San Francisco CA - Bay Area transit systems are gearing up to spend $1.3 billion dollars from a recently approved bond fund for transit infrastructure. The Examiner reports on the 12 Bay Area transit operations that will benefit from this windfall.
This sounds great doesn't it? It comes with a price however and that price is this. Will the transit operations, many of whom have been crying over not having enough money to operate, be able to operate the capital projects they are planning on building?
Yes, this is capital money. It can't be used for operating what these systems already have in place. MUNI in San Francisco is are planning on extending its Third Street light rail line with the money while at the same time crying about how they need millions more in order to operate what they already have.
Now, add to the new MUNI problem this point. Mayor Newsom is proposing that MUNI eliminate fares and provide free service (without any increase in operating funding) and you have a system poised for failure.
Capital money is easy to obtain. Sadly these transit systems are in such a rush to build new projects simply because they can get the money that they fail to realize that they can't afford what they have now. Capital funding needs to be tightened up so that it is harder to obtain.
Between the transit systems and politicians that are on spending sprees, the public that depends on the transit systems are the ones that ultimately suffer from the abundance of capital money. Why doesn't anyone use their brain and ask this, "if we're crying for money to operate now, how are we going to be able to operate once we have to start paying to operate the new project?"
While some of that infrastructure bond money will be used properly, such as BART which needs to replace its aging fleet of rail cars, much of the money will go to expanding existing costly projects for systems that are already severely cash strapped.
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