[PRCo] Re: *-->__Service__Adjustments__<--*

[James B. Holland]

Fred Schneider wrote:

> I note from Jim Holland's item that PAT needs to put pressure on the 
> state legislature to get a dedicated source of money to run PAT. I'll 
> be honest Jim. I did not open the URL. I just read what you wrote. It 
> matches what I found on the PAT website. The locals must put pressure 
> on Harrisburg. That state is evil. The capitol should provide transit 
> in Allegheny County and assess the costs on the taxpayers in Kane, 
> Bradford, Wilkes-Barre, Lancaster, Philadelphia and so forth. Heaven 
> forbid that we should pay for it locally. 


Nothing is perfect  --  Democracy, Capitalism, Socialism, People.       
Capitalist societies often have some socialism  --  Utilities of Water, 
Gas, Electric, Phone here for many years.       Transit was thrown in 
around 1912 for San Francisco, later for most other systems.       Not 
right or wrong, just what is expedient for the moment.       Who pays  
--  Fed, State, Local, Private, Combo  --  is a matter of choice.       
If anyone feels strongly about the matter one way or another, get the 
ball rolling with a petition drive.       The Pendulum Do Swing and 
while I hope I am wrong, we are a couple decades overdue for a 
Depression the magnitude of the 1930s  --  THAT  will take us to the 
other extreme and it will be another uphill fight for subsistence.

> I'm not sure how to continue this preamble other than to say I tend to 
> be very skeptical when a major transit authority issues a press 
> release saying we will have to "raise fares" or "we are being forced 
> to curtain service on X, Z, and DD lines, " or we must "eliminate 
> evening service" because the state cut back on our grant moneys. It is 
> a very old game, similar to Pittsburgh Railways telling the press that 
> they had to eliminate West End trolley service because the state would 
> not let them on the new bridge (rather than admit it simply isn't 
> profitable to stay there). The object of the game is deflect as much 
> anger as possible to someone else, and to stir up those people whose 
> deflected anger will help you the most.


Seems more like simple posturing to me  --  ALL  of us here have done it 
in one shape or another with Spices, Chillies, Rellies, Friends, 
Employers, Employees, Strangers, etc., etc., etc.  --  even right here 
on this list  --  from Pure to UnPure Motives and every combination in 
between!!!!!!!       99.9999999% of all people have done the same.       
One wants to get $100,000.00 for his house when he sells it so the 
Asking price is More!       When one needs a raise, paint a dire picture 
of need - starvation, poor health, decrepit living conditions, and so on.

The same has happened in San Francisco!

> It is a whole lot easier to con Senator Finias T. Phogbound into 
> providing more money than to put up with locals if you try to run an 
> honest business, raise fares to keep up with inflation, fix vehicles, 
> and adjust schedules to demand.


Donut think Phoggie will be Phooled  --  they're master con artists  --  
takes one to spot one!

> It is also so much easier to get the state to pay for the inflation 
> out of tax revenues. Remember that the nickel fare in 1900 adjusts to 
> about $5.50 today (and if you want to adjust for loss of taxes that 
> transit paid, and lost efficiency of scale, maybe $7.00).


According to http://www.minneapolisfed.org/research/data/us/calc/ $0.05 
in 1913  (as far back as the tables go)  is only $0.96 in 2004  --  
cereally doubt that the inflation between 1900 and 1913 was That 
Bad!!!!!!!       Maybe a fare of over $1.00 is Way Too Much!!!!!!!

> There is one principal applicable to many jobs outside of 
> manufacturing and sales, and it applies very strongly to government 
> positions.        Executive directors and managers salaries are, for 
> want of any better criteria, based on how many people work for them. 
> (In manufacturing and sales it is based on profits.) The more people 
> who work for you, the more money you get.


A method that, if unethical, needs exposure.       Start your petition.

> (Is it not true that most transit kingpins are really fund raisers who 
> know little about their own system?....... Knowing the system is 
> obviously less important than knowing how to pry money loose.)


Have heard    M--A--N--Y    people say this, inside and outside the 
industry.

> If I look at the Philadelphia transit guide today, I see most of the 
> routes that were there in 1950 are still being operated. That would 
> make sense if the same number of people lived in and worked in the 
> city as in 1950 but we know that isn't true.


So on that basis then it makes Much More Sense to use Motor Coaches as 
they are the most flexible when changes in routes, service, alignments, 
headways, abandonments, etc. are needed  --  don't put in rail because 
of the expensive infrastructure  --  people might not be there tomorrow 
to ride it!!


This is At Least The Second Time that  ({[pat]})  has threatened to 
abandon service on weekends and after early evening  --  eventually it 
might happen.        What Is The Word about town about this  --  does 
anyone have a feel for the situation?


Jim__Holland



> James B. Holland wrote:
>
>> ({[pat]}) budget proposal includes employee layoffs, a fare hike and 
>> no rail or bus service after 9 p.m. or on Saturdays and Sundays.      
>> This *may* put pressure on the state legislature to come up with a 
>> dedicated source of transit operating funds and pick a tax mechanism 
>> to pay for it. Projected transit deficit is $30 million. A fare hike 
>> would occur in February 2005; the service cuts in March 2005.
>>
>> What's the scuttlebutt around town???????
>>
>>
>> http://www.portauthority.org/grow/pgPress.asp#hearing
>>
>>
>> Jim__Holland
>