps to this waterfront-killing highway. This new space for cars was sold to us as a way to eliminate traffic bottlenecks, but of course only invited even more motorists. The vast majority of the cars in this picture carry only one person - the driver; most of the cabs and for-hire cars carry only one passenger. Photo: Wayne Fields."