State bailouts of urban transit systems can lock agencies into legacy service patterns even when long‑term ridership has structurally fallen. Without conditionality (service redesign, performance targets, fiscal transparency), new subsidies risk raising regressive taxes, propping up excess capacity, and rewarding wage and contracting regimes rather than prompting modernization.
— This reframes transit funding debates from 'rescue now' to a structural question about reforming public‑service incentives, taxation, and urban mobility strategy across post‑pandemic cities.
Judge Glock
2025.12.02
100% relevant
Illinois’s $1.5 billion bailout of the Chicago Transit Authority, funded by a 0.25 cent sales‑tax hike, toll increases, and used for expanded service and union pay despite ridership falling from 456M (2019) to 309M (last year).
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