You're Doing It Wrong

A report on one of the bigger radio-with-pictures old-media providers covered another effect of soaring gasoline prices: increased mass-transit ridership, Oh What A Surprise.

But alas, mused the talking head, some cities -- including Indianapolis -- that have not been stuffing whacking huge subsidies into their various BigCityVapidTransit services have to make a choice: they're having to turn away riders and as the price of diesel soars, will have to either reduce routes or hours, or raise taxes.

Now maybe it's just me but one option seems to be missing; certainly the Authorized Journalist did not so much as hint at it: Outside government-controlled endeavors, increasing demand and insufficient revenue would result in price increases. Look, if the service can't support itself even during boom demand, either it's not a needed service or your approach to providing it is incorrect. Picking my pocket even harder to prop it up is simply wrong.

I made my peace with high gas prices quite some while back. If you start out with not much, even a couple bucks a gallon is a lot to pay; I've ridden a bicycle for short trips for years (and mine's no toy: it can carry a week's groceries and often does) and started using my motor-scooter for longer travels shortly after buying it. Don't come to me with higher taxes 'cos you can't afford to gas up your leased super sport'emup non-utility vehicle!

Some of the "Public Utility" businesses may not ever be profitable but completely ignoring the possibility that they might manage to pay their own way bespeaks a mindset inimical to the approach that made the U. S. one of the best places in the world to live. It's a small thing, perhaps, but it's one more step down a path we travel to our own peril and our children's doom.