Economic pain train's a coming (Boston, Cambridge: to rent, unemployed, neighborhood)

[bugelrex]

Originally Posted by bohemka

Why on earth would you hope for the collapse of a key piece of our infrastructure? It needs many improvements, yes, but Boston would be a disaster without the T and commuter rail lines.

We are more likely to see an autonomous shuttle bus(with dedicated car pool lane) than the MBTA fixing their service.

.. it probably doesnt have to be autonomous as long as the fare is comparable

[charolastra00]

Originally Posted by Bridge781

Well I hope everyone abandons the T. They deserve to go out of business

Easy for a wealthy person in the suburbs to say.

[Bridge781]

Originally Posted by charolastra00

Easy for a wealthy person in the suburbs to say.

Poor people have cars too.

I wasn’t being entirely serious I just hate the mbta and I will avoid it all costs now.

[AtkinsonDan]

Originally Posted by Bridge781

I guess when i think about it handshaking is kind of silly. Why do you have to touch someone you just met?

Now that is the kind of critical thinking that is sadly rare in our society. The drawback to traditions is that they are usually based on needs that no longer exist but we continue to do them anyway.

[lrfox]

Originally Posted by Bridge781

Poor people have cars too.

I wasn’t being entirely serious I just hate the mbta and I will avoid it all costs now.

Imagine what traffic will be like if all (or even a fraction) of the T's 1.3 million daily riders had the same mentality as you. The T doesn't just benefit the people on the trains/buses.

Re: Handshakes, I've never hated them, but I certainly wouldn't miss them.

[Bridge781]

Originally Posted by lrfox

Imagine what traffic will be like if all (or even a fraction) of the T's 1.3 million daily riders had the same mentality as you. The T doesn't just benefit the people on the trains/buses.

Re: Handshakes, I've never hated them, but I certainly wouldn't miss them.

I suppose but imagine what the spread of covid will be like if everyone packs on the train.

[OutdoorLover]

Originally Posted by Bridge781

I guess when i think about it handshaking is kind of silly. Why do you have to touch someone you just met? Or it seems like it’s something men do when they greet even people they know. Women tend to be huggers. I guess some people find it too cold to just say hello.

I shake hands with both men and women on meeting, as part of my introduction. With men who are friends or family, I shake hands (or in a few cases hug) the men both on greeting and on parting... with some women in these groups, I kiss them on the cheek, others I don't feel so close with, I'll just shake their hand - the less intimate touch being more appropriate. And I am northern European by background, the "reserved" end of the continent! (and a physical science PhD to boot!) ;-)

[GeoffD]

Originally Posted by Bridge781

Poor people have cars too.

That’s a very suburban view. 1/3 of Boston/Cambridge households don’t have a car. NYC is the clear leader. DC is #2 pretty far back with Boston #3.

[GeoffD]

Originally Posted by sawyer2

The auto industry was already skating on thin ice right before any of this happened - huge amount of subprime loans, serious delinquencies and outstanding balances at all time highs.

Will be interesting to see how this shakes out.

The auto industry doesn’t generally lend money for car purchases. The subprime auto lending business is commercial banks. Santander. Credit Acceptance Corp. Obama made GM spin off GMAC Bank as Ally Bank. Toyota is the only big lender.

[mdovell]

Originally Posted by massnative71

Privatization???

Making the t private depends on what parts and how. Without getting that technical the cleaning company they hired ALREADY had an extreamly spotty record. I can tell more in detail in a PM. All they had to do was ask for the last entities they worked for. They should not be viewed as an example of privatization.

The trouble with public transit is frankly prevailing wages and unions drive up costs. Add in a lack of ability to raise fairs, limitation of advertising until 10 years ago and being tied to sales taxes (amazon killed off years ago). A small increase in the gas tax would make sense tied to inflation. Actually the last guy that ran against Baker had a great idea but you can't run for governor based on one idea. I argued earlier but basically if you put a one time 3% endowment fee on the top 20 institutions of the Boston metro area half of the debt of the MBTA would be gone overnight.