By: Diane Benjamin
Some people think Medicare for All would be fabulous. Dig slightly deeper folks, it would be a disaster!
Compare Medicare for All to Connect Transit. Some people think access to public transportation is a “right”, these same people think healthcare is a “right”. Neither are “rights” because both require other people to pay for what you want. Under our system of government you don’t have a “right” to other people’s stuff. Every form of government that thinks you are collapses because people will not work hard so government can steal their stuff and hand it to somebody who didn’t work for it. (socialism, communism)
This is worse:
Connect Transit found it can’t serve everybody, so staff decided who can be served and who can’t. Then an un-elected Board rubber-stamps the staffs decisions. More emails received by FOIA:
Medicare for all will be no different. Unseen bureaucrats will decide who is worthy of care and who has to just “tale a pill” until they die. Connect Transit is discriminating, so will Medicare for All.
Government programs are not capable of serving everybody.
Quit electing people who claim they can!
The good news is Connect Transit had a smaller un-audited loss than they expected.
PDF page 4: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1uBLGpBrNEI7w9vIrXclK_MPtSQFDpDS-/view
The budgeted loss was $11,616,000. Connect only lost $10,770,071.
The new fiscal year started July 1. The budgeted loss for the new year is $12,080,000
PDF page 10 shows they are well on their way – July has a loss of $879,819.
Revenue was dismal:
PDF page 18 shows 1 more person per hour rode the bus than last July. Connect calls that a 5.7% increase. Even with a 100% increase the buses would still be mostly empty.
Connect Mobility had a 3.8% decrease in ridership, less than 1 person.
See how numbers can be made to say whatever message is desired?
See PDF page 32. Connect has a marketing plan to increase ridership. It doesn’t include serving people who can’t access a bus now.
PDF page 101 has this gem:
It is immaterial that transportation is changing and it may not be needed in 5-10 year, they have the money. Yours.
The insanity continues unabated inspite of common sense, reality and the need for fiscal responsibility.
Ever since I first saw your posts about the city buses I have been watching them closely. I drive all over McLean County for a living. The city buses are always empty. Again you are absolutely correct about our insane Governments waste of the tax payers money. Most people have no clue what will happen when the money finally runs out.
I’m sure the consultants studying the Downtown Transfer Station will come back with glowing projections on ridership numbers, economic impact, and the always popular enhancement of the quality of life. Oh, I forgot, the Millenials too…let’s throw that in the report so we look cool and hip. This project will likely go through no matter what since the money is already “secured” from state and federal sources, which Tari will suggest is free money and won’t cost us a thing. (Stop me if you’ve heard that one before.) Brady and Davis will smile for the photo-op with their shovels and hardhats, so don’t worry about anything get in the way of this project. Imagine if they spent $10-$14 million on making Bloomington a better place to live instead of a 1960s transportation business model that consumers have overwhelmingly rejected as a method of transportation even when the rider is subsidized to at or near zero out of pocket cost. If Bloomington wants a new direction, the future mayor will use this boondoggle project as his/her campaign launching pad.
Correct me if I am wrong, but I think the reason that Connect Transit is no longer in the parking lot at OSF is for safety reasons. The busses used to drive/stop right in front of entrance A. If they had no reason to stop, the busses would drive directly in front of that entrance at a speed that would qualify for the Indy500!
In addition, same high speed issue, I was almost hit by a CT bus in the Ace hardware parking lot. What, you say? Ace hardware has women’s night in November. When there was construction on College to improve the train tracks, a driver could not continue to travel east on College, by the south entrance to Ace parking lot. I left Women’s night at Ace hardware that night. A bus drove at a high rate of speed thru the parking lot. He did not see me and I did not see the bus. Who on earth would expect to see a CT in a Ace parking lot?
No use of signals. Unexpected wide turns. Saw someone today get off a bus and have to wait for another to pick them up. That would not be fun. There is a better way.
Sustainability that ONLY Koos and Tari could love!