commentaries

Mass transit is expensive too but riders pay just a fraction of the cost. You wouldn't be such a mass transit fanatic if the fare was $10 per ride, would you?

With all the extra time I have by driving instead of taking mass transit I can do all the things you like to do (read, socialize) at home or in my neighborhood. Just out of curiosity, I looked into taking the bus to work on a day that I had to be there at 7:00 AM. I would have to leave my house at about 5:00 instead of 6:45 like I do now. I didn't even bother to look at how long it would take to get home.

What a great article, articulating some of the lesser publicized aspects of mass transit. This metro is so far behind the times it makes me sick. I'd kill to be able to take a bus to work. Great article - I'll sign up for the newsletter. And, @ffederico, do you think you really pay the true cost of driving everywhere? I think not.

Drivers wouldn't be fanatics if they had to pay the real, unsubsidized cost of driving. Not just the taxes to build and maintain roads, but also the pollution costs and political costs of being oil dependent. We needn't talk about the deaths and psychological issues caused by our driving addiction.

I have no problem with you riding mass transit. Just don't ask me to pay for it. If you want it, you should pay fares to cover all the costs of operation, construction, and financing. Don't be taking the gas tax dollars paid for roads and bridges. You are the only one benefiting from the mass transit so it's only right that you pay. I'll continue to pay for the roads via the gas tax and we can all be happy.

"driving addiction" Really robo? Such a sad commentary on the state of mind of the True Believer. we get community organizers leading us and choo choo trains we cannot afford with weak-minded citizen voters like these.

Great commentary. I grew up here too, LOVED driving through my early 20s, and then spent some time living in Chicago and D.C. and realized what I had been missing. Now, back "home," most days I walk 1.25 miles from the Snelling and 94 bus stop to home. Yes, even in winter. So healthy and fun; I've been doing it for years and love it. Anyway, what mystifies me are reactions typified by the first post to your article -- the reactions criticizing mass-transit users for not paying full fare. It amazes me that Minnesotans think roads are free. I mean, how much did the Crosstown reworking cost, or the "unweave the weave" project at 694 and 35E? I helped pay for those multimillion-dollar projects, and I bet I drive through each of those mazes of concrete maybe six times a year. I think the drivers who drive through them twice a day if not more often can help subsidize my bus fare.

i have no problem with you driving on roads i pay for, just loosen your clenches on a car-only transportation method, livefreeord.

Perhaps, jppaper, the answer is better/more mass transit. My mass transit gets me to work quicker than I can drive .. and I can read en route, arriving unstressed. And to those that think that gas taxes cover the costs of roads ... that myth has been debunked many times over. Fact.

Light rail is FOR the suburban commuter. It messes up the timing of the stop lights along the route, it makes for a longer walk to the stop for those live along the route. It does move people from parking lot to work very well tho. I enjoyed the ride from Ft. Snelling parking lot to Mpls. I kicked in my fare and everybody else kicked in $750 Million.