In many parts of Virginia, the greatest enemy to mass transit is… the local mass transit monopoly. In Lynchburg, the Lynchburg Transit Co., a local monopoly, seems to be turning the corner after a series of articles detailing the company’s failings, reports the News & Advance. According to the newspaper, here’s how bad things got:
For years, riders had complained of buses that didn’t show up at stops on time, buses that broke down, buses that had no air-conditioning. The system was hemorrhaging money. Buses were being poorly serviced, if at all. Liberty University had been begging officials to talk about service to the campus and its growing student body. But no one seemed to care.
No wonder mass transit ridership is down!
In Lynchburg, the situation does seem to be improving, however. Liberty University is getting bus service — and contributing $75,000 a month to the bus system. The company has purchased new buses, including smaller, mini-buses to serve low-traffic routes. Perhaps most significantly, the company has started holding public forums where riders and other members of the public could have input.
I’m not saying that all bus services have deteriorated to the point that Lynchburg Transit apparently did — indeed, it’s my impression that Virginia has some of the better-run transit systems in the country. But this story serves as a reminder that making mass transit a viable alternative to the one-man-one-car syndrome in Virginia requires more than dumping money into failed transit systems. It requires revitalizing transit companies: making them more flexible and responsive to the needs of riders. More money might be part of the solution, in that many companies could benefit from being recapitalized. But money for Business As Usual is a waste and a delusion.
At the risk of sounding like a broken record… If Virginia wants mass transit to be a meaningful contributor to the transportation solution, we need new transit business models. In many cities, the tired, old public monopolies have failed. Continued subsidies — at the state and local level — of failed businesses is fiscally irresponsible. Elected officials prattle about investing in public transit as an alterative to building more roads, but I hear nothing about reforming transit to make sure the money is well spent.