Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Public transportation, in the U.S. is wealth distribution. In other words, it's subsidized by taxes, whether you rely on public transportation or not. I wonder the true cost if public transportation were privatized.
Well, let's see now. The former mayor of Chicago sold the city's parking meters to a Suadi company fronted by an investment banker. He did so to balance the city's budget for one year. When this hit the fan, it was estimated the former mayor undervalued the deal by $1-5Billion, depending on who was doing the math. The new owners increased meter rates.
Meter rates were typically 25 cents an hour before the sale. Such rates, just years later, are now $1.75 an hour in most areas. The rates climb to $3.50-5.75 an hour in the most populated commercial areas. Used to be that it was unnecessary to feed the meter on Sundays and holidays. That changed too.
One of the juicier parts of the deal is that the city can no longer close a street for a festival unless they reimburse the new owners for lost meter revenue.
Same deal happened in city -owned parking garages.
There is nothing unique about this to Chicago. The U.S. is for sale.Toll roads are being sold right under our noses all over the U.S. And many cities have also followed Chicago's lead and sold their meters to private investors. And nothing about any of this creates jobs for people or has anything to do with Democrats or Republicans.
Eh, I'm with the mayor on this one. FWIW, Chicago transit daily fares last time I was there was less than Atlanta's MARTA daily fares and CTA is MUCH better than Marta. And really $100 for a monthly unlimited commute is a good deal IMO. I really don't see why they are complaining. And I agree with the mayor that if they don't want to pay they can drive. I doubt they will since gas prices in Chicago are pretty astronomical.
Public transportation, in the U.S. is wealth distribution. In other words, it's subsidized by taxes, whether you rely on public transportation or not. I wonder the true cost if public transportation were privatized.
Well, let's see now. The former mayor of Chicago sold the city's parking meters to a Suadi company fronted by an investment banker. He did so to balance the city's budget for one year. When this hit the fan, it was estimated the former mayor undervalued the deal by $1-5Billion, depending on who was doing the math. The new owners increased meter rates.
Meter rates were typically 25 cents an hour before the sale. Such rates, just years later, are now $1.75 an hour in most areas. The rates climb to $3.50-5.75 an hour in the most populated commercial areas. Used to be that it was unnecessary to feed the meter on Sundays and holidays. That changed too.
One of the juicier parts of the deal is that the city can no longer close a street for a festival unless they reimburse the new owners for lost meter revenue.
Same deal happened in city -owned parking garages.
There is nothing unique about this to Chicago. The U.S. is for sale.Toll roads are being sold right under our noses all over the U.S. And many cities have also followed Chicago's lead and sold their meters to private investors. And nothing about any of this creates jobs for people or has anything to do with Democrats or Republicans.
The most famed public transportation system in the country, NYC subways came about through private enterprise.
Subsidized? What is subsidized is the freebie real estate give away. Take away public transportation and watch the real estate values in the city tank.
It they ever collected in property taxes the increase in value for infrastructure like this there would be fewer "subsidies".
The closer a home is to the station, the more its value increases, according to the Your Castle analysis. Homes less than a half-mile from a station increased an average of 17.6 percent, while those 1 1/2 to 2 miles away increased just 0.1 percent on average. The data varied widely among stations, however.
Must be nice to be handed 35k on a 200k house.
Lots of infrastructure would be more affordable, but because of broken tax policy the full value cannot be realized.
Nobody is "handed" anything. No gains are realized until the property changes hands. At that time, the new occupant will pay taxes based on the recent transaction price. So the gubmint eventually gets their property tax increase.....if there really is an increase in value, anyway. If you want to make it politically impossible to create new public transportation, make it policy to collect 17% more property tax on those who live nearby a station as soon as construction is complete.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
