I just don't buy this. The city could easily afford to just foot the bill with the economic traffic it drives. It's just a non-problem they trot out to work people up.
If I apply your logic to all taxes, maybe if none of us paid them, we could expect to see a compensatory rise in economic activity? Doesn't hold water. This is a relatively new problem, and it's costing the city big money.
The person you're responding to is trying to establish a distinction between fares and taxes. They're saying that the public infrastructure drives economic growth, and posits that the growth in tax base from these projects should be enough to cover fares.
Whereas you see all government revenue as going into a single fungible bucket, and some people with your view may believe that recovering $700M of additional fare revenue is both practicable and necessary.
It's really more of a question of "who pays", in my opinion. I personally think any revenue system with low overhead is a good one.
Comments
I just don't buy this. The city could easily afford to just foot the bill with the economic traffic it drives. It's just a non-problem they trot out to work people up.
This isn't pennies. Almost $700 million[0].
[0] https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/05/nyregion/mta-fare-evasion...
If I apply your logic to all taxes, maybe if none of us paid them, we could expect to see a compensatory rise in economic activity? Doesn't hold water. This is a relatively new problem, and it's costing the city big money.
The person you're responding to is trying to establish a distinction between fares and taxes. They're saying that the public infrastructure drives economic growth, and posits that the growth in tax base from these projects should be enough to cover fares.
Whereas you see all government revenue as going into a single fungible bucket, and some people with your view may believe that recovering $700M of additional fare revenue is both practicable and necessary.
It's really more of a question of "who pays", in my opinion. I personally think any revenue system with low overhead is a good one.
Ahh, I was imagining a Final Destination scenario