In this week's "Getting Around" column, Joe Grata points out:
In 1975, John T. Mauro, the executive director of the Port Authority wrote:
"By this stage of the 20th century, with a lengthy history of transit failures to look back on, it would seem that our community and political leaders would have come to understand this one universal fact: The long-term answer to financial problems of public transportation cannot and will not be found in cutbacks in service and in the work force, nor in fare increases.So why is the Port Authority working to eliminate 124 of 213 routes in the system? Make the routes smarter, yes. But don't eliminate them altogether!"These stopgap measures have been tried repeatedly in the past, and they have proved to be regressive and self-defeating. Such steps, if tried again, will certainly lead to the complete downfall of this and other public transport systems."
