The Stigma of Mass Transit

We in Western New York are an odd bunch.  When we think of metro buses, the first thing that generally comes to mind is "poor people with no cars".  I think that's a major reason why very little attention is paid to the NFTA, unless it involves the airport or the canal side.

I've been commuting 20 miles round trip per day for the last 3 or 4 months.  When I first started taking the bus, I assumed I was going to be surrounded by the dregs of society.  I was going to be the only white-collar guy on the bus, clutching my laptop, making sure nobody ran off with it.  Welfare moms picking up their checks, and drug dealers using the bus as a mobile spot to deal their wares.  Basically, I expected to see pretty much of type of leech on the system; concentrated into one place.

What I encountered was far different.  What I encountered were normal people, who might not make as much money as I, going to and from work.  The worst I've seen is people kicking back some vodka or whiskey, while on the way home from work.  I saw at least one person who makes the same, if not more than I.

I saw those people who make a fraction of what I make, leaving their houses at 6AM, and seeing them on their way back home at around 5PM (That's an 11 hour day, FYI).  They are not lazy, scum-sucking leeches of the system.  They are hard working people, trying to make a dime, or just taking the bus to save some money (Like me), or just trying to do something a little more environmentally conscious than driving their 2 MPG SUV 20 miles round trip to work every day.

Now, this got me to thinking:  Since the NFTA is rather convenient for many, and for many the only way they'd be able to get to work; when it's reducing the amount of traffic on our roads; when it's further reducing emissions by switching to hybrid vehicles;  Why is the NFTA largely ignored?

This past restructuring was the only major change done to our mass transit system in many years.  But, even still, it wasn't really a big change.  Some "duh" items, like getting rid of the 4 zones, transfers, et al.  Basically, all the vestiges of the WNY mass transit system's patchwork past.

But, 10 years after starting the bike rack program, STILL not every bus has a rack.  There is STILL no easy way to get from Depew to Williamsville via bus (You have to go downtown, then back out to Depew)...  There are no circumscribing routes.

This is a ridiculous state of affairs.  When we know that the vast majority of passengers using mass transit are workers, why can we not build a system that is conducive to efficient movements of labor?  This is one of the biggest things killing our area.  We have a huge labor pool, but the costs of getting to your work (in some cases) larger than what you can gain.  This restricts free labor movement.

If we want to improve our employment figures, we need to make it as easy as possible for labor to go to their jobs, wherever they may be.  And, to do this (Since we can't force car and gas prices lower) we need to improve our mass transit system.  It doesn't need to be on par with NYC or Chicago, but it surely needs to be much better than what it is today.

I don't think I'm at the position as of yet to think that this is a concerted effort to keep the middle and lower classes constrained as slave labor, but I'm getting there.  With the concerted fight across our nation against light-rail rapid transit (Which would accomplish the same goal:  Moving labor efficiently from point A to point B), and the concerted effort to maintain public subsidies on private jets; it's getting me closer and closer.  Is this part of the plan to turn us all into wage slaves?  By making it so difficult to get to other geographic areas, that we are forced to accept whatever wage our masters offer?

Tell me what you think?  Is this a concerted effort, or simple shortsightedness?