I n Mn. about half of State gas tax collected goes to public transportation in the cities and while they charge for bus rides they still lose money.
We have a local bus service here. Heavily subsidized. For years you would notice the buses with 1-2 people on them maybe as many as 5-6 people when it was real busy. Yep , saving the planet and keeping those gas guzzlers at home....lol
The fare is about $1.75 or $2.25 for a ride in the area. Cost to provide a ride was about $10. Everybody knew these buses are very under utilised as you could how empty they are as they went by. Then they tinted the windows so you can't tell anymore. The hope is more people over time will use the buses and it will make financial sense. Doubtful that will ever happen with Über and Lyft now available. The buses are a solution for a problem that does not exist , but it gobbles up lots of tax dollars.
Some funny quirks too. The buses are equipped with a bicycle rack on the front. Extra fee @ $3.75 per bicycle. Almost never see a bicycle on the rack , too costly for the bicyclist. You are also not allowed to bring a lot of packages on with you like 4-5 shopping bags. Weekly shopping is something you can not use the bus for as it is not allowed.
A friend of mine is a driver for this bus company. They do not want intoxicated passengers on the bus. It is against the rules. His guidelines are to contact dispatch when one boards and the police will handle the problem. But here is the funny part , his bosses tell him to wait until the intoxicated person PAYS THE FARE FIRST then to contact dispatch to have the police remove the drunk.....lol
