Pittsburgh Rys 101

[EDWARD H. LYBARGER]

I would agree with everything Ken wrote!

I think relations with Division 85 have thawed somewhat, but the information
transfer follows such a structured path to the top that it's really hard to
say how much input the operators have.

No one holds a monopoly on abuse of power.  At least the private world is
influenced, and in some instances even governed, by the marketplace, whereas
it takes the voters a long time to react to governmental arrogance.

Fifteen year life for a bus?  I thought it was twelve!  Interestingly,
Harrisburg still has a few well-maintained fishbowls.

Ed
----- Original Message -----
From: Kenneth and Tracie Josephson <kjosephson at sprintmail.com>
To: <pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org>
Cc: <paulwey at freecongress.org>
Sent: Tuesday, July 13, 1999 5:12 AM
Subject: Re: Pittsburgh Rys 101


> EDWARD H. LYBARGER wrote:
> >
> > Colleges and universities are among the worst when it comes to power and
> > ethics.  What's most egregious is accepting oodles of corporate $$$ for
> > research and other pet projects and then bashing the same companies in
the
> > classrooms.
>
> Not to mention that PBS is guilty of the same thing. (ooops, way off
> topic.)
>
> > Too many instructors have never seen the light of day of a
> > "real world" job, yet feel they have every right to look down on others.
>
> I have a cousin who was born and raised in Pittsburgh. He is now a
> professor at a university in Maryland. He is so far left of center that
> he actually mourned the break up of the Soviet Union. Yet he felt
> terrible for the Palmer (of Pittsburgh Railways) family because of the
> tactics the state and county used between 1959 and 1967. His family knew
> the Palmers. I guess when human faces are attached to the "evil"
> corporations in the private sector, those who want a government
> controlled "utopia" can see things differently.
>
> > They should have been teaching the ethics courses all along, and
practicing
> > some of the principles themselves!  Further, MBAs have destroyed more
jobs
> > in America than even the environmentalists!
>
> At least Mercedes-Benz supposedly requires managerial appointees to work
> virtually all aspects of the operation before being parked at a desk
> making decisions. Does PAT ever ask its motormen or drivers for input?
> >
> > My point about government involvement is that it was supposed to have
> > eliminated all the "abuses" of private operators who HAD to make a
return
> > for their owners, and spent what it took to do that.  Instead we
squander
> > money advertising, for example, that taking the bus is a lot better than
> > riding a pogo stick to work.  And we pay some clown in excess of $80K
> > annually for that kind of "originality."
>
> Private corporations have to make a profit or die. The public sector has
> a "use it or lose it" mentality when it comes to receiving taxpayers'
> money. And when appointed bureaucrats don't have to answer directly to
> the stockholders, er...taxpayers, they will abuse power, too. It goes
> without saying that elected officials abuse power, too.
>
> The PCC was a durable and reliable machine. So was the pre-RTS GMC
> diesel transit coach. And most of the post WW II North American
> trackless trolleys. These vehicles had to be reliable for a private
> sector industry trying to survive. What do we have now? Frustrated
> wannabe aero-space engineers over-engineering fragile, complicationed
> LRVs and transit coaches which have a fifteen year service life.
>
> > But the ultimate point is that we can't call people "evil" simply for
> > eliminating streetcars!
>
> No, but we can call them abusive IF the public funding their operation
> are ridiculed for opposing their plans or are intimidated into accepting
> what the public agency claims IT wants for the public rather than what
> the public wants from it. Ken J.
>