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...operating costs. Increased ridership actually exacerbated the problem: rush-hour crowds require heavier overhead, but do not generate enough revenue to cover all off-hour operations. A pattern emerged in which budget deficits were picked up by the Federal Government or, more often, the states. The politics of mass transit sharpened old rivalries: downstate vs. upstate, rural vs. urban...
Like many U.S. voters, Ronald Reagan does not see urban mass transit as a high national priority. Says the President: "There is no reason for someone in Sioux Falls to pay federal taxes so that someone in Los Angeles can get to work on time by public transportation." Federal grants for major construction projects in 1981 will total $3.3 billion; operating subsidies, $1 billion. The Reagan Administration would like to limit, if not eliminate, this aid. High on the Reagan hit list is funding for any new mass transit projects (usually 80% federal, 20% state), throwing a wrench into planning...
Such fears could prove self-fulfilling. Transportation Secretary Drew Lewis has indicated that he also favors slowly eliminating operating subsidies in order to force systems to become cost-effective. Says he: "We do not plan simply to walk away from the transit systems, because we realize that to do so would be to shut down most of them...
Although the average city gets only 13% of its operating budget from Washington, cutbacks are bound to mean rising transit fares, reduced services and greater demand for local and state subsidies. Such cutbacks will hurt small cities more than large ones. New York derives less than 10% of its operating expenses from federal subsidies, but Corpus Christi gets 69%, Grand Rapids 44% and Peoria 35%. Lewis contends that rehabilitating existing systems will be a top priority. Says he: "We're trying to emphasize large cities, older cities over new systems...
...subways are a filthy, Dantesque netherworld, plagued not merely by delays (one train in every ten is late) but by violent crime (18 murders, 12,000 muggings, robberies and other felonies in the past year). The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) carries one of every six people using public transit in the entire nation. The city cannot function without it. During a ten-day strike last spring, New York firms lost about $100 million in sales each workday...