I’m a big advocate of public transit, so I was quite dismayed when I heard on MPR this morning that Metro Transit is looking at an 80 to 90 million dollar deficit over the next several years. Metro Transit’s funding is ironically tied to new vehicle sales, so the more cars people buy, the more money…the…bus…system…gets? Right. Makes…sense? Anyway, since people can’t get financing to buy cars, since gas prices were high, since everyone is feeling a pinch, people aren’t buying cars, and they’re riding the bus instead. So ridership is up! Great! But now funding is down! The options currently seem to be either get new funding from the legislature (unlikely), cut service and raise fares yet again (even odds). Any bets on how long this will delay the University light rail corridor?
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