I happened across an article today in the Philadelphia news that says that a transit line run by the Delaware River Port Authority between suburban New Jersey and central Philadelphia is getting a $45 million grant from the federal government. The grant comes under the so called Cares Act and it is meant to help the Port Authority make up for the lost revenue as ridership on the transit line has fallen by 85% during this stay at home orders due to the virus.
That sounds like a great thing, doesn't it? The feds are saving this transit system from collapse. But here's the problem: in 2019, the total passenger revenue for this transit system was just under $25 million. The fall off in passengers hasn't even been in place for a month yet, so the lost revenue from the passengers must be no more than 3 million dollars. Further, the Port Authority has cut the frequency of trains due to low ridership and is saving money as a result. So why is the federal government giving the Port Authority two years worth of revenue for this one month interruption. Lets assume that the decline in ridership lasts for six months, even though the time of the decline will likely be less. Again, why is the federal government giving the Port Authority two years worth of passenger revenues to make up for this?
Even worse, how many times is this sort of shoveling of cash being repeated across the country? How much of the "help" going to local government units is actually just a hidden grant or payoff from the sugar daddy federal government?
That sounds like a great thing, doesn't it? The feds are saving this transit system from collapse. But here's the problem: in 2019, the total passenger revenue for this transit system was just under $25 million. The fall off in passengers hasn't even been in place for a month yet, so the lost revenue from the passengers must be no more than 3 million dollars. Further, the Port Authority has cut the frequency of trains due to low ridership and is saving money as a result. So why is the federal government giving the Port Authority two years worth of revenue for this one month interruption. Lets assume that the decline in ridership lasts for six months, even though the time of the decline will likely be less. Again, why is the federal government giving the Port Authority two years worth of passenger revenues to make up for this?
Even worse, how many times is this sort of shoveling of cash being repeated across the country? How much of the "help" going to local government units is actually just a hidden grant or payoff from the sugar daddy federal government?
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