P.S. Hey BrigidK, I have to admit: you were pretty much right about everything you said about funding Bus Lines whether they were profit takers or money holes
I love how our city can magically find money for bus routes to far-off neighbourhoods in the middle of fucking nowhere when closer neighbourhoods get diddly squat
Residents of neighborhoods in the middle of fucking nowhere still need to get around. And as irritating as it is, people closer to a central area tend to have multiple ways of getting around and can stand to have cuts. Whereas people further away, if their service is cut, are no longer able to get to work/school/the store/etc. Where I live right now, There's 3 different buses and a train, all of which can drop me off within 3 blocks of the same spot downtown. They take different routes to get there, and I take different buses based on what else I need to do that day, but to get from my apartment to downtown, I'm kind of spoiled for choice. Whereas people who live out where my dentist is? One bus. That's it. No train lines.
OF COURSE the problem with this is that bus lines that serve closer to the city center tend to be more crowded, so when you start cutting service to those bus lines you wind up with buses so packed that people are unable to get on, which DOES NOT MAKE SENSE. You can't make money from customers you can't serve, right?
In my magical happy world where unicorns fart rainbows and gold coins and chocolate cake fall from the sky into my pockets, the government doesn't waste its money and so doesn't have budgetary holes and short falls every year. The government applies that money to public transit and ensures that ALL neighborhoods are adequately served by public transit AND that it's as ADA compliant as possible (it's extremely hard for me to take the train if I have a stroller, and I can fold that stroller up and haul it. God forbid someone around here in a wheelchair wants to take the train. They'll have to take the bus several miles out of the way to be able to reach an ADA accessible station.). This, in theory, gets the buses and trains moving regularly and on time and also funds them so they are appropriately staffed which cuts down on muggings, public masturbation, verbal assault, and general asshattery that goes hand in hand with public transit as well as supplies enough staff to actually CLEAN the train stations, elevators, inside of buses, etc. THIS, in THEORY, gets more people riding public transit and eases the traffic congestion and parking issues the city has, as well as saving money and time for the people coming from out of the city (or heading out of the city).
As it stands, it takes me 2-3 hours to make a 5 mile round trip, and that's when the bus does NOT break down, or stop and stand for 15-30 minutes while we wait for the cops to come and escort off the bus someone who lost his shit.
