Posted by
Katy Grimes on Wednesday, October 28, 2009 12:33:56 PM
Sacramento residents keep hearing and reading about how ridership on Regional Transit’s Light Rail is up – regardless of the fact that city residents rarely see a train with many people on it. I refer to any passing light rail train as A Streetcar Named Deserted.
In 1974 Regional Transit took over Sacramento’s Blue Bus system. Ridership had been strong in the 1950’s and 1960’s, but then, in the 1970’s, politicians added mandatory social planning to transit, creating mandatory subsidies, eventually turning Regional Transit into a rolling welfare system for those who can’t and won’t pay for their transit. For everyone else, it’s full fare. Subsidies should never be 100% but the county Health and Human Services department (welfare) hands out free bus passes to their “clients,” just in case they use the bus to go looking for a job.