tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3979080978017564010.post5782985360115824231..comments2024-03-27T02:14:39.904-07:00Comments on Inland Empire Transit Talking Points: Better RapidLink Transit in Riverside and Economic JusticeA Better Inland Empirehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15626446356006938988noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3979080978017564010.post-52287194324924237012014-01-27T14:25:45.415-08:002014-01-27T14:25:45.415-08:00It's a pleasure again to debate with you. You&...It's a pleasure again to debate with you. You've got some strong points again and here's the response to those. It's true direct transfers in LA are proposed to be free, but Metro's official announcement of the fare restructuring shows that the changes are due to budget deficits and the fares and prices for just about everything else especially passes are going up. The single ride fares hikes are not too bad, but pass prices will see the biggest hits. The regular monthly pass is proposed by 2021 to be consolidated with the EZ Pass and priced at $135 or $180, almost doubled from $75. To compare, the price of an RTA pass is $50 and Omnitrans at $47. OCTA is $69. The San Diego MTS and NCTD regional pass is $72. We have not taken a hard "no" on this, but needed to expose the reality of it weakening the spending power of LA's people compared with how their local officials spend tax money. Obviously if the only two options left at the local level are fare increases or cuts, the former is the less damaging, but still takes more money from the riding public. The point is income with inflation factored in has not kept up with growing expenses because the private job market remains soft with more workers than positions. Improving the job market will take care of this and this was acknowledged when we met with RCTC staff years back.<br /><br />As mentioned in the post, corporate greed, pollution, sprawl, lax safety rules and anything else bad for region has to be confronted and stopped through the government. No question. But the private sector, especially small business investors with great ideas need the incentive to invest back and grow the local market economy and job market which provides those who will to work an opportunity. We're not advocating for deregulation, but for streamlining the process to be more business-friendly so that trivial situations don't obstruct good, legit and productive job growth which provides greater opportunity. Prime examples that we ran into during past field studies are a local restaurant owner who was forced to lay off a professional pianist who simply played soft background music in the dining room. The other was a karate school owner who wanted to install a shower facility for its instructors. Both required very expensive conditional land use permits according to the owners. Those are the trivial obstructions that have to be debated and revisited. But the vital regulations that you pointed out are certainly necessary.A Better Inland Empirehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15626446356006938988noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3979080978017564010.post-64700947949686720762014-01-27T10:10:39.300-08:002014-01-27T10:10:39.300-08:00A, LA Metro's "wholesale fare hikes"...A, LA Metro's "wholesale fare hikes" are actually probably a good thing for their network. LA Metro's network is designed on a grid, where transferring between two buses is required for most trips. A $2.25 fare (the eventual fare in 2020 under their proposal) with free transfers included would actually be a $0.75 fare *decrease* for anyone riding two or more vehicles to complete their trip, as most riders have to do. This is a huge win for network design and transit freedom, even if the bottom-line price appears to be a bit higher.<br /><br />B, very few people who are concerned about social and economic justice would say that the key to getting those things is the destruction of regulation and the clearing of the ways for private capital. Regulation is there to protect vulnerable communities from the ravages of corporate greed. You may trust in the beneficence of business to bring social justice, but I don't, and nor do most activists involved in social justice work.Allie Cathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08388778275254352958noreply@blogger.com