The wheels on the bus, continued

The Trib rightly takes the Port Authority of Allegheny County to task for crying poor to state lawmakers while wasting money on unnecessary expansion projects. The conservative Trib has driven this point home previously but it's hard to say this too many times:

How does inflating ridership projections on proposed new projects to secure taxpayer dollars -- only to have ridership never approach those numbers -- "serve the public"?

And then how does building these projects (which will beget even more empty buses and trolleys), when the existing system already isn't running with much operational or economic efficiency, "serve the public"?

If we want mass transit to do nothing in particular and do it very well, then, by all means, the state Legislature should give the Port Authority and SEPTA all the money they want. But we can do better. Let's get started.

In the interest of airing all sides, you can find a nuanced and substantive defense of the Port Authority here.