How Politics and Bad Decisions Starved New York’s Subways
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Re: How Politics and Bad Decisions Starved New York’s Subways
#2I take the subway almost everyday since the past 7 years and its been getting worse.
NYC should learn something from Toronto and London. They have the best subway systems IMHO.
Re: How Politics and Bad Decisions Starved New York’s Subways
#3I take the subway almost everyday since the past 7 years and its been getting worse. NYC should learn something from Toronto and London. They have the best subway systems IMHO.
Yeah, I recently moved back to queens from the city and what used to be a 30-45 min commute 5-6 years ago now takes me 60-90 minutes.
Re: How Politics and Bad Decisions Starved New York’s Subways
#4“17% of the budget is to pay down debt”
Re: How Politics and Bad Decisions Starved New York’s Subways
#5>”... hundreds of mechanic positions have been cut because there is not enough money to pay them — even though the average total compensation for subway managers has grown to nearly $300,000 a year.”
I know this isn’t the primary reason the subway is falling into disrepair, but it’s clearly a symptom of a system that lacks real accountability. There has to be some reasonable push back to compensation (backed ultimately by the tax payers of New York) that is tied to real performance and efficiency.
Re: How Politics and Bad Decisions Starved New York’s Subways
#6I think politicians in places like New York should lead by example and show us that much-hyped, long-awaited "smart government" before they angrily demand I support the latest government program.
Re: How Politics and Bad Decisions Starved New York’s Subways
#7DC's system is pretty bad too. this morning I had to choose between a 50 minute commute via metro for $4, or a 20 minute Uber ride for $10. I'm so so glad I got the Uber.
Re: How Politics and Bad Decisions Starved New York’s Subways
#8“17% of the budget is to pay down debt”
Is that bad? The real problem is when you're stuck only paying the interest, and the debt increases. If you were to buy something on your credit card, you're spending most of your money to pay down the debt - but that's not particularly a problem unless you're living above your means.
The alternative - to wait until you've accumulated enough cash to build a bus depot - seems kind of a bad idea.
Re: How Politics and Bad Decisions Starved New York’s Subways
#9DC's system is pretty bad too. this morning I had to choose between a 50 minute commute via metro for $4, or a 20 minute Uber ride for $10. I'm so so glad I got the Uber.
Same here it's either $12 for a total commute of 2+ hrs via metro, or $3 to drive for a total of just over an hour.
Re: How Politics and Bad Decisions Starved New York’s Subways
#10“17% of the budget is to pay down debt”
It depends what interest rate the debt is. Borrowing at the scale of NYC probably gets rates lower than inflation.