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But is that stat really telling us that? I mean, I don't really know much about the stat, but I wonder if the length of the system plays a role.
I'll have to read more about what it means. But if WMATA has more ridership per mile then MARTA despite having significantly more track, I don't see how it can be more efficient.
Well those two things are industry wide metrics that are used to help measure efficiency/effectiveness.
Also, to the extent possible, I try to provide sources for the data I quote so that people have some context. Here is the amount and percentage of federal funding for transit systems in different cities.
New York:
Capital costs - $1,140,457,033 (35%)
Operating costs - $0
San Francisco (MUNI):
Capital costs - $117,247,851 (57%)
Operating costs - $17,636,485 (3%)
San Francisco (BART):
Capital costs - $122,583,313 (25%)
Operating costs - $27,329,041 (5%)
Chicago (CTA):
Capital Costs - $183,274,234 (62%)
Operating costs - $13,465,362 (1%)
Washington, DC (WMATA):
Capital costs - $289,211,801 (64%)
Operating costs - $36,310,989 (2%)
Atlanta:
Capital costs - $39,867,753
Operating costs - $63,515,459 (12%)
Philadelphia:
Capital costs - $149,618,163 (47%)
Operating costs - $68,956,947 (5%)
Boston:
Capital costs - $177,687,952 (44%)
Operating costs - $6,042,140 (<1%)
Last edited by BajanYankee; 03-25-2014 at 06:59 PM..
DC Metro hands down. BART is ok but you have to combine it with the other transit systems in the SF area to have a complete picture. MARTA is decent for a city transit system as well. Metro Atlanta as a whole though is very lacking (less than a third of metro area residents have access to public transit, the lowest of any major metro area). Some counties like Fayette and Forsyth actually voted people out of office for the sole reason that they even contemplated the idea of public transit coming to the county. MARTA is also the only system in the country that gets no funding from the state (due to former Gov. Lester Maddox's racist views at the time it was created).
MARTA is also the only system in the country that gets no funding from the state (due to former Gov. Lester Maddox's racist views at the time it was created).
That's true. But the federal government is also covering 12% of the system's operating expenses. That's higher than any other system.
That's not entirely accurate. There are employment centers on the edges of Paris (just as there are employment centers in Jersey, Brooklyn, Queens and Westchester), but the vast bulk of employment is located in Central Paris. Manhattan (south of 59th Street) and Central Paris have nearly identical employment shares.
Here's right in that NYC transit "sucks" to the extent that subway lines get routed through Manhattan. That's true, I guess. Paris is more comprehensive in that sense. But the comprehensiveness of their system largely depends on a large center of gravity in the middle of the region. And I'm not so sure he understood this.
Not even Tokyo is that decentralized. We already discussed this a while back. It has something like 30% of all employment inside of the Yamanote Loop.
Don't disagree that a polycentric model has better efficacy in terms of using transit infrastructure. NYC's got potential in maximizing usage of certain nodes that are already in place such as that around Jamaica Station and Broadway Junction and it'd be smart to encourage high-density development and job creation around there.
Isn't much of Paris's employment concentrated on a sort of axis running westwards from the 9th Arrondissement westwards to La Defense, and bulging out a bit from that axis to varying degrees? I know people commute really far distances, such as the example given for going from the far east suburbs all the way to La Defense, but that's a factor of the eastern suburbs being way cheaper, people needing money, and transit for eastern suburbs to La Defense is actually pretty good despite the distance.
Tokyo does have a large concentration of employment within the Yamanote Loop, but that loop is large and the business districts straddle both sides of the loop. Tokyo, though, also has a pretty large numbers of pretty large clusters.
Anyhow, NYC is sort of doing it, but in a way where Manhattan's CBD is sorta slowly creeping over to Jersey City, LIC, and nearby parts of Brooklyn. It'd be nice if it was more like establishment of an extremely healthy Newark and a leapfrog of development for the South Bronx, Jamaica Center and Broadway Junction. Only big, uh, leapfrogging, I see for employment is Flushing which has been incredible but who knows how much of that is off the books. Oddly large number of white collar jobs there now, though obviously catering to a very specific community/communities.
Seems like DC isn't the top of the pack for percent from federal share of capital funds at all. Can the mix vary quite a bit from year to year?
For the large rail systems it's near the top but yeah if you include smaller systems like Buffalo, Pittsburgh, Westchester County bus, Detroit's bus system, etc.. then it's not.
2011 WMATA was at 78% federal share so it certainly can vary from year to year.
Seems like DC isn't the top of the pack for percent from federal share of capital funds at all. Can the mix vary quite a bit from year to year?
No, not really. A lot of the posters complaining about DC feeding off of federal largesse are living in cities who are receiving a large share of federal funding for both capital and operating expenses. I think we're also missing a couple of important points.
-WMATA federal capital funding will always be higher year after year because DC is the seat of the federal government. And the infrastructure was built for the federal government. Why would the Feds not be expected to kick in cash for L'Enfant Plaza, Smithsonian, Capitol South and countless other stations when those stations exist to serve the federal government?
-DC's status as a federal district is a blesssing and a curse. It receives more federal funding because, as a federal district, it's subject to Congresional police power (much like Indian lands, military bases, and national parks). But it's also more politically vulnerable because it has no representation in Congress and it's three electoral votes are of little value to the White House. There is no powerful Senator from DC on Appropriations or Ways and Means who can procure oodles of funding for pet projects. There may be 535 members of Congress, but they're not all equals. There's a small handful of men and women on the Hill who ultimately determine how the pie gets sliced up.
No, not really. A lot of the posters complaining about DC feeding off of federal largesse are living in cities who are receiving a large share of federal funding for both capital and operating expenses. I think we're also missing a couple of important points.
-WMATA federal capital funding will always be higher year after year because DC is the seat of the federal government. And the infrastructure was built for the federal government. Why would the Feds not be expected to kick in cash for L'Enfant Plaza, Smithsonian, Capitol South and countless other stations when those stations exist to serve the federal government?
-DC's status as a federal district is a blesssing and a curse. It receives more federal funding because, as a federal district, it's subject to Congresional police power (much like Indian lands, military bases, and national parks). But it's also more politically vulnerable because it has no representation in Congress and it's three electoral votes are of little value to the White House. There is no powerful Senator from DC on Appropriations or Ways and Means who can procure oodles of funding for pet projects. There may be 535 members of Congress, but they're not all equals. There's a small handful of men and women on the Hill who ultimately determine how the pie gets sliced up.
What is the not really in response to?
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