Stand for Orem asked me to express my beliefs about the Utah Transit Authority (UTA) constructing a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system along Orem’s State Street, similar to the Utah Valley Express (UVX); here’s my response for whomever it may interest…
Thumbs down.
I believe that, as a public officer, my job is to assist my constituents in expertly defending their equal God-given (or natural) rights from others’ aggression. And that this duty includes helping them to defend their property rights from robbery. So, I don’t believe in compelling people to keep unprofitable businesses solvent, or in compelling some people to pay other people’s transit fares. It’s easy to be generous with other people’s hard-earned money, but it’s not right—and, so, I oppose compulsory “charity,” although I support the voluntary sort.
I understand that the Utah Transit Authority is about 80% subsidized by taxpayers, which means that, for every $1 its riders pay in fare, others are compelled to pay $4. And this is wrong. And the UTA’s extremely-subsidized business model is not only wrong in general, but so is its [Utah Valley Express] system specifically. This system didn’t make economic sense to construct, so it wasn’t created by businesspeople—instead, politicians compelled taxpayers from Key West to Prudhoe Bay to build it, anyway, and they are still compelling taxpayers to maintain it. This money-sucking BRT system impedes traffic of automobiles that most people prefer to drive, in exchange for the dubious benefit of enabling its riders to wait up to 10 minutes in order to catch a fancier-than-average bus that will convey them to their destination up to 10 minutes faster than a car would—but only at peak hours and only for those few customers whose starting-point and ending-point both lie along its route, all of which limits its advantages. So, it seems to me that Provoans are even-worse-off with Bus Rapid Transit than they would have been with standard buses, although buses are still bad compared with emerging alternatives.
UTA buses, with their standardized schedules and routes, are antiquated 20th-century technology compared with modern on-demand ride-hailing services like Uber and Lyft that offer customized schedules and routes. I’d love to see more Uber or Lyft drivers freely donating rides to poor residents, and/or more generous people voluntarily raising funds to pay for such rides. Such voluntary philanthropy via private ride-hailing would do us all far more good with far less waste than compulsory subsidies to public mass-transit.
Let’s live free.
– David Edward Garber
In short, I sometimes trust political systems to defend my rights, but not to do much else, including to provide us with innovative efficient effective transportation, which is better left to private-sector businesses, aided by voluntary philanthropy—so, I oppose Orem BRT.
David for Liberty 
4 replies on “Orem BRT”
I’m not sure how anyone running for council can be so out of touch. Historically speaking, public transportation has almost always been paid for by the commonwealth of the community being served. It doesn’t matter if it’s France, Germany, Sweden, or America… public transportation is paid for the same way.
To suggest that uber or lyft drivers give free or even discounted rides is insane. That’s taking money from these individuals. To suggest someone else volunteer to pay for a rideshare ride is just wishful thinking. I don’t see you pulling out your checkbook to help those that need to get to the doctor or go to the mall.
Traffic on state street is horrible, and yet you’re suggesting we put more cars on the road?!? Where do you plan to put them?
You say the UVX has no value. Have you ever talked to a UVU or BYU student that uses it on a daily basis to get to and from classes? How about when BYU has a home football game? What do you think would happen to traffic in Orem and Provo if there wasn’t a bus and train service to get spectators to and from the games?
Your opinions are antiquated and incredibly ignorant. If you’re so opposed to public transportation perhaps it’s time to sell your home in Orem and move to a place with a population small enough to not require public transportation. I hear Alaska is nice this time of year.
LikeLike
It’s taking money from me every time I freely choose to donate to a charitable cause, but I love it, and I encourage others to do likewise. If you hate it when other people advocate generosity as I just did, and if you consider such practices old-fashioned, then that’s your choice, and I respect it, although I don’t share it. As for UVX, the UTA had buses that traveled the UVX route before BRT was implemented—they were slightly slower, but they were far less costly, and they didn’t require their own fancy bus stops and special dedicated lanes that narrowed the space available for car traffic.
LikeLike
You’re really asking corporations like Lyft and Uber to provide free rides?
You could just tax the rich a fair amount and fund a service that won’t add to traffic. It’s clear you’ve never actually studied this issue more than a passing glance at a simple internet search. How else could you have gone in the completely opposite direction of Modern Community Planning practices? Talk about out of touch with reality.
LikeLike
I simply think that it would be nice to see more individual drivers choosing to do such things—not only because it feels great to do something kind for someone else, but also because it reduces other people’s false excuses to milk taxpayers to pay for stagnant inefficient ineffective poorly-customized alternatives. I also think that it was great that, decades ago (before the advent of Medicare), some doctors would donate their time regularly to charitable hospitals. And I love it when lawyers accept pro bono cases for clients with worthy cases. Nobody requires them to do such things—it’s their choice, and I respect their agency. But I love it when people freely choose generosity. And I don’t mind using my “bully pulpit” to encourage people to do such things. Don’t you?
LikeLike