Public transportation has been the talk of the town for the past few months, as new improvement proposals are being ushered into the view of the public. Citizens are eager to see these improvements put into action, and for good reason.
Public transport improvements feel like the type of thing that benefits everyone and harms no one. Perhaps in a perfect world, we’d all be taking the eco-friendly solar-powered electric bus to work and back.
MTS recently polled citizens to test the waters in terms of how much the public wants to invest in public transport. The answer? Not much at all.
True, citizens were excited to see trolley line expansions, but they were hesitant to pour billions into the project. Such a hefty price tag was incredulous—wasteful, even—and by no means appealing to San Diegans. Approving the half-cent sales tax increase would result in a budget of around $600 million yearly for MTS, but the trolley extensions that people want would eat up about 40 percent of that revenue for an undetermined period of time.
Nobody is against the idea of public transportation, but citizens are clearly against the level of spending that MTS is demanding for improvements to their service. Public transit is clearly more expensive than it seems, and San Diegans don’t like the price tag.
Featured Photo by Josh Esh
