»Less is less

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that, for want of a shoe,the horse will be killed.

... the nation's 14th-largest transit system is proposing to become one of the nation's most expensive transit systems with a $2.50 base fare. ... the authority proposes to eliminate service on weekends and holidays, and drop weekday service after 9 p.m. unless Gov. Ed Rendell and the state legislature provide tax money to fill a $30 million budget deficit. The fare increases are to go into effect about Feb. 1. Service cuts, which include eliminating 70 of 230 weekday bus-trolley routes, would begin in early March. These changes, combined with cuts in Access program transit service for aged and ill riders, could mean $54 million in revenue and savings, thereby keeping the authority solvent for a while longer.

The Pittsburgh area, which has a remarkable system of dedicated busways, has faced trouble over its transit spending the past several years; investment in infrastructure and reliable service is the way to increase reliance on public transit. However, when transit cuts fall too easily to the budgetary axe, people learn not to use public transit.

Similary, San Francisco faces similar cutbacks in MUNI (and other) service, as well as higher transit rates.