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In this Seattle Times article, Mike Lindblom touches on some of the things King County Metro is doing to fund its 2010 budget and prevent service cuts.
Yet, according to the American Public Transportation Association (APTA), Metro bus ridership is down 3.52%.
In other industries, the bottom line forces managers to keep supply commiserate with demand. But in the public sector, there ultimately is no bottom line, so performance and accountability succumb to political agendas. Lindblom even highlights this concept in his article:
This summer, County Executive Kurt Triplett proposed anacross-the-board service cut to all 225 routes. That proved unpopularwith several County Council members, who would have faced heat fromriders in their districts.
In transportation policy, performance should drive spending decisions.
Incidentally, vanpool ridership continues to grow (8.12%), despite the recession.
