I took this photo last night in the Pioneer Square district of Seattle. Seems some people believe free bus rides are a right.



http://seattlewewontpay.org/

Just end the buses. Then no one will have to pay.

They can move back to California.

In Italy last week, less than half the bus riders paid anything at all. Felt like a sucker for buying a three day pass that I didnt use.

The FSA is going to be the death of you.

So they won pay for subsidized transportation where the only reason fares are low is because they steal from their neighbors?

Ok cool. Shut it down.

I visited Cancun in May. The bus comes every two minutes so a schedule is redundant. Ten pesos, about a buck, and it was good for a round trip.

I won't say they were super nice buses but they were safe enough.

Seattle's method of dealing with high costs is to cut bus service on routes that are full so they can still afford (sic) to send an empty bus to your neighborhood.

I normally believe in removing taxes and shifting the costs of services to the users. Removing the externalities will allow users to see the true costs and make rational decisions.

However I do think that perhaps mass transit inside a city should be part of the city services and included in the cities tax revenue. All that movement of people is going to some economic end which will benefit the city. Encouraging people to use mass transit will reduce traffic congestion etc. It almost seems like a service similar to police, ambulance etc and if it is not properly funded all the other infrastructure in the city will also decay.

What do the libratarians on this forum think?

i think....i don't give a **** if people want bus service or light rail or whatever. seems to me if the demand was enough someone could step in and offer service X - but you should pay the full cost of the *******n thing

but of course if that is done no one would use it because people only like public transportation if it is subsidized by their neighbor who doesn't use it.

"Encouraging people to.." is just code for stealing from those who don't wish to use the "service" and gifting $$ to the people that do at the point of a loaded hot gun.

fukkem

I hate the Seattle light rail.

One way for me to get to the airport is via public transportation (bus, ferry, bus). The transit authority put in this idiotic light rail from downtown Seattle to SEA-TAC, and took out the competing bus service.

The bus rocked. It was cheap, fast, reliable, and frequent - all the things you are looking for in public transit. The 194 was the express bus from DT to the airport. It bypassed the MLK Blvd district, took 25 mins, and little to no riff-raff.

The 174 was the local bus that went right through Rainier Beach (the anus of Seattle). It was not comforting to be the only white guy, in a non-poliice uniform on a Saturday night. I can't CCW on the way to-fro the airport, because I can't store my weapon at Seatac without from the entire airport authority. Some of the trips were pretty tense and I just quit taking the 174. It also took forever.

Now, the Light Rail has the worst of all worlds - right down MLK Blvd, takes forever, and they double-charge for a trip to the airport.

So, I drive around. It takes less time, is slightly more expensive at $4/gal, but I don't have to worry about any flash mobs getting all amped up over a middle-aged white guy in a uniform.

The 194 was a monster money maker, since it was always full. Sound Transit LR is empty, with the exception of wine-os, thugs, and the mentally disturbed.

So much fail.
So much fail.

snake I thought you were dead