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| Re: NJ Transit to cut five bus routes (260531) | |||
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Re: NJ Transit to cut five bus routes |
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Posted by BusMgr on Sat May 19 12:19:11 2012, in response to Re: NJ Transit to cut five bus routes, posted by Gotham Bus Co. on Sat May 19 11:17:10 2012. If 100 people are "affected," but the only result of having been affected is that they must instead use a different bus route, and we assume, arguendo, that each "affected" person has their journey extended by 1 minute (maybe increased dwell time from additional passengers), then the effect can be quantified as 100 person-minutes. On the other hand, if 5 people are "affected" by a different service change, and if we assume here, arguendo, that the result is that each person has no alternative service and must instead walk for 60 minutes to reach their destination, then the effect can be quantified as 300 person-minutes. The second scenario is more severe, and if only one service can be maintained financially, the second scenario is probably more deserving.Yes, on a per-capita basis the 5 people in the second scenario get more. But so what? If we're subsidizing transportation on the basis of the service, and not the passengers, then we need to look at the effects of system of services. People who travel for longer distances, or on less traveled routes, receive a greater subsidy benefit. That being said, there is something to the concept of providing every public transit user with a fixed dollar subsidy (which could be freely alienated to the extent not used), and then have all transit priced at a free market unsubsidized rate. For the "average" user, there would be no change. For the user who patronizes more expensive services (e.g., longer distance, less-traveled routes) out-of-pocket costs would be higher; and for those who patronize less expensive route the reverse would be true. If such a scheme were established throughout the NJT service area, I would expect that people who live in Newark or Hudson County would see a substantial benefit to themselves, whereas those people who live in places like southern New Jersey and Warren County would see monumental increases in their costs. |
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