“So great moreover is the regard of the law for private property, that it will not authorize the least violation of it; no, not even for the general good of the whole community. “ William Blackstone
  • Home
  • Elected Officials and Staff Resource Pages
    • Agenda 21: Myth or Fact?
    • Why the APA is Not Your Friend >
      • APA Conference 2012: Los Angeles
    • Recommended Reading >
      • Congress Vs EPA
    • Relevant Articles >
      • Environmental Justice
      • High Speed Rail Derailed
      • SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT SCAM
      • California Declares War on Suburbia
      • Sustainablility Weakening Globally
      • The Lie about Mass Transit
      • Sustainable Covenant of Mayors
      • Dick Morris & Mark Levin on Agenda 21
      • Florida Outlaws Smart Growth
      • New York Times Quotes
  • Contact Us
  • Citizen Resource Pages
    • What is Sustainable?
    • Warning Signs
    • Glossary of Terms
    • Strategy Plan >
      • R.O.A.R. Title Sheet
      • R.O.A.R. Introduction
      • R.O.A.R. Road Map
      • R.O.A.R. Action Plan
    • Forums >
      • Your Local Forum
      • FORUM IN THE DESERT
  • Elected Officials Making The Difference
    • Winning the Fight: The Comprehensive List
    • County Supervisors/Commissioners Making the Difference >
      • Ventura County CA Supervisor, Peter Foy
      • Who is Rob Astorino and Why We Love Him
    • City Council Members Making the Difference >
      • Wallace Edgerton
    • Planning Commissioners Making the Difference >
      • Riverside County Planning Commissioner John Petty
    • Planners/Civil Engineers Making the Difference >
      • Municipal Engineer, Robert Righetti
      • City Planner, Jim Morrissey
  • States, Counties, Municipalities Making the Difference
    • Winning the Fight: The Comprehensive List
    • Federal Bills Against Agenda 21/ICLEI
    • Nationwide Resolutions Against Agenda 21/ICLEI
    • State Bills Against Agenda 21/ICLEI
    • States Rights Bills
    • Pennsylvania
    • Hemet, CA
    • La Quinta, California
  • Current Projects
    • Pennsylvania
    • Hemet, CA >
      • Hemet and the UN?
      • APA DEFAMES CITIZENS, Hemet
    • La Quinta, California
    • Winchester, CA
  • Media on Regionalism
    • Heritage Foundation on Agenda 21
    • Fox News on Agenda 21
  • Property Rights Council

THE LIE ABOUT MASS TRANSIT THAT THE MEDIA PERPETRATES DAILY
From the Anti-Planner


Nearly two years ago, the Federal Transit Administration released a report saying the transit industry has a $77 billion maintenance backlog. So why is the Associated Press making a big deal of this report now?

“Americans are turning to trains and buses to get around in greater numbers than ever before,” says the AP. “The aging trains and buses they’re riding, however, face an $80 billion maintenance backlog that jeopardizes service just when it’s most in demand.”

The article’s writer never critically examines the claim that Americans are riding transit “in greater numbers than ever before,” and it is flat-out wrong. The American Public Transportation Association’s latest ridership report says that Americans took 10.4 million transit trips in 2011.



That’s not even a record for the last five years, as 10.5 million trips were taken in 2008. And it’s a far cry from the 23 million trips per year taken in 1944, 1945, and 1946.

What’s going on is that transit interests, with the help of gullible news reporters, is keeping the political pressure on members of Congress who are debating the future of federal transportation funding.

“We’ve totally mismanaged the transit industry,” they are saying, “by neglecting our infrastructure and instead spending tax dollars on expensive new rail lines, transit centers, and other infrastructure that we won’t be able to maintain either. Now, we demand that you reward us for our incompetence by giving us $80 billion to fix the maintenance backlog. If you don’t, we just may have to shut down, stranding the many (though we really don’t want to say how many) commuters who depend on transit to get to work.”

Of course, they have every reason to believe this strategy will work. Only government rewards people for screwing up and punishes them for success.