When progressives say share what they really mean is that someone else pays.
Progressive moral relativists (to be redundant for the moment) can justify the government taking your money to hand it out to just about anyone for just about anything. Take bike-share programs in Arlington, Virginia for example. Median household income in Arlington is $100,735, third highest in the nation. Arlington nabbed federal grant money to pay for the bikes and then installed the bike stations along the Metro corridor, locale of the bars, bistros and barristas serving the young affluents in their luxury condos or nearby million dollar homes. Annual bike-share operating deficits are funded ad infinitum by the county taxpayers, though Arlington County's bureaucrats will no doubt find ways in the future to get chunks paid for by the federal taxpayer. Remember, these are the same people who brought us million dollar bus stops, paid for by you the federal taxpayer.
New York City just started its bike-share program. And sure enough, it is serving the few, bikes for the affluent.
New York City just started its bike-share program. And sure enough, it is serving the few, bikes for the affluent.
The bike-share program includes a few racially and economically diverse neighborhoods—like the lower East Side and parts of Bedford-Stuyvesant in Brooklyn. But on average its neighborhoods are more affluent and have fewer minority residents than the rest of the city.
DC Bikeshare: Free Ride for Government Workers
They include the most expensive downtown neighborhoods like SoHo and TriBeCa and have a median household income of about $73,000 compared with $48,300 in the rest of the city, an analysis by The Wall Street Journal found. The population of bike-share neighborhoods is 56% white, while the rest of the city is 30.6% white. The analysis looked at Census tracks within an eighth of a mile of a docking station to determine the size and ethnicity of nearby populations. Income was estimated from broader Census data.
The Capital Bikeshare system in place in Arlington Virginia is wildly skewed to favor the daily user (many are commuters to high paying government or government contract jobs), who can purchase an annual pass for $75 dollars, which entitles the holder to an unlimited number of 30 minute trips. Not surprisingly, given that it costs pennies per day, the most common use of Capital Bikeshare is to travel to and from work. But the unwary visitor or tourist gets hosed by the progressives. Riding around the National Capital region for 8 hours on a single day pass costs $101. Through direct government subsidies and distorted pricing plans, the progressives subsidize the local affluents to the point that the well off pay almost nothing. Isn't that grand?
Portland bicycle crazed Congressman Earl Blumenauer
promoted bike share for Portland at the Portland Art
Museum earlier this year, mingling with high society donors,
corporate bigwigs and local bike industry luminaries,
his core constituents.
No comments:
Post a Comment