Public transit needs to be based on reality

Detroit MI - An editorial out of the Detroit Free Press states well what is needed all across North America. Transit needs to be based on reality. While looking at the public transportation issues of Detroit, this editorial could easily apply to almost any city.

From a paper that is usually rather Liberal in its views, they took a rather Conservative stance on the public transportation needs of Detroit. Calling for buses rather than expensive rail lines as well as taking a swipe at the union and at the Democrats, this editorial clearly states what needs to be done to improve public transit in the region.

A few things in the editorial stood out to me. One was that the lie of the "heavy ridership that will result if a transit project is built" was exposed, much to the chagrin of the pro-rail crowd. One look at the Detroit People Mover, the futuristic transit project that was to turn Detroit into a world-class city, shows how wrong these projected ridership figures can be. The People Mover should be 75,000 riders a day but in reality it is lucky it hauls 8,000 a day and I'm willing to bet that 8,000 figure has been tweaked to the high side.

Another point that stood out was that the editorial writer worries about government and transit planners being seduced by glamorous rail system. Well it's too late, they have been. There is even a contest going on currently to design the future of transportation in Detroit where they specify it has to be rail oriented. The winners of this contest will have their expensive rail plan pushed at the expense of a far more economical and flexible bus operation.

If public transit is to survive, it must be viewed realistically. It must run efficiently and effectively. Planning needs to be done in the form of considering that people are not going to want to give up their cars. Even glamorous rail systems can't pull people away from their cars.

Currently, planning is done using hopes and dreams of what it could be like in a Utopian society. In other words, gambling taxpayer money that they'll get a royal flush rather than a pair of 2's. This is not creating an effective or efficient operation.

Let's face it, it's a well known and proven fact that public transit is expensive and becoming more expensive every day. Transit systems need to become more effective and efficient if they are to survive. The politicians and so-called transit loving activists need to wake up to reality that rail isn't the answer to the problems. A well run bus system is much more effective and efficient but few want to promote this. They'd rather gamble billions of taxpayer dollars on expensive toys in the hope it will entice people to use it in addition to the development factor that many cities also gamble our money on. Then they cry when fares go up and routes get cut to pay for the toy they wanted.

Yes, public transit needs to be based on reality. The future of it depends on proper planning to create an effective and efficient operation. If things keep going in the direction they are headed, public transit will become a dismal footnote in the annals of time.