https://pedestrianobservations.com/2022/03/26/no-federal-aid-to-transit-operations-please/ [pedestrianobservations com]

The author argues against federal subsidies for public transit operating costs.

But I cannot fully agree: on the East Coast, people use public transit and avoid automobile ownership. The West Coast, with wider streets and no separate commuter train infrastructure, is the opposite. There, people use public transit primarily because they do not own a vehicle.

Break even requirements (e.g., that the system's operating costs should be covered by fares) mean that unprofitable routes are closed, or at least that they only run during peak hours. I've been the person who had to walk 8 miles home after work because the bus stopped running after a certain time.

With the #Los_Angeles Metro bus and train system, this was such a problem that cities in the #SGV San Gabriel Valley formed Foothill Transit to fund extended operating hours on bus routes in their area.

Now, I do think that most areas' transit system operations should be funded by fares, possibly supplemented with state and local tax funds. The inefficiency that the author notes is probably inescapable unless we turn our urban transit over to private companies ... and even then, it could only work if we do not require the same things we require of our city-operated / county-operated transit systems (cover almost the whole area with hourly service during certain time periods; try to keep fares stable)

I think the author writes from the perspective of Boston.