12-21-2023, 03:37 PM
(12-20-2023, 09:47 PM)KevinL Wrote:(12-20-2023, 08:58 PM)nms Wrote: Thinking back 100+ years (eg pre-CN and TTC), were any transit or transportation systems started as public projects? The railways were all private companies, and city transportation was largely contracted out to private operators who took the risks to build their systems. Yes, things then largely contracted from 1920 to 1945 with the companies and assets becoming public property. Unless there is some spectacular moonshot I think we're stuck with incremental improvements for most of our lifetimes. It won't win any races, but any step forward is a good step to take.
Back before the rise of the private car, most people relied on these mass transit systems and as such they could operate at a profit. It's only once cars became affordable to the masses, and governments chose to subsidize the roads they would run on, that the bottom fell out of that market.
Right, the debate would look very different if we had road pricing (regardless of whether they were still owned by governments, or by private entities), never mind full internalization of pollution and carbon emission costs via the tax system. We now take massive government involvement in transportation, including motor vehicle transportation, as a given; it’s to the point where tolls are lambasted as being an extra tax, even by many of the same people who look down on those who make use of free government services such as libraries.
The real natural state of transportation can be experienced by driving to a random point along the highway in Northern Ontario, then turning 90 degrees and starting to walk in a straight line.