Re: boosting efficiency/throughput by going faster?

"Scott M. Kozel" <kozelsm@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

James Robinson <wascana@xxxxxxx> wrote:

"Jack May" <jack.may@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Governments also want to spend most of their transportation dollars
on transit which carry hardly any people at all. This leads to
little money left for roads which leads to congestion, which leads
to more fuel consumption, more CO2, more pollution, more early
deaths.

Absolute garbage. The US DOT budget, as an example, is
overwhelmingly geared toward highways and aviation, with about 80
percent of all expenditures. Less than 15% is spent by the FTA, and
I don't see any sign of a desire to spend "most" of their money on
transit.

Transit (i.e. surface public transit) comprises less than 1.5% of
national travel, as you know. You need to look beyond just the
federal budget, as many states and localities provide generous funding
for transit; Maryland, for example, for state and federal
transportation allocations combined, provides over 50% of that to
transit, which comprises less than 4% of travel in the state.

Actually, I don't need to look beyond the Federal budget. Jack, with his
usual flair, included all governments in his sweeping statement. He
didn't say some governments, he didn't say most governments, he simply
said governments, which implies all.

Therefore, all I have to do to refute the argument is demonstrate that
one level of government doesn't have the insatiable desire to spend most
of their transportation money on transit. I chose the Federal, since it
was easy to find the budgets, and it wasn't even close.

The reality is that there might be a half-dozen metropolitan areas in the
country that spend a significant amount on transit, and even those don't
spend "most" of that money on transit.

Looking at your Maryland example, does the amount spent include the
expenditures at the local and county level? Does it include the self-
imposed taxation that people willingly agree to with the purchase of
their vehicles and the maintenance, operation, and insurance of those
vehicles?
.

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