Metro warns of huge budget deficits and a death spiral

[Anonymous]

This is the reality of public transit:

https://www.wusa9.com/article/traffic/mission-metro/metro-warns-massive-service-cuts-death-spiral-transit-750-million-shortfall/65-9c0dc54f-8f65-46c4-8390-51e8108ac1a5


Where are the anti-car fascists now? Have fun going to work or doing things on the weekend. The anti-car crowd loves to give pie in the sky calculations that never account for human factors like crime, overrun costs, inefficiencies, and huge bloated salaries and benefits for the unionized workers bankrupting the system. So glad we are spending billions more on this black hole with the purple line. Watch, the only solution they’ll come up with is to increase taxes and to increase fares to outrageous prices. It has never dawned on them to start with common sense ideas like increasing safety and severely punishing fare evaders. Why should anyone pay of a huge portion of people ride for free already?

[Anonymous]

Sorry, you're not credible if you use words like "anti-car fascists".

Calm down and take your meds.

[Anonymous]

Wouldn’t the solution be to make federal workers come back into the office?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Sorry, you're not credible if you use words like "anti-car fascists".

Calm down and take your meds.

You missed the pages of discussions in the other thread. The anti-car people are fascists. Let’s see how their plans work when the metro may completely die due to all of the human factors cited above.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wouldn’t the solution be to make federal workers come back into the office?

Why is it up to workers to make sure a public transportation system remains economically viable? There’s already talk of DC agencies decentralizing and moving to lower cost areas. WFH etc. is a big perk the govt has for retaining workers who are already underpaid. Even before the pandemic the metro has S for finances. They overpay union workers by a lot who are killing the system with all of their salary and benefits demands.

[Anonymous]

They should have made hay while the sun was shining. It's been mismanaged and misran for years. Plus now they have all the crime problems from lax policing and prosecuting.

[Anonymous]

The reality is that the US in general and DC in particular no longer have the social cohesion to make public transit work. These death spirals will be the new norm.

Anyone wanting an alternative to car-centric living will have to focus on building better neighborhoods and micro-mobility.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wouldn’t the solution be to make federal workers come back into the office?

Federal agencies have been moving to the suburbs for years (because GSA is so cheap). The suburb people are all back in the office, but the DC people don't want to. Can't imagine why.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Sorry, you're not credible if you use words like "anti-car fascists".

Calm down and take your meds.

This is an incredibly lazy way to dismiss someone’s argument.

[Anonymous]

Automation can’t come fast enough for the Metro. They need to automate the control of the trains and all of the gates asap. Eliminate jobs that with massively bloated salaries killing the system. I mean are we paying someone 6 figures to sit in a booth where they do nothing 99% of the time? The 1% of the time they do something like open a gate for you because your card malfunctioned they give you a nasty ornery attitude. They also clearly do nothing for safety and don’t do anything bout fare evasions. So what are we paying them for? Eliminate those jobs with machines first.

[Anonymous]

I’m super confused OP. How are the “anti-car fascists” responsible for Metro’s budget issues?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Sorry, you're not credible if you use words like "anti-car fascists".

Calm down and take your meds.

This is an incredibly lazy way to dismiss someone’s argument.

DP. But it's also valid. Someone characterizing the opposing viewpoint in that manner is not someone who is engaging in good faith and looking for a productive discussion. It's someone who wants to performatively beat their chest on a soapbox and deftly tear down strawmen.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is the reality of public transit:

https://www.wusa9.com/article/traffic/mission-metro/metro-warns-massive-service-cuts-death-spiral-transit-750-million-shortfall/65-9c0dc54f-8f65-46c4-8390-51e8108ac1a5

Where are the anti-car fascists now? Have fun going to work or doing things on the weekend. The anti-car crowd loves to give pie in the sky calculations that never account for human factors like crime, overrun costs, inefficiencies, and huge bloated salaries and benefits for the unionized workers bankrupting the system. So glad we are spending billions more on this black hole with the purple line. Watch, the only solution they’ll come up with is to increase taxes and to increase fares to outrageous prices. It has never dawned on them to start with common sense ideas like increasing safety and severely punishing fare evaders. Why should anyone pay of a huge portion of people ride for free already?

This is the reality of cars.

https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/one-driver-with-186k-in-unpaid-tickets-what-dc-ticket-data-shows/3339753/
https://www.nhtsa.gov/press-releases/traffic-crashes-cost-america-billions-2019
https://www.lung.org/clean-air/outdoors/who-is-at-risk/highways

-An "anti-car fascist", probably, who knows that the Purple Line we've been waiting 40 years for is not a WMATA project

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wouldn’t the solution be to make federal workers come back into the office?

Federal agencies have been moving to the suburbs for years (because GSA is so cheap). The suburb people are all back in the office, but the DC people don't want to. Can't imagine why.

True. My GSA office is absolutely horrible. For political reasons we have to continue with GSA instead of leasing. My former agency’s leased office space was fantastic in terms of location and amenities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Sorry, you're not credible if you use words like "anti-car fascists".

Calm down and take your meds.

This is an incredibly lazy way to dismiss someone’s argument.

There doesn’t appear to be an argument here …