* In a message to Don Dellmann on 08-24-97, WES LEATHEROCK said the 
llowing:
WL>          The _Sunday Oklahoman_, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, had
WL> a column on this very subject on August 10.  It was a column by
WL> a _Boston Globe_ writer named Jeff Jacoby.  (And Boston is a
WL> place often held out as an example of where public transit
WL> succeeds.)
WL> 
WL>          The column is devoted to why the private car is more
WL> efficient for most people, why they prefer using their cars
WL> to using public transit, and also notes the tremendous subsidy
WL> paid for public transit.
WL> 
WL>          An interesting statistic he cites: "U.S. motorists
WL> pay a heavy price for the comfort and autonomy of car driving.
WL> In gasoline taxes, auto sales taxes, registration fees, and
WL> tolls, they cough up some $115 billion a year--far more than
WL> the $76 billion the government spends to build and maintain
WL> the roads they drive on."
        It would be interesting to see how those stats break down.
        Are all the hidden costs of auto travel, such as the health
        costs of air pollution, the costs related to the increased
        accident rates resulting from traffic congestion, and the cost
        in lost real-estate opportunities and increased construction
        costs that come from having to accomodate thousands of private
        cars at major attractions.  There's more to the cost of
        private automobiles than the cost of building & maintaining
        roads.
 -- SPEED 2.00 #2712: I love you. You love me. Let's hang Barney from a tree.
--- GEcho 1.00
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