Analysis: BART's anachronistic, stagnant business model makes DTSJ extension nonsensical
The OC Register's Steven Greenhut dispels the refrain that public transit is struggling in the short term due to the pandemic, and needs bailouts to get back on its feet. On the contrary: Local transit's “antiquated” refusal to offer safe, high-quality, fiscally prudent services has seen a drop off in ridership levels for years. Meanwhile, San Joseans gear up for BART add-ons that are unlikely to be used, except to burn (more) holes in their pockets.
SCAG finds only 2 percent of the region’s population uses transit “very frequently” and that’s concentrated among the poorest residents. That’s not to say transit isn’t important. It makes sense in urban centers, for certain commutes (think Metrolink) and, again, as a last resort for people who can’t afford cars. Those SCAG numbers come from 2018 – before the pandemic, which caused ridership to plummet. It’s only recovered moderately.
Yet before Monday’s budget deal, transit supporters were predicting doom if Gov. Gavin Newsom didn’t agree to bail out these systems. He resisted for months, but finally agreed to a $5.1-billion package that provides additional operating subsidies and construction dollars. That spares transit systems from facing difficult choices regarding which lines to keep operating, which projects to fund and which departments to trim. Perish the thought.
“Like many public transportation systems around the country, some of California’s transit agencies are reeling from pandemic-induced declines in ridership and the risk that federal COVID aid will dry up,” wrote Farhad Manjoo in a New York Times op-ed backing a California bailout. “Transit agencies are preparing to adjust their budgets and services to new travel patterns, but implementing those plans will take time – and in the short term they are pretty strapped.”
Oh, please. Transit agencies were struggling long before anyone had heard of COVID-19. Ridership levels in almost every major transit system nationwide had been plunging for two decades. The agencies have had plenty of time to adjust to reality, but have not used it to develop new business models that appeal to riders. They haven’t even turned the corner on transit crime waves that literally scare off riders.
Instead of cutting superfluous bureaus or staff, reducing compensation (or at least reforming benefit packages), outsourcing contracts and adjusting routes or trying innovative solutions (smaller buses, privatized alternatives), they’ve continued to offer these services in an antiquated way. Transportation planners are heavily invested in prodding Californians to give up their cars and use transit, yet they don’t offer systems that are reliable or appealing.
This article originally appeared in the Orange County Register. Read the whole thing here.
Read more on the DTSJ BART extension here.
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