KQV 1410 editorial on privatizing public transit (Jan. 16, 2007)

Current mood: cheerful

On Jan. 12-14, 2007, KQV Radio 1410 here in Pittsburgh ran a strongly worded editorial [see second comment below] suggesting that our public transit company be run by a private company. I sent the following response to the station on Tuesday, January 16. A couple of days later, I was invited to come to the station and tape this for broadcast. It was aired on January 23, 2007.

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As a regular rider of Port Authority Transit, I take exception to station manager Robert W. Dickey's editorial suggesting transit be privatized.

Port Authority's funding problems really began with a series of legislation in the 1930s and 40s that tipped the transportation playing field clearly against the private, tax-paying transit companies of that era. It took 20 years, but by the early 1960s every one of those private transit companies was going broke or already bankrupt. Government takeover rescued them, and state subsidies made up for those deficits for a while, but the tip continued and continues still. Now the discrepancy between means and needs is more than the political power brokers in Harrisburg are willing to pay.

You never hear about PennDOT running out of money. It has a different funding structure, a dedicated, self-renewing funding source in the gas tax, which, I might add, absolutely cannot be used to fund transit. On the other hand, transit has to start from zero every fiscal year, and cannot end with a deficit.

Port Authority is not mismanaged. For 12 years, I was a member of its citizens' advisory board, the Allegheny County Transit Council, one year as its president. I got to see the books, know the process, watch it operate, and fully understand what PAT is up against – namely, rises in fuel, health care and pension requirements, coupled with flat income, and prevention from running a deficit. The only thing you need to know about its doing a good job is to count the national transit industry awards it has received. There have been many.

On some of the lesser issues, Mr. Dickey, you are just plain wrong. The articulated buses are the most efficient way of moving large volumes of Pittsburghers on high-demand routes like the EBA. Full-wrap ads are used to cover the many and varied pre-painted-message buses. And finally, for all your editorials about the over $400 million North Shore Extension, you've been silent about the over four billion dollar Mon-Fayette toll road.

I speak from the personal experience of riding 15,000 buses in 15 years, routinely eight trips in a single day, all the while owning and driving a car, and previously owning four cars. The system works very well if you care to figure out how to use it. And therein lies the real solution. Since 1980, while the area's population has stagnated, U.S. Census figures show that 110,000 county households have added a second or third car. If each of these bought an annual transit pass subscription, at a cost close to just the insurance on each car (never mind payments, gasoline, parking or repairs), Port Authority would have its $80 million, the system would be growing, service for everyone would be excellent, and everyone who retired the now-extraneous car would be able to save five grand every year, like I did.

Bottom line, private transit companies cannot succeed without first rolling back the anti-transit legislation from 60 to 70 years ago, including a State Constitutional amendment. If you are not willing to do that, stop trying to destroy the good thing we do have.

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Here are the numbers, which actually came from Census and other federal agencies. (I'll get you the URLs and research titles, if asked.) The 2006 figures are projections using the "=TREND" function in Excel.

MSA	0 Vehicle Households				1 Vehicle Households
	1980	1990	2000	2006	1980	1990	2000	2006
New York	2,590,367	2,074,032	2,216,217		2,348,895	2,279,212	2,506,498
Los Angeles	710,171	436,773	537,885		1,521,737	1,649,594	1,863,807
Chicago	708,001	486,693	450,547		1,099,715	1,051,228	1,192,183
Washington, DC	437,980	329,327	343,841		747,539	805,066	974,281
San Francisco	346,455	241,975	253,425		730,311	754,819	842,057
Philadelphia	567,943	368,303	355,220 > >		744,681	755,717	826,723
Pittsburgh	214,207	151,751	125,087	92,386	375,351	353,498	357,546	347,888

MSA	2 Vehicle Households				3+ Vehicle Households
	1980	1990	2000	2006	1980	1990	2000	2006
New York	1,687,924	1,936,053	2,162,171		626,768	869,289	850,378
Los Angeles	1,355,443	1,835,083	1,987,151		838,323	979,270	958,264
Chicago	886,782	1,033,599	1,203,511		308,648	397,579	455,970
Washington, DC	690,643	914,002	1,061,279		308,938	442,646	492,460
San Francisco	666,773	853,276	953,053		398,667	479,738	508,623
Philadelphia	616,995	750,380	838,550		234,168	285,742	300,226
Boston	587,359	742,105	855,329		208,420	286,280	295,398
Detroit	662,989	720,534	825,177		313,480	335,656	351,582
Dallas	410,879	628,964	809,893		252,667	257,588	303,124
Houston	408,472	537,950	670,166		226,395	194,292	243,759
Atlanta	286,166	439,390	625,438		165,013	236,663	290,445
Miami	309,337	412,991	502,341		116,079	152,385	168,705
Seattle	312,042	451,179	545,646		209,955	254,223	283,993
Phoenix	196,556	329,710	476,459		125,350	123,720="" align="right">	171,285
Minneapolis	287,140	398,387	485,428		141,473	175,372	200,150
Cleveland	376,585	403,092	448,177		159,298	181,736	188,501
San Diego	221,374	343,476	391,670		141,779	170,942	176,529
St. Louis	316,189	369,001	402,654		135,108	156,093	170,233
Denver	230,102	306,092	404,028		156,263	159,559	199,943
Tampa	194,192	303,924	372,603		77,455	100,330	108,844
Pittsburgh	295,460	325,816	356,954	375,272	104,189	116,183	126,913	133,941

So I crunched some numbers. Here are some differences:

	2 Vehicle Households				3+ Vehicle Households
	1980	1990	2000	2006	1980	1990	2000	2006
Change since 1980		30,356	61,494	79,812		11,994	22,724	29,752
Change since 1990			31,138	49,456			10,730	17,758
Change since 2000				18,318				7,028

That would be 109,564 total added-vehicle households from 1980 to 2006.

Assuming the one-to-two-car households bought a Zone 1 annual, $660, and the now-three-car households bought a Zone 2 annual, $825, that works out to $77,221,122 in "lost sales" to Port Authority.

Pretty darn close to that $80 million deficit they're talking about!

And sure, what the heck, I'll tell you my insurance costs: I have a mid-sized 1999 American car, two drivers (married, over 25), no wrecks or tickets, limited tort option, through a big-name company you've heard of, and I'm paying $661.40/year. How does that compare with anyone else out there?

Full disclosure, though: I had to shell out $29.95 last week for a new pair of sneakers, which I consider more a transportation cost than a clothing cost. I have to do that a couple times a year. How does that compare with anyone else out there? (When I worked, I kept a couple of pairs of good shoes at work, but that's a different story.)