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Monday, September 2, 2013
Is it fair that Trimet subsidized Portland students but none other in its district?
In NYC the student MetroCards that give "free rides" to students are only valid on THE ROUTE and TIMES that the student needs to use to travel to and from school.
If someone "needs" transit so badly that it must be paid for by the public, then it should be just for the need and nothing else. I work my ass off to pay a good amount of taxes to TriMet, and TriMet has done a great job of failing me time and time again even though it's #1 priority is transportation to/from workplaces (since the primary funding mechanism for TriMet is the payroll tax - if you work for a non-governmental job, you are supporting TriMet.)
I have no problem supporting my fellow man but when so many special interest groups want a free handout at someone else's expense, damned be those who actually pay for the service, it's time to turn the water off. Want better transit? Work for it. Change the TriMet funding mechanism to another means. Get a job. TriMet does a piss-poor job of actually supporting workplace employment transportation, as evidenced by companies like Intel and Nike - both of whom pay a LARGE amount of taxes to TriMet - running their own transit systems instead. Meanwhile, OHSU and the VA Hospital, both of whom pay only a token "in lieu of taxes" payment to TriMet that they are not even obligated to pay, get special TriMet bus routes and schedules.
Yes, the passes could be limited (though doing it by route would be complicated, especially since there's no way to encode and read the data).
The arguments being used are 1) it allows students to attend important extracurricular activities and jobs and 2) there's available capacity during off peak times, so there's not an extra cost.
Also, Intel and Nike both have suburban campuses which are hostile to transit (Nike's in particular has few connections with the outside), have plenty of free parking and are for employees only.
Marquam Hill, on the other hand, is highly constrained, centrally located and is a place where not just employees but patients, students and visitors go. And one of the "special" routes that goes there is one of the most productive in the system in terms of % of revenue seat miles occupied. In addition, C-TRAN (which doesn't get any tax revenues in Oregon) also finds it worthwhile to have a dedicated express route to there.
But Intel may be why Lines 48 and 88 exist, and TriMet is working to bring the 48 onto campus. That, and what they've done for other businesses like extending Line 155, isn't perfect, but it is much more than nothing.
Lastly, what's the evidence that the "in lieu of" revenue is much less than what the payroll tax would provide? Or that PPS is already getting their share of transportation funding?
I love taking student I'd cards at 1am on a Saturday.
ReplyDeleteThese card should be good only mon-friday 6-6 that's it no weekenfs or late night crap
Agree Henry!
ReplyDeleteNot me, my brother from another mother. LOL
ReplyDeleteHB
In NYC the student MetroCards that give "free rides" to students are only valid on THE ROUTE and TIMES that the student needs to use to travel to and from school.
ReplyDeleteIf someone "needs" transit so badly that it must be paid for by the public, then it should be just for the need and nothing else. I work my ass off to pay a good amount of taxes to TriMet, and TriMet has done a great job of failing me time and time again even though it's #1 priority is transportation to/from workplaces (since the primary funding mechanism for TriMet is the payroll tax - if you work for a non-governmental job, you are supporting TriMet.)
I have no problem supporting my fellow man but when so many special interest groups want a free handout at someone else's expense, damned be those who actually pay for the service, it's time to turn the water off. Want better transit? Work for it. Change the TriMet funding mechanism to another means. Get a job. TriMet does a piss-poor job of actually supporting workplace employment transportation, as evidenced by companies like Intel and Nike - both of whom pay a LARGE amount of taxes to TriMet - running their own transit systems instead. Meanwhile, OHSU and the VA Hospital, both of whom pay only a token "in lieu of taxes" payment to TriMet that they are not even obligated to pay, get special TriMet bus routes and schedules.
Henry got all the brains and I got a the looks!!! Lol
ReplyDeleteSo there are two Beasly's? They both work at Trimet?
ReplyDeleteYes, the passes could be limited (though doing it by route would be complicated, especially since there's no way to encode and read the data).
ReplyDeleteThe arguments being used are 1) it allows students to attend important extracurricular activities and jobs and 2) there's available capacity during off peak times, so there's not an extra cost.
Also, Intel and Nike both have suburban campuses which are hostile to transit (Nike's in particular has few connections with the outside), have plenty of free parking and are for employees only.
Marquam Hill, on the other hand, is highly constrained, centrally located and is a place where not just employees but patients, students and visitors go. And one of the "special" routes that goes there is one of the most productive in the system in terms of % of revenue seat miles occupied. In addition, C-TRAN (which doesn't get any tax revenues in Oregon) also finds it worthwhile to have a dedicated express route to there.
But Intel may be why Lines 48 and 88 exist, and TriMet is working to bring the 48 onto campus. That, and what they've done for other businesses like extending Line 155, isn't perfect, but it is much more than nothing.
Lastly, what's the evidence that the "in lieu of" revenue is much less than what the payroll tax would provide? Or that PPS is already getting their share of transportation funding?
Also, there's a couple of issues with the article:
ReplyDelete-If you look at the HTML title (that appears on the top edge of the browser window), it says "6,666" and not "966,666".
-Only $300,000 of that is actually going towards the passes
-In the third paragraph, there's "access at and her bus stops in the city."
There are three Beasleys'
ReplyDeleteHB