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I would be interested to know which crazy crank website linked to this post and brought this flood of transit haters here.

Points:
1. Roads pay for themselves! Transit does not!
Roads actually don't pay for themselves, nor do the user fees (gas taxes and tolls) pay for all of the road infrastructure we have. According to the FHWA gas taxes pay for around 65% of road costs, and that does not include a lot of local road costs that are not financed by gas taxes at all.

2. Drivers subsidize transit and transit is a drain!
Drivers do subsidize transit through a portion of gas taxes. Everyone, drivers and non-drivers, subsidizes transit through other taxes. This is because transit provides many benefits to people who do NOT use transit; why should transit users have to pay for the benefits others receive from it? Transit reduces traffic congestion for people who choose to drive, and it provides overall benefits to the economy like allowing for density that creates cost savings for businesses, connecting more people to more jobs, etc. Look up "agglomeration effects" sometime. These benefits accrue to everyone, so everyone (not just transit users) should pay for them. Driving and road infrastructure has many dis-benefits, like tying more land in non-profitable, non tax-paying uses and especially extra pollution from cars, that drivers do not pay for.

But look, if you think global warming, pollution, and thinking about land use are fake liberal Agenda-21 planning hoaxes, then I don't know why you're here. And if you think the highway system is some kind of paragon of the free market I think you need to do some more research about who built it.

by MLD on Mar 14, 2012 11:14 am • link • report