Lots of reaction to my skepticism about re-privatizing New York’s subway system. From one reader:
It strikes me that if the government is keen on subsidizing transit it trips it can do so by subsidizing riders, and not the system as a whole. In the same way that the government provides food subsidies for people (such as food stamps) without going into the business of farming, herding, food retailing, etc. The government can allow a utility to build and operate a line, regulate the line’s return, and grant metrocard vouchers to those of it’s citizens it thinks should pay a reduced rate.
In Washington, we do both — the Metro is heavily subsidized, and many people have money added to their SmartTrip cards (like NY’s MetroCards) from pre-tax income, effectively subsidizing the riders.
Another reader (presumably from a small town!) responds to my contention that most of the subway lines would eventually be shut down if they were privatized:
This is exactly the point… big cities exist only because of massive government CHARITY (subsidies). They are otherwise unnatural, so to speak. If people had to pay what it REALLY costs to live in NYC there would BE NO NYC! And, no LA, etc. And, yes, this would be a “good thing”.
Also, aye dew no the difference between “hoards” and “hordes”!