Thursday, March 8, 2007

SF's brilliant plan to deal with MUNI fare evaders - make everyone a freeloader!

MUNI - San Francisco's pile of crap transportation system - has been having a few problems lately. Actually for the last... well... forever, really. As ridership has gone up, MUNI has acted predictably by slashing service, creating sardine can-like crushes virtually all day long on the few buses still running. For those from out of town, MUNI is pretty much the stereotype of an over-bloated, inefficient, taxpayer-gouging union.

MUNI's main problem (besides itself) is fare evaders. Its fare recovery rate is around 20%, which is among the worst in the United States. Fare evasion is rampant everywhere, but is particularly bad among the young.

And what will San Francisco's do to get young adults to be stand-up citizens (for once) and pay their fair (if already discounted) share? Predictably, the answer is... do nothing. In fact, let's just give the little scamps a break, creating a new discount "young adult" fare for 18-21 year olds. Honestly, they should just drop the fucking pretense and just call it the "gang member" discount!

Mayor Newsom has realized that going after fare evaders - a majority of whom are the homeless, teenagers, thugs, and illegal aliens - will not be possible because a). it will involve actually DOING some WORK, and b). it will get the town Communists all riled up, screaming that anyone who pays their fare is a racist who is making poor, defenseless illegal alien gang criminals uncomfortable.

And meanwhile, everyday, the good people of this town trudge off to work on the rolling insane asylums, paying their fare, getting on the bus to be pushed out of the way by some fare-evading, gang-banging piece of shit, and getting the very clear message that THEY are the real problem - daring to stand in the way of the Socialist Utopia that would no doubt come to pass if only they weren't such "haters" and let those poor underprivileged, misunderstood young adults (who are, after all, our future... Jesus Christ in Heaven help us) live wild and free and do anything they want to whomever they want.

It's only fare, Whitey!

P.S. Mayor Newsom - in a clear sign that he's still on the sauce - has proposed eliminating fares altogether, seeing as MUNI brings in virtually nothing anyway. The MTA has tried to make up its budget shortfalls in the usual Socialist manner - by boosting rates at parking garages and raising towing fees - essentially bilking everyone who is already paying for the deadbeats anyway.

Click here for the SFGate story

Additional Stories...

Other cities who've tried fare-free and regretted it - SFGate
Readers (predictable) reactions - SFGate
Mayor, Supervisors Agree: MUNI Should Be Free, Suggest We Pay For It With New Unicorn Tax! - N-Judah Chronicles

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