You hate public transportation because--wait for it--you are a ...

[SSG Snuggle Bunny]

...RACIST!!!

Kievan Rus (1000+ posts)        Wed Mar-17-10 12:50 AM
Original message
Why are so many right-wingers so vehemently against mass transit?
 Is it just me, or are right-wingers vehemently against mass transit, along with pretty much any other public service provided to the citizenry?

...

cdsilv (758 posts)      Wed Mar-17-10 12:52 AM
Response to Original message
1. they're afraid that they might have to one day ride the bus or train with ...
 ...one of the unwashed masses. 

HughBeaumont  (1000+ posts)        Wed Mar-17-10 03:15 AM
Response to Reply #1
39. Or: Not the Same Skin Color As Them.

ThatsMyBarack  (1000+ posts)      Wed Mar-17-10 02:12 PM
Response to Reply #39
51. Just as I thought.

defendandprotect  (1000+ posts)        Wed Mar-17-10 03:53 AM
Response to Reply #1
41. Or that one or more of the unwashed masses will find their way into 
 their neighborhoods!!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x7932878

And on it goes.

Maybe we've missed something here at CC. We don't have a lot of public transportation threads. I think I've seen 2--maybe 3--threads discussing the high-speed rail issue but apparently we are pretty solid against public transportation. I'm not against it per se unless it were being subsidized. If those riding PT cannot afford to pay the cost of salaries, maintenance and administration for the service they employ I see no reason to make others subsidize their patronage...especially with gas pushing $3/gallon again. If PT dies of financial starvation than so be it. If, however, the cost of bus fare covers all operating expenses then good on them.

I'm opposed to high speed rail because it is nothing but a vote-buying scheme that will cost billions over its projected costs, take 10 years to construct a 2-year project and will lie a rusting hulk within 5 years of its completion...long after the shitbags who foisted it upon us have retired with their 6-digit congressional pension projects.

Nonetheless, I must ask the lurkers:

WTF is wrong with you people?!?!?!?

Why is it you have no other argument beyond screaming racist? Don't you know all that does is A) demonstrate the poverty of your position and B) dilute the word "racist" to the point that when real racism rears its ugly head it will have all the currency of the boy who cried wolf?

****ing idiots.

[USA4ME]

That's odd, because whenever I go to NYC or Atlanta any number of big cities, I often take the subways to get around.  Sometimes I drive where I need to go, sometimes it's quicker to grab a cab.  Never really cared about what race the people were, what their social status was, or if they'd move into my neighborhood, I just needed to get from point A to point B.

I agree with this:

If, however, the cost of bus fare covers all operating expenses then good on them.

If you're going to have PT, then charge enough so that the patrons pay for the service rendered.  It's either self-sustaining or it doesn't need to exist because, apparently, there's not enough people to need it to warrant having it.  There's less expensive ways to accomplish the same thing until such time that the demand is there.

.

[JohnnyReb]

Count me in when PT means a slow, leaky boat to China, Cuba or N Korea.

[lastparker]

Nonetheless, I must ask the lurkers:

WTF is wrong with you people?!?!?!?

Why is it you have no other argument beyond screaming racist? Don't you know all that does is A) demonstrate the poverty of your position and B) dilute the word "racist" to the point that when real racism rears its ugly head it will have all the currency of the boy who cried wolf?

****ing idiots.

 

I use the metro everytime I am in NYC or DC.  They're building light rail where I live, and already it is behind  schedule, over budget, full of corruption.... and since we are a metro area of multiple separate cities who refuse to work together, it is currently only planned to serve a very small corridor of one city.  Once it is up and running, I can predict that it will be nothing more than a way for students of the one university on its route to get back and forth from the downtown party zone.

(Oooooo.... that university happens to be predominantly black.  I guess I am a racist for not wanting my tax dollars to fund their party transportation.)

[jukin]

I don't have time to get the particulars but there was a PT system put in around Fremont California, light rail IIRC. A study was then done on ridership which indicated that on OPERATING COSTS alone (no capital investment costs included) that showed it would be cheaper to buy each rider a Ferrari to drive then use the PT.

That dear DUchebag is why I am against PT.

[GOBUCKS]

I don't have time to get the particulars but there was a PT system put in around Fremont California, light rail IIRC. A study was then done on ridership which indicated that on OPERATING COSTS alone (no capital investment costs included) that showed it would be cheaper to buy each rider a Ferrari to drive then use the PT.

That dear DUchebag is why I am against PT.

Check out the Robert C. Byrd People Mover in Morgantown, WV. It was built to transport students between the main campus and the medical school, with your tax money. Senator Byrd was not satisfied with shuttle buses. Way back in 1975, when it was built, it cost $130 million, equivalent to hundreds of millions today, and has received hundreds of millions in  subsidies since 1975. The Robert C. Byrd medical school admits around 100 or so students per year. I don't know if you could buy every rider a Ferrari, but new Fords would be a lot cheaper than the people mover. It could happen, if Ford Motor Company would agree to call them Robert C. Byrd Sedans.

Here today, we have a subsidized bus system that runs from town to the shopping mall. The buses are custom made to look like trolley cars, and there is a huge fleet. They run through the mall parking lot every ten or fifteen minutes. I have never seen more than one rider on board, even during the Christmas season, and 99% of the time the bus is empty except for the driver. They are talking about expanding the system to serve more riders.
 
Ouside the Northeast hellhole, and Chicago, public transit is a black hole that democrat politicians love to pour money into, because it goes to unionized construction, maintenance, and drivers, and lots of it comes back to the democrat politicians via union payoffs. 

[AprilRazz]

I use the metro everytime I am in NYC or DC.  They're building light rail where I live, and already it is behind  schedule, over budget, full of corruption.... and since we are a metro area of multiple separate cities who refuse to work together, it is currently only planned to serve a very small corridor of one city.  Once it is up and running, I can predict that it will be nothing more than a way for students of the one university on its route to get back and forth from the downtown party zone.

(Oooooo.... that university happens to be predominantly black.  I guess I am a racist for not wanting my tax dollars to fund their party transportation.)

Hampton Roads, VA?
If not then damned close!

[Ralph Wiggum]

I must say that the Chicago public transit system is actually quite good.  Not that I enjoyed taking it, but when I had to, it worked well.

What I could never figure out was why it only hit certain parts of town...the "L" I mean.  When I bought a house with the former Mrs. Wiggum, we were outside of the "L" area.  Had I wanted to take the train to work, it would have necessitated either her dropping me off or taking a 10 minute bus ride just to get to the brown line.  (And isn't "brown line" racist?  But I digress...)  Then a 45-50 minute "L" ride whether I was working downtown or in Evanston.

I much preferred paying $150/$200 a month to park and driving to work.  Not to mention the carbon emissions I was creating.

[The Village Idiot]

I am not against mass transit, I am against taxpayer funded public mass transit.

Big difference.

[Ralph Wiggum]

I am not against mass transit, I am against taxpayer funded public mass transit.

Big difference.

In some metro areas it works.  In others, it is worthless to even try.

Are you even against buses?  I'm not completely sure of the financials, but usually the bus system is mostly self-sufficient.

[The Village Idiot]

Are you even against buses?  I'm not completely sure of the financials, but usually the bus system is mostly self-sufficient.

How can buses be self-sufficient if we pay a penny sales tax to keep them running? The bus drivers start with $15 an hour or something like that and usually the buses are running around empty. I actually needed to use DART once and it was horrible. The driver stopped in the middle of nowhere and told me to get off, its his time to quit. I had no idea where I was. I waited for more than 30 minutes and saw no other buses so I walked to a Denny's and used my last change to call my sister.

Another time I was in Houston, in the middle of the night, and the driver just pulled over and stopped to eat his lunch while a half-dozen riders sat and watched. At least one of them got out and walked. I ended up being dropped off far from my destination and actually found a ride to where I was supposed to go. Btw, I stood outside and read a book until morning when the person I was meeting showed up.

[SSG Snuggle Bunny]

I am not against mass transit, I am against taxpayer funded public mass transit.

Big difference.

Obviously people of color suffer economic disadvantages because of the ingrained racism within American society. That is why whites pay taxes and minorities do not and if you oppose this sytem then it is because you hate people of color and would deny them their access to social just and THAT makes you a racist.[/DUmbass]

[lastparker]

Hampton Roads, VA?
If not then damned close!

You got it!!!!  

[Ralph Wiggum]

How can buses be self-sufficient if we pay a penny sales tax to keep them running? The bus drivers start with $15 an hour or something like that and usually the buses are running around empty. I actually needed to use DART once and it was horrible. The driver stopped in the middle of nowhere and told me to get off, its his time to quit. I had no idea where I was. I waited for more than 30 minutes and saw no other buses so I walked to a Denny's and used my last change to call my sister.

Another time I was in Houston, in the middle of the night, and the driver just pulled over and stopped to eat his lunch while a half-dozen riders sat and watched. At least one of them got out and walked. I ended up being dropped off far from my destination and actually found a ride to where I was supposed to go. Btw, I stood outside and read a book until morning when the person I was meeting showed up.

Like I said, I don't completely know how much of the funding comes from taxpayers.

And those sound like bouncy stories.

[AprilRazz]

You got it!!!! 

It sounded too familiar not to be. LOL

[MrsSmith]

The fact is that huge numbers of American live where mass transit is simply not possible.  Those that live within an urban environment often have "all the answers," but have no clue how those "fly-over" country actually LIVE.

[ChuckJ]

How weak is your mind, how pathetic is your debating skills, how out of touch are you with reality if you answer to every problem and/or question is "racism"?

When you get some time go look through the DUmp gallery where the members post their pictures. That's a lot of white folks. I think that their cries of racism is more of their classic projection.

[DefiantSix]

In some metro areas it works.  In others, it is worthless to even try.

Are you even against buses?  I'm not completely sure of the financials, but usually the bus system is mostly self-sufficient.

I've lived in a number of areas served to various degrees by public transit - usually a bus system.  I don't think I've lived in an area yet where the public transit system was self sustaining, and that includes Seattle's Metro system.

[Chris]

Raleigh, NC is so spread out, the buses will only run on main roads and they offer door-to-door pickup service with smaller shuttles which were (at the time) $1 each.  I have no idea how they broke even.  The one in Nashville is not too bad.  They've expanded some, but they've doubled their prices since I moved here.  You used to be able to go downtown for $1.50 and catch a second bus with a ten-cent transfer.  Now, all rides are $1.60 each -- express rides are $2.10 -- or you could pony up $5 and ride all day (until 2 am). 

I don't mind public transportation if it's self-sustaining.  Wasting money is what I object to, not the idea of public transportation.  From what I understand, Seattle's monorail was paid for by the World's Fair and has made a profit for the last 40 years.

[DefiantSix]

I don't mind public transportation if it's self-sustaining.  Wasting money is what I object to, not the idea of public transportation.  From what I understand, Seattle's monorail was paid for by the World's Fair and has made a profit for the last 40 years.

Seattle's monorail isn't a part of Seattle's Metro system though.  It is it's own little attraction, and it charges a HELLUVA lot more than the Metro system would to take you back and forth between the same destinations.  Metro currently charges $2.75 per adult to travel between two adjacent "zones" in their system; a pretty extensive range for that price.  The monorail on the other hand charges $4.00 per adult for a round trip of 2 miles between Westlake Center and Seattle Center.

Thus the monorail is a self sustaining attraction, and the Metro is a tax-payer funded monstrosity of public transportation.

[Gwitness]

lmao...my wife drives a bus...carrying these losers around.... you might be surprised by  how many stiff the bus company for fare....and how many of the cars that cut her off have moonbat stickers all over them

[happy1ga]

cdsilv (758 posts)      Wed Mar-17-10 12:52 AM
Response to Original message
1. they're afraid that they might have to one day ride the bus or train with ...
 ...one of the unwashed masses. 

I'll admit this is true.

[thundley4]

I'll admit this is true.

I wouldn't ride the buses here during the week, because the city buses also serve many of the high school kids.

[JohnnyReb]

You hate public transportation because--wait for it--you are a ... Hard working taxpayer that's going to have to pay for that shi8.

[whiffleball]

I don't relish the idea of using PT if I don't have to.  I don't want to have just stepped out of the shower and have to cozy up to one of the unwashed and unbrushed teeth reeking of halitosis of any color.  I'm just a snob that way and won't make any apology.

I do use MARTA when in ATL to get to the airport only because traffic and parking are such a PITA.