LT, your argument echoes those who have railed against every monopolized utility since the beginning of time. I can recall rate protests against the Bell Telephone Company, LILCO and of course the favorite Long Island Rail Road. Optimization of efficient operation is simply impossible with government ownership. The government doesn't care if the utility makes money or not. It doesn't care if its customers are happy or not. It is run by political hacks whose purpose is to divert criticism from their elected bosses and receive good paychecks.
Employees of these utilities are between a rock and a hard place. Many are dedicated professionals who become frustrated as inept management thwarts their best efforts to provide conscientious service or buys them inadequate tools to do their jobs. Some silently cheer on their protesters while others see the customer as an ignorant mass manipulated to support class envy to forward the political desires of the government's company.
"Fare strikes" have come and gone. They garnish some attention, but the protesters' message is usually diluted by the loudest, most ignorant of self-appointed labor-hating leaders who ignores the facts and physical constraints of the operation. Silly, illogical demands are made to which the agency immediately decries more tax money, higher fares, and union abolition as the sole solutions.
Until politics are removed from the management of operating agencies, you won't see true improvement. Until skill and knowledge trumps affirmative action and failed hiring social experiments, you won't see improvement. This is what protesters should demand. Not an end to snow, mechanical problems or living wages for the hapless, living-wage-paid quasi-government employee.
