The Economic Crisis Rolls on in Cities like Pittsburgh
The Economic Crisis Rolls on in Cities like Pittsburgh
May 6th, 2012 By Yonah Freemark http://www.thetransportpolitic.com/w...s/New-Logo.jpg Read More: http://www.thetransportpolitic.com/2...ke-pittsburgh/ Quote:
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In the US, the old order of municipal services is dying. I suspect in some of the large Canadian cities, too, that the extent of municipal services has maxed out, and, will drop from their current level.
THE US IS JUST GETTING POORER. I am not discussing class differences, here, but, I am stating that the net taxible income is continuing to drop, and, that almost all governments at all levels, from city through federal*, are experiencing a decline or at least a leveling off of tax revenues. A) Level off means a drop of taxable income, because commodity prices and health insurance costs are increasing (the inflation is far higher than reported). B) The post WWII municipal (and to a lesser extent State, and, even lesser, Federal) government employee is increasingly becoming unaffordable, due to pension, health cost, and, wage requirements. C) The gasoline tax, today less than 10% of retail pump costs, has been effectively frozen by politicians who can only get re-elected via contributions from a few, very wealthy individuals. Even without any contribution to public transportion from the gasoline tax, the levied tax total is lowering with consumption (our roads too often are falling apart). Perhaps public transportation will morph into a semi-legal system of vans and old buses, with drivers paid 2 or 3 gallons of gas equivalents per hour. Maybe private enterprise along the WalMart mold will step in and provide non-union, non-pension drivers running buses. ** Rest assured, the collapse in services is just starting. *Only the Feds can print money. Right now we are running about a 35-40% net deficit, covered with printed money laundered through the large finance houses. **This will involve changing liability laws, easing licensing requirements, etc. |
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On a federal level US GDP is at an all time high. The reason why the US is having all the debt problems currently is for the first time in our history we went to war and cut taxes at the same time. Add in the fact that with globalization many of the wealthy that got these tax cuts from 2001 onward took the money and instead of investing in the US put the money into emerging market funds transfering this wealth to other countries. This meant that from 2001 onward other countries were getting the physical benefits from the US investment while the Americans had paper profits. Enter the 2008 global meltdown and we saw a lot of the wealth evaporate overnight. Granted, most of those investments have since rebounded but the investment capital is still not coming back to the US. The problem in the US right now is that taxes are to low. It is not that the US is poorer it is that the Goverment has much lower effective taxe rates then it did in previous years. |
All excuses.
I don't have the data or inside knowledge as someone who works for Port Authority Transit. But I can tell you, they were not creative at all in restructuring transit services in Pittsburgh. One example: Port Authority continues to send South Hills bus routes all the way into downtown, when these bus routes could feed into South Hills light rail lines, without the need to send every bus downtown. Right there you could find big savings in needing less buses to operate on a given route. These transit systems new thinking, and planners who are willing to take a chance with different ideas and challenge the status quo. |
http://www.masstransitmag.com/news/1...ansit-cut-deal
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Exactly Jelly Roll. The whole anti-tax, anti-gov't Tea Party movement means an elimination of public services, everything from teachers to transit. It's horrible. People need to understand that government isn't some distant evil entity, it's made up of people.
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For anyone interested, pdfs of the maps TTP and MarkII posted are here (though they’re still fairly fuzzy).
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It looks like a lot of the routes being cut are ones meandering around twisty, not-necessarily-of-high-density suburban roads—that’s a very hard market for transit to be operate efficiently in, especially in a market with only a moderately-sized downtown like Pittsburgh’s. I’m guessing most of these route sonly hung on because downtown’s so concentrated and separated by physical barriers, making it a good market for transit. Of course, no matter how strong Pittsburgh’s downtown is (I’m under the impression that, while the whole Pittsburgh renaissance has been good for the region as a whole it hasn’t necessarily strengthened the traditional CBD). I’m also surprised that no one here’s mentioned the obvious—Pittsburgh’s economic condition may have improved, but it’s still shrinking. The Port Authority really doesn’t have any choice in this matter—it’s only natural that bus services would shrink with it. PACA should be focusing its services on the markets it serves best and the urban areas most primed for further growth and densification, not maintaining service patters that may be decades out-of-date. |
:previous:
:previous: How about throwing in a little smattering of mismanagement by the Port Authority? Their costs are astronomical, especially when it comes to union workers and their pensions. I realize the state is strapped for cash (who isn't?), so why doesn't the Port Authority pursue other means of generating revenue? I know I have suggested the use of adjusted property value for locations located near transit service, but what about the use of tolled highways in a heavy transit corridor, or such corridors where transit service is most viable? Put a toll plaza west/south of the Ft. Pitt Tunnel. If Port Authority is smart, they could re-route all of their western bus routes serving places like Carnegie, Settlers Ridge, Robinson, etc through the West Busway. That, coupled with the tolled bridge and tunnel, could be used as an incentive to promote commuters to use the busway. Plus, they're talking about extending the T through this corridor to the airport. Heck, I'm sure it's better than some of the suggestions out there. I'm only trying to think outside the box for my hometown. Oh, and I'm starting my own planning consultant business. I wouldn't mind doing a corridor study or multiple corridor studies to find out where public transit is not only needed the most but where it's most viable. I know one has long since been done in the airport corridor... |
funny. they will never consider cutting the highway offerings. Of course, I know things are much more complicated, but it needs to be said all the same.
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New highway offerings get postponed every year. Few highways are ever built on time and under budget. To suggest that highway projects are never cut is lying. |
Voters and electeds would NEVER choose to take away existing highways or toll them, in any region. Even "road diets," such as turning a 2+2 into 1+1+1, are sold as maintaining capacity.
As for building on time and on budget, my region seems to do well, with both transit and (replacement) highways. Negotiated rather than bid contracting is often a major factor, often using design-build. Another is intentionally underpromising during the decision phase, so they have cushion. |
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Whether the cause is the reduction of the wealth of the middle class (as reflected in taxable income), the flight of big corporate and private money overseas, the rising real cost of commodities over the medium and long terms, the reiticence of state elected officials to reduce DOT staff while dealing with a lowering- in real terms- of budgets, or a combination of these and more variables, makes no difference, IMO. The highway budget in terms of putting in new lane miles, replacing bridges and other related infrastructure, and in repaving all but the busiest interstates is dropping, nationwide, in real dollars. Look at it another way: take the price per barrell of oil and divide that by the gas and diesel tax, and, the number that results continues to grow. Add this to the improvement of the 'average' mileage of the highway fleet, and, the value in real dollars drops even more. WHAT DOES A BILLION DOLLARS BUY TODAY? |
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I could see tolling happening if gas tax revenues continue to drop and the gas tax isn’t raised—if the choice is between tolling and vehicle-mile counters, I could see tolling becoming favored (or the gas tax being raised, for that matter). |
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