Hey, this is the USA! In a market economy, if one offers a service for which there is a legitimate demand, and one can sell that service for more than it costs to deliver, then the service provider should earn a nice profit. Why should rail transit be exempt from this fundemental element of our economic system? Because of rigid work rules and negotiated wages.
The current Dinky operates with a two-person crew, each with a labor cost exceeding $120,000 per year; five crews total per week. The current Dinky sucks $630,000 in electrical power from the catenanry evey year (NJTransit's number). So, in a nutshell, cutting propulsion cost to $20,000 per year and operating the service with a single driver, earning (a mere) $45 per hour, brings cost of delivery to the level where the operator can earn that "nice profit" while reducing the one-way fare from $2.75 to a paltry two bux.
Some may not "buy that", but it's a fact recognized world-wide, with the exception of in the United States. Consider this: If the base-level employee, in the case of commuter railroads, the conductor, costs the state $120,000 per year, then his boss should earn more, then her boss even more, until you reach the Executive Director, who becomes the highest paid state imployee, earning vastly more that the governor.
This is luncacy on flanged wheels
The current Dinky operates with a two-person crew, each with a labor cost exceeding $120,000 per year; five crews total per week. The current Dinky sucks $630,000 in electrical power from the catenanry evey year (NJTransit's number). So, in a nutshell, cutting propulsion cost to $20,000 per year and operating the service with a single driver, earning (a mere) $45 per hour, brings cost of delivery to the level where the operator can earn that "nice profit" while reducing the one-way fare from $2.75 to a paltry two bux.
Some may not "buy that", but it's a fact recognized world-wide, with the exception of in the United States. Consider this: If the base-level employee, in the case of commuter railroads, the conductor, costs the state $120,000 per year, then his boss should earn more, then her boss even more, until you reach the Executive Director, who becomes the highest paid state imployee, earning vastly more that the governor.
This is luncacy on flanged wheels