Historical Lessons For The Bay Area’s Transit Crisis – OpEd |
Currently, important discussions about transit are taking place in the San Francisco Bay Area. The region’s main transit systems—BART, Muni, and Caltrain—are facing significant budget deficits. Many progressives argue that market forces would fail to deliver effective mass transit and that the market couldn’t provide trains in California. The state has already issued emergency loans and authorized regional taxes. It might not be enough, and BART has even moved forward with plans to close 15 stations and cut 60% of its train service if it does not receive more public funding.
Perhaps the Westerners could learn from the New York City experience. At present, there are three subway lines in the Big Apple: the Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit Corporation (BMT), the Interborough Rapid Transit........